Consew 206RB-5 Speed Reducer?

[MtlBiker]

I'm so inexperienced that I don't even realize that things could be better...    I got a used/demo Consew 206RB-5 a couple of months ago as my first industrial machine and I've been using it, accepting the way it worked as being just the way it is.  A few days ago I got a new Techsew 2750 PRO and now that I see how a machine could work, I'm wanting to improve my 206RB.

Main issue is sewing speed.  The 2750 PRO has a speed reducer and I love it!  I can sew slowly in full control.  The Consew on the other hand, even with servo motor set to the lowest speed, still starts sewing much more quickly and it's just about impossible to sew one stitch at a time.  With the 2750 I can tap the foot pedal and the machine just makes one stitch... it's great!  And at slow speed, I estimate I can even sew slower than one stitch per second.

On the Consew, the speed dial has settings from 350 to 3450, but at the 350 setting it doesn't sew at all.  650 is the slowest.  Now perhaps the knob is just mis-aligned and the indicated 650 is really 350, but I have no way of verifying that.  Is anyone here familiar with the servo motor on my machine?  It says "Premier by Consew", model CSM550-1.  The lowest I can turn the knob is to 350 which I'm suspecting is actually the 0 position.  The highest setting can go one click past 3450 to the 0.  Do you think the knob is mis-aligned?  (I'm guessing it is and if so, I'll reset it.)

What should I look for in a speed reducer?  And is there any way to make the Consew stitch only one stitch with a tap of the foot pedal, like on the 2750?

Thanks very much.

 

[dikman]

As you discovered with the Techsew, a speed reducer is the answer. Either make your own or buy one. There are two main types for sale, the one on a "pedestal" mounting that screws underneath the table or the box type. The box type is the easiest to fit, just remove the motor, mount the reducer where the motor was and bolt the motor to the bottom of the reducer. Then it's just a matter of finding the correct length belts.

You won't have to worry about what the numbers mean on the motor then.

[Wizcrafts]

It looks like your motor pulley is at least 70mm diameter. I would purchase a 50mm pulley and a shorter belt to match. Dealers that sell Consew and Family Sew motors should have these items in stock.

[DonInReno]

The speed reducer gets my vote.   It triples the torque at low speed, which is a huge plus in addition to the reduction in speed.   

[Pintodeluxe]

The maximum speed dial will have a point where it won't sew.  They're all like that.  Just turn it up enough to have some power, but not so high that it's too fast.  

I agree with Wiz, a 45mm motor pulley helps some.  They're $2 on eBay.  You'll  need a 38" or 39" belt.  

[MtlBiker]

16 hours ago, dikman said:

As you discovered with the Techsew, a speed reducer is the answer. Either make your own or buy one. There are two main types for sale, the one on a "pedestal" mounting that screws underneath the table or the box type. The box type is the easiest to fit, just remove the motor, mount the reducer where the motor was and bolt the motor to the bottom of the reducer. Then it's just a matter of finding the correct length belts.

You won't have to worry about what the numbers mean on the motor then.

Thanks very much.  I think the speed reducer on the new 2750 is a pedestal type.  I can see how that works, but I'm not clear on the box type.  I like that it's "easiest to fit", so I guess I'll try to find something like that.  I'll see what the Consew dealer might have for this.  My problem is simply the very limited time I have to work on the sewing machine... my day job keeps me busy until evenings and I only have Sundays and Mondays to play with this.  So if I get something, install it on a Sunday/Monday, and figure out how long the belts should be, it would probably be another week before I could get the belts and install them.  And I'd have to be right about the lengths, or it would take another week.  I'm hoping the dealer might have a "canned" solution with all the right components so that I could get it and install all in one day.  SIGH

 

[MtlBiker]

16 hours ago, Wizcrafts said:

It looks like your motor pulley is at least 70mm diameter. I would purchase a 50mm pulley and a longer belt to match. Dealers that sell Consew and Family Sew motors should have these items in stock.

Yes, it does seem to be about 70mm (I'd have to remove the belt cover to really confirm).  So you're suggesting simply replacing the pulley on the motor with a smaller diameter one, right?  But I'm not understanding your comment that if I do that, I'd have to find a longer belt.  Wouldn't the belt have to be shorter if the motor pulley diameter is reduced?  What am I missing?

With a 50mm pulley, it would be an improvement in slow speed sewing, right?  But not as good as if I got a speed reducer of some kind.

Would you suggest trying this route first?  And then if not good enough, to look at other options?

