My shooting club has motorized target carriers on the indoor range. They
use "Maxtorq" gear motors, and one isn't working. The motor shaft spins,
but the output shaft doesn't. It doesn't make any excess noise like
grinding of gears or anything. These have been in place since at least
1970, and they have been so realible that I don't know if anyone is around
who knows much about them.

I suspect either a set screw or Woodruff key has let go in the gearbox, but
it's also possible that a shaft has snapped or a gear hub has busted loose.
I've never worked on one of these things & was wondering if I should
concentrate on finding a spare (we may have some someplace), or try to
repair it. If it's likely to be a quick fix, I can leave it wired up &
work on the gearbox end. Otherwise I'll have to completely dismount it.
The winter pistol league has just started, and we need every firing point
we have.

Thanks!

On Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:59:49 GMT, the infamous Doug White
scrawled the following:

My shooting club has motorized target carriers on the indoor range. They
use "Maxtorq" gear motors, and one isn't working. The motor shaft spins,
but the output shaft doesn't. It doesn't make any excess noise like
grinding of gears or anything. These have been in place since at least
1970, and they have been so realible that I don't know if anyone is around
who knows much about them.

I suspect either a set screw or Woodruff key has let go in the gearbox, but
it's also possible that a shaft has snapped or a gear hub has busted loose.
I've never worked on one of these things & was wondering if I should
concentrate on finding a spare (we may have some someplace), or try to
repair it. If it's likely to be a quick fix, I can leave it wired up &
work on the gearbox end. Otherwise I'll have to completely dismount it.
The winter pistol league has just started, and we need every firing point
we have.

I'll bet it's a shear pin that let loose. And in a public setting, it
has probably been in service like that for long enough that the broken
nubs are worn down and it doesn't make noise any more.

There's likely an inspection or access plate on the geared end so
you'll probably be able to work on it live. Just make sure to tape the
switch down so nobody accidentally causes you to be one of the targets
moving along the line, Doug.

let's see, an array of screwdrivers, a 1/4" drive set, a transfer
punch set, a small hammah, and some needle nose pliers oughta do ya.
Don't forget the tub of moly wheel bearing grease to re-lube it after
you're done. Oh, add a roll of paper towels and tube of hand soap.

Got shear pin-, cotter pin-, or roll pin-sets?

---
A book burrows into your life in a very profound way
because the experience of reading is not passive.
--Erica Jong

On Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:59:49 GMT, Doug White
wrote:

My shooting club has motorized target carriers on the indoor range. They
use "Maxtorq" gear motors, and one isn't working. The motor shaft spins,
but the output shaft doesn't. It doesn't make any excess noise like
grinding of gears or anything. These have been in place since at least
1970, and they have been so realible that I don't know if anyone is around
who knows much about them.

I suspect either a set screw or Woodruff key has let go in the gearbox, but
it's also possible that a shaft has snapped or a gear hub has busted loose.
I've never worked on one of these things & was wondering if I should
concentrate on finding a spare (we may have some someplace), or try to
repair it. If it's likely to be a quick fix, I can leave it wired up &
work on the gearbox end. Otherwise I'll have to completely dismount it.
The winter pistol league has just started, and we need every firing point
we have.

Thanks!


Pull the gearbox. Its the only way you are going know what happened.

And frankly...you are going to start having failures in the other
carriers before long..so best pop one open now..so you will have an idea
of what spares to snag when the rest of them start going tits up.

It will likely be the same issue with the rest of them when they start
going. Every device has at least one weak spot over time..and its
common to all of them.

nearly 40 yrs operation..the weak link is starting to crumble.

Gunner

"Upon Roosevelt's death in 1945, H. L. Mencken predicted in his diary
that Roosevelt would be remembered as a great president, "maybe even
alongside Washington and Lincoln," opining that Roosevelt "had every
quality that morons esteem in their heroes.""

Larry Jaques wrote in
:

On Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:59:49 GMT, the infamous Doug White
scrawled the following:

My shooting club has motorized target carriers on the indoor range.
They use "Maxtorq" gear motors, and one isn't working. The motor
shaft spins, but the output shaft doesn't. It doesn't make any excess
noise like grinding of gears or anything. These have been in place
since at least 1970, and they have been so realible that I don't know
if anyone is around who knows much about them.
snip
I'll bet it's a shear pin that let loose. And in a public setting, it
has probably been in service like that for long enough that the broken
nubs are worn down and it doesn't make noise any more.

I think this was a fairly abrupt failure. It was fine one week, and when
I came in to practice several days later, it had a sign on it. We
frequently have the range to ourselves on Saturday nights, and the motor
was dead quiet, spining merrily.

There's likely an inspection or access plate on the geared end so
you'll probably be able to work on it live. Just make sure to tape the
switch down so nobody accidentally causes you to be one of the targets
moving along the line, Doug.

I'll have to get up there with a ladder & take a closer look. H adn't
thought about a shear pin. I don't even know if it's ac or dc. They are
operated with a manual 3-position spring return (on-off-on) toggle switch
to change direction, and the cords are tensioned such that the pulley
slips when you get to each end of travel. I'm assuming it's a reversable
ac motor. It looks a bit like one of these:

http://electricmotorwarehouse.com/Dayton/6Z073.htm

let's see, an array of screwdrivers, a 1/4" drive set, a transfer
punch set, a small hammah, and some needle nose pliers oughta do ya.
Don't forget the tub of moly wheel bearing grease to re-lube it after
you're done. Oh, add a roll of paper towels and tube of hand soap.

Got shear pin-, cotter pin-, or roll pin-sets?

I've got cotter pins & roll pins, but no shear pins. Once I get more
info off the nameplate, I'll have to see if I can find a manual
someplace. There are several different brands on the line from the looks
of them. I also need to come up with some sort of clamp or hook to hold
the pulley & cord while I work on it.

Thanks for the ideas.

Doug White

Gunner Asch wrote in
:

On Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:59:49 GMT, Doug White
wrote:

My shooting club has motorized target carriers on the indoor range.
They use "Maxtorq" gear motors, and one isn't working. The motor
shaft spins, but the output shaft doesn't. It doesn't make any excess
noise like grinding of gears or anything. These have been in place
since at least 1970, and they have been so realible that I don't know
if anyone is around who knows much about them.

I suspect either a set screw or Woodruff key has let go in the
gearbox, but it's also possible that a shaft has snapped or a gear hub
has busted loose. I've never worked on one of these things & was
wondering if I should concentrate on finding a spare (we may have some
someplace), or try to repair it. If it's likely to be a quick fix, I
can leave it wired up & work on the gearbox end. Otherwise I'll have
to completely dismount it. The winter pistol league has just started,
and we need every firing point we have.

Thanks!


Pull the gearbox. Its the only way you are going know what happened.

And frankly...you are going to start having failures in the other
carriers before long..so best pop one open now..so you will have an
idea of what spares to snag when the rest of them start going tits up.

It will likely be the same issue with the rest of them when they start
going. Every device has at least one weak spot over time..and its
common to all of them.

nearly 40 yrs operation..the weak link is starting to crumble.

Excellent idea! I can also start a search on eBay for spare motors.

Thanks!

Doug White

On Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:41:08 GMT, the infamous Doug White
scrawled the following:

Larry Jaques wrote in
:

On Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:59:49 GMT, the infamous Doug White
scrawled the following:

My shooting club has motorized target carriers on the indoor range.
They use "Maxtorq" gear motors, and one isn't working. The motor
shaft spins, but the output shaft doesn't. It doesn't make any excess
noise like grinding of gears or anything. These have been in place
since at least 1970, and they have been so realible that I don't know
if anyone is around who knows much about them.
snip
I'll bet it's a shear pin that let loose. And in a public setting, it
has probably been in service like that for long enough that the broken
nubs are worn down and it doesn't make noise any more.