I'm such a newbie with this stuff.

12 hours ago, DonInReno said:

The speed reducer gets my vote.   It triples the torque at low speed, which is a huge plus in addition to the reduction in speed.   

Thanks.  I'll check with the dealer to see if he has a "canned" speed reducer package I can buy.

 

[MtlBiker]

8 hours ago, Pintodeluxe said:

The maximum speed dial will have a point where it won't sew.  They're all like that.  Just turn it up enough to have some power, but not so high that it's too fast.  

I agree with Wiz, a 45mm motor pulley helps some.  They're $2 on eBay.  You'll  need a 38" or 39" belt.  

The dial on my servo motor has click stops and it doesn't go below 350, but at that point it doesn't sew.  I'm going to re-align the knob so that the current 350 will be the new 0.  That would make sense to me.

Is the shaft (inside) diameter of motor pulleys all the same?  How do you calculate the length of the new belt needed?

Thanks for your help!

[Wizcrafts]

21 minutes ago, MtlBiker said:

Is the shaft (inside) diameter of motor pulleys all the same?  How do you calculate the length of the new belt needed?

E = mc² (just kidding)

You should use calipers to measure the OD of the motor shaft. Then order a 45 or 50mm pulley that fits it. If in doubt, contact a dealer who sells Consew servo motors. They may have the smaller pulley in stock. They can also determine the new belt length.

I generally find that when changing from a 3" to a 2" pulley, the belt needs to be about 2 inches shorter. How much depends on where the motor is sitting on the height adjustment bolt.

[Pintodeluxe]

4 hours ago, MtlBiker said:

The dial on my servo motor has click stops and it doesn't go below 350, but at that point it doesn't sew.  I'm going to re-align the knob so that the current 350 will be the new 0.  That would make sense to me.

Is the shaft (inside) diameter of motor pulleys all the same?  How do you calculate the length of the new belt needed?

Thanks for your help!

These will fit...  

currently listed on eBay for $2.78 each.  Get the 45mm one (1.77")

38" belt.  39" belt may work, but 38" belt for sure.  

Edited December 7, 2020 by Pintodeluxe

[MtlBiker]

19 hours ago, Pintodeluxe said:

These will fit...  

currently listed on eBay for $2.78 each.  Get the 45mm one (1.77")

38" belt.  39" belt may work, but 38" belt for sure.  

Thanks!  Just ordered a 45mm pulley.  For the low price I guess I can't go wrong, but delivery is stated to be between Dec 31st and MARCH 5th!!!  Gonna be a long wait.

If I can find something locally, even if double or triple the price, I'm going to get it.  And I guess there's nothing special about the belt?  Just the length?

[Wizcrafts]

55 minutes ago, MtlBiker said:

Thanks!  Just ordered a 45mm pulley.  For the low price I guess I can't go wrong, but delivery is stated to be between Dec 31st and MARCH 5th!!!  Gonna be a long wait.

If I can find something locally, even if double or triple the price, I'm going to get it.  And I guess there's nothing special about the belt?  Just the length?

OMG! It sounds like you live in a Banana Republic. Or, is the dealer out of stock and waiting for a slow boat from China?

Did you ask Techsew for a pulley and belt? Those are very common items. The belt is type 3L, which is 3/8 inch across the top. In Metric that is about 10 millimeters. It is the same material as an automobile belt, but narrower. They are heat welded to various lengths. The length is marked on the belt. It may be in Metric (M something), or inches (42, 43, etc). I find I use mostly 40, 41 or 42 inch 3L v-belts on my direct to machine motors.

Otherwise, check the yellow pages in Toronto for "industrial sewing machines."

Check eBay too.

[MtlBiker]

17 minutes ago, Wizcrafts said:

OMG! It sounds like you live in a Banana Republic. Or, is the dealer out of stock and waiting for a slow boat from China?

Did you ask Techsew for a pulley and belt? Those are very common items. The belt is type 3L, which is 3/8 inch across the top. In Metric that is about 10 millimeters. It is the same material as an automobile belt, but narrower. They are heat welded to various lengths. The length is marked on the belt. It may be in Metric (M something), or inches (42, 43, etc). I find I use mostly 40, 41 or 42 inch 3L v-belts on my direct to machine motors.

Otherwise, check the yellow pages in Toronto for "industrial sewing machines."

Check eBay too.