I think this was a fairly abrupt failure. It was fine one week, and when
I came in to practice several days later, it had a sign on it. We
frequently have the range to ourselves on Saturday nights, and the motor
was dead quiet, spining merrily.

So, potentially, it could have been running for days if they're on a
gang circuit. YMMV.


There's likely an inspection or access plate on the geared end so
you'll probably be able to work on it live. Just make sure to tape the
switch down so nobody accidentally causes you to be one of the targets
moving along the line, Doug.

I'll have to get up there with a ladder & take a closer look. H adn't
thought about a shear pin. I don't even know if it's ac or dc. They are
operated with a manual 3-position spring return (on-off-on) toggle switch
to change direction, and the cords are tensioned such that the pulley
slips when you get to each end of travel. I'm assuming it's a reversable
ac motor. It looks a bit like one of these:

http://electricmotorwarehouse.com/Dayton/6Z073.htm

Don't forget to check Burden Surplus. They have better prices if they
have what you want. www.surpluscenter.com (187 choices today)


let's see, an array of screwdrivers, a 1/4" drive set, a transfer
punch set, a small hammah, and some needle nose pliers oughta do ya.
Don't forget the tub of moly wheel bearing grease to re-lube it after
you're done. Oh, add a roll of paper towels and tube of hand soap.

Got shear pin-, cotter pin-, or roll pin-sets?

I've got cotter pins & roll pins, but no shear pins.

Cotter pins are the poor man's shear pin. They're usually soft enough
to prevent damage but tough enough not to fail quickly.


Once I get more
info off the nameplate, I'll have to see if I can find a manual
someplace.

A repair manual for those would be a sweet find.


There are several different brands on the line from the looks
of them. I also need to come up with some sort of clamp or hook to hold
the pulley & cord while I work on it.

Thanks for the ideas.

Dat'll be $37.50, please.

---
A book burrows into your life in a very profound way
because the experience of reading is not passive.
--Erica Jong

Doug White wrote in
:

My shooting club has motorized target carriers on the indoor range.
They use "Maxtorq" gear motors, and one isn't working. The motor
shaft spins, but the output shaft doesn't. It doesn't make any excess
noise like grinding of gears or anything. These have been in place
since at least 1970, and they have been so realible that I don't know
if anyone is around who knows much about them.

I suspect either a set screw or Woodruff key has let go in the
gearbox, but it's also possible that a shaft has snapped or a gear hub
has busted loose. I've never worked on one of these things & was
wondering if I should concentrate on finding a spare (we may have some
someplace), or try to repair it. If it's likely to be a quick fix, I
can leave it wired up & work on the gearbox end. Otherwise I'll have
to completely dismount it. The winter pistol league has just started,
and we need every firing point we have.

I found most of the nameplate data, although it was hard to read:

It's a continuous duty 115V AC reversible split cap motor, 25 in-lbs
torque, 124 RPM motor. Maxitorq seems to have gone the way of the dodo,
but Grainger has what appears to be a drop in replacement if we get
desperate:

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/6Z084?Pid=search

I'm still trying to locate someone at the club who might know if we have
any spares stashed someplace. In the meantime, I'll start checking out
the surplus places Gunner mentioned and put a search up on eBay.

Thanks!

Doug White

You might want to consider some of the Oriental Motor models in your search.
New ones, at very reasonable prices used to be frequently available on eBay.
They're very reliable, fully enclosed, AC reversible PSC gearmotors with
ball bearing rotor and gear shaft support.

The OM gear boxes come in a wide variety of ratios, and mount similarly to
the Grainger example, with 4 bolts.