  Not a banana republic, but as per the suggestions here, I ordered from eBay.  And the product is coming on a slow boat from China.  I've left a message for Ron at Techsew for him to call me but he hasn't yet.  I planned to ask him if he had the pulley I want.  And on their site they have a very reasonable price (I think) for a speed reducer, but it's listed as out of stock.  I'm just not sure about the fitting of the speed reducer as there are no pre-drilled holes for it on my table and it looks like there might not be enough room between the existing servo motor and the machine itself to fit the reducer there.  (Guessing that by looking at the speed reducer on my 2750.)  So a smaller pulley might be all I need for that machine and it would be the easiest solution.  If I need to sew slower than that I would just use the 2750.  (It's really nice!)

"Yellow Pages"????  Is that something that existed before the Internet?  I think I've heard of it. 

I'm also waiting for my Consew dealer to get in... seems he has even less than banker's hours.  He must have something that would work.

 

[MtlBiker]

Just spoke with my Consew dealer, who is supposedly the Consew distributor for Eastern Canada.  I must say, I was less than impressed.  He said he's never heard of anyone wanting to slow down the 206RB-5 and he also said that you cannot change the motor pulley.  Then he said if you change it, the motor doesn't understand it and it won't work.  SIGH  I also asked him about the machine not sewing if the speed knob is set to 350 (lowest marked click stop) and he didn't know.  But he has promised to test out another machine he has there and let me know.  But from the way he responded, they don't have a speed reducer nor smaller pulley, nor have they ever had a request to slow the machine down.

Less than impressed with him/them.

If I'm not mistaken, even Consew sells a 45mm pulley for this.

[kgg]

7 hours ago, Wizcrafts said:

OMG! It sounds like you live in a Banana Republic.

I sometimes wonder there seems to be no rime or reason to it when ordering stuff, I guess it depends on where you are. I ordered a small fan, weighted about an ounce, for a rebuild on a 3d printer that was in stock from a Montreal dealer and at the same time ordered a new Mosquito hotend and extruder from Bontech out of Sweden. Guess what it took 6 days to get from Sweden and 10 days from Montreal. Ordered a 1 lb spool of  V138 thread and a 100 meter coil of edging from American & Efird Canada Inc. in Toronto today and will it be here tomorrow if not Thursday at the latest. I am about 3.5 hours drive from either Montreal or Toronto. Go figure.

Stay Safe,

kgg

[Wizcrafts]

There used to be a dealer named Toronto Industrial Sewing Machines. I lived there for a while and bought many industrial sewing machines, parts and accessories from them. I can't recall ever hearing "we don't have that," or "you can't do that on your motor." Maybe they moved and have a new business name???

[dikman]

13 hours ago, MtlBiker said:

 He said he's never heard of anyone wanting to slow down the 206RB-5 and he also said that you cannot change the motor pulley.  Then he said if you change it, the motor doesn't understand it and it won't work.

I would give this guy a wide berth!! He has no idea what he's talking about.

[MtlBiker]

On 12/6/2020 at 5:14 PM, Wizcrafts said:

It looks like your motor pulley is at least 70mm diameter. I would purchase a 50mm pulley and a shorter belt to match. Dealers that sell Consew and Family Sew motors should have these items in stock.

Just wanted to thank you again for your great advice and to let you know how it worked out.  (And @dikman too.)

My existing pulley was 75mm (stamped on it) and I replaced it with a 45mm pulley and a 38" belt.  I'm thrilled with the result!  Not as slow as my new Techsew 2750 Pro with speed reducer, but a lot slower than it was before and it's slow enough for me now.  I won't have to add a speed reducer to that machine.

And to give proper kudos to my dealer, who I first was disappointed with when he said he'd never heard of anyone changing the pulley on that machine and that if I did it the machine wouldn't work.  He actually had his shop guys try it and he was kind enough to report to me that it worked well.  And he said he was willing to send his guy to me to do the installation.  For free!  I didn't take him up on that offer because I live close to an hour away from him and that would have cost him too much money.  And I'm reasonably mechanically inclined so I went to him with the old belt and pulley and he wanted to just swap it out for me as a straight exchange.  I didn't want that, because I thought it would be nice to be able to return the machine back to stock if needed, so he charged me $15 (Canadian!) for the new pulley and belt.  He scored points with me for all that.

Cheers!

 

[dikman]

Nice to think that dealer was open enough to try out something he hadn't heard of, although I'm surprised he'd never heard of it before.

And was prepared to help out.

[Gregg From Keystone Sewing]

On a side note...looks like I found a new supplier for 50mm pulleys.  I pay A LOT more than that right now for a cast aluminum pulley of this type.  