--
WB
..........
metalworking projects
www.kwagmire.com/metal_proj.html


"Doug White" wrote in message
. ..
I found most of the nameplate data, although it was hard to read:

It's a continuous duty 115V AC reversible split cap motor, 25 in-lbs
torque, 124 RPM motor. Maxitorq seems to have gone the way of the dodo,
but Grainger has what appears to be a drop in replacement if we get
desperate:

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/6Z084?Pid=search

I'm still trying to locate someone at the club who might know if we have
any spares stashed someplace. In the meantime, I'll start checking out
the surplus places Gunner mentioned and put a search up on eBay.

Thanks!

Doug White

Larry Jaques wrote in
:

On Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:59:49 GMT, the infamous Doug White
scrawled the following:

My shooting club has motorized target carriers on the indoor range.
They use "Maxitorq" gear motors, and one isn't working. The motor
shaft spins, but the output shaft doesn't. It doesn't make any
excess noise like grinding of gears or anything. These have been in
place since at least 1970, and they have been so realible that I
don't know if anyone is around who knows much about them.
snip
I'll bet it's a shear pin that let loose. And in a public setting,
it has probably been in service like that for long enough that the
broken nubs are worn down and it doesn't make noise any more.

I think this was a fairly abrupt failure. It was fine one week, and
when I came in to practice several days later, it had a sign on it.
We frequently have the range to ourselves on Saturday nights, and the
motor was dead quiet, spining merrily.

So, potentially, it could have been running for days if they're on a
gang circuit. YMMV.

Nope. Each position has a spring-return switch & a motor. It only runs
for 30 seconds or so each time the target gets run back or forth. You
have to hold the switch on.

There's likely an inspection or access plate on the geared end so
you'll probably be able to work on it live. Just make sure to tape
the switch down so nobody accidentally causes you to be one of the
targets moving along the line, Doug.

I'll have to get up there with a ladder & take a closer look. H adn't
thought about a shear pin. I don't even know if it's ac or dc. They
are operated with a manual 3-position spring return (on-off-on) toggle
switch to change direction, and the cords are tensioned such that the
pulley slips when you get to each end of travel. I'm assuming it's a
reversable ac motor. It looks a bit like one of these:

http://electricmotorwarehouse.com/Dayton/6Z073.htm

These guys want the same as Grainger, and I can get a discount there.

Don't forget to check Burden Surplus. They have better prices if they
have what you want. www.surpluscenter.com (187 choices today)

I checked out their selection. No joy at the moment. Nothing on eBay
either, but I have asearch in place for the future. I've got a catalog
in the basement from another surplus outfit that might have something.

snip
Once I get more
info off the nameplate, I'll have to see if I can find a manual
someplace.

A repair manual for those would be a sweet find.

No luck in that department. I found that the gear boxes are sealed &
full of oil, so working on it in place is out of the question. I looked
briefly in the back room where a lot of junk is stored & didn't see any
spare motors, but they could be buried in a wide range of places.

Doug White

"Wild_Bill" wrote in
:

You might want to consider some of the Oriental Motor models in your
search. New ones, at very reasonable prices used to be frequently
available on eBay. They're very reliable, fully enclosed, AC
reversible PSC gearmotors with ball bearing rotor and gear shaft
support.

The OM gear boxes come in a wide variety of ratios, and mount
similarly to the Grainger example, with 4 bolts.

I looked at the OM web site, and their search engine is totally useless.
It also appears that their frame sizes are slightly off. The mounting
holes for the Dayton/Bison motors that appear to be a drop in replacement
are on 2.65" centers. The closest OM has is 2.89", which won't be nearly
close enough. I couldn't really find an equivalent motor. There should
be plenty of Daytons & Bisons around, I just need to wait until the right
one surfaces.

Doug White

as an aside to this thread, I just looked at a couple of gearmotors I had
sitting around waiting to be put away - they are 1/3 hp Dayton, 200 in lb
torque at 30 rpm - anyone want one or two? they are on the left coast, make
me a credible offer (get my email off my web site, www.wbnoble.com

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