[shoepatcher]

Michael Simards, the Adler and Pfaff dealer in Canada, told a guy I am helping out because they would not even though he bought the machine from them.   They DO NOT put speed reducers on machines with Servos.  Said they do not need them!   AHH??  Are you kidding me.!!!!  Bob at Toledo, Steve at Cobra and Allen at Weaver have been putting speed reducers on harness weight  machines with  servos for years.  I know for a fact that they never put any speed reducer on any Adler 205 they sold to the Goalie companies in Canada be it with a servo or clutch motor.   Try sewing a Adler 205 with a clutch motor and no speed reducer.   No good control of the machine, I can tell you!   Moral of this story.  YOU NEVER KNOW IT ALL AND YOU LEARN THINGS EVERYDAY!!  Some dealers think they know it all.  Fortunately, our dealers on this site are very knowledgeable and do listen.

glenn

Edited December 17, 2020 by shoepatcher
grammar

[herbworff]

I know this post is a little old but here is what I did to my new Consew 206 RB-5 with the CSM 550 Servo.  1st changed motor pulley to 45 mm - still too fast.  2nd changed hand wheel to a 6", 1/2" bore die cast pulley - still too fast for my liking.  I have a Consew 225 that I put a Sewpro 500 gr from Toledo on several years ago.  I retired the 225 & replaced the CSM 550 on the 206 RB-5 with the Sewpro 500 gr (3:1 reduction geared), 45mm pulley & 6" pulley on the machine.  What a difference!  Slooooow & control & torque.  The Sewpro bolted right up & a 44" 3L belt.  Punched through 4 layers of dry 6 oz veg tan (7/16") at slow speed.  Some day I will get the box reducer & a better servo.  I really don't like the CSM 550 servo but maybe with the box reducer setup it will work better.  The 6" die cast pulley has 3 spokes - not the safest.  I have been searching for a solid 6" cast iron to no avail.  Seams when you go this large they all have spokes & 1/2" bore is hard to find .  Hope this helps but not every one has a spare Sewpro 500gr laying around.

[Wizcrafts]

7 hours ago, herbworff said:

Hope this helps but not every one has a spare Sewpro 500gr laying around.

I used to have a National walking foot machine that I installed a Sewpro 500GR on. I wish I hadn't sold it. The machine sewed all the way up to 7/16 inch using System 190 needles, or 3/8 inch with System 135x16. That motor with its built in reducer let me sew 1 stitch per second into veg or chrome tan leather with no help needed on the balance wheel.

The reason there aren't many around is because the people who built them went on lunch break and never came back to work. ;-) Actually, they had an overheating problem due to the cases warping from the heat and torsion stresses. Rather than beef up the construction, they closed the factory.

[DrmCa]

On 12/8/2020 at 11:58 AM, MtlBiker said:

He said he's never heard of anyone wanting to slow down the 206RB-5 and he also said that you cannot change the motor pulley.

He's talking out of his rear end. Tar and feathers in order. Talk to a different dealer.

I have a small pulley on my Family 550 servo that your Consew is a clone of. It stitches at the lowest 350 just fine. The pulley came from a Hitachi clutch motor that was on my Juki DDL when I got it. This is why I love the old-style Family 550 with a keyed shaft instead of the new Rex etc with a threaded shaft: they used to be compatible with clutch motors.

On 12/8/2020 at 7:08 PM, Wizcrafts said:

There used to be a dealer named Toronto Industrial Sewing Machines.

Do you mean General Industrial Sewing Machines? GSM Sewing? If you do, then the name of the owner is Neal, and he is indeed very knowledgeable and helpful person.

Edited November 11, 2021 by DrmCa

[Wizcrafts]

5 hours ago, DrmCa said:

He's talking out of his rear end. Tar and feathers in order. Talk to a different dealer.

I have a small pulley on my Family 550 servo that your Consew is a clone of. It stitches at the lowest 350 just fine. The pulley came from a Hitachi clutch motor that was on my Juki DDL when I got it. This is why I love the old-style Family 550 with a keyed shaft instead of the new Rex etc with a threaded shaft: they used to be compatible with clutch motors.

Do you mean General Industrial Sewing Machines? GSM Sewing? If you do, then the name of the owner is Neal, and he is indeed very knowledgeable and helpful person.

I used to buy machines, parts and accessories from Neal and his Dad. GISM was very good to me when I was just getting into industrial sewing machines. If I was still on that side of the border they would be my go to dealer.