"The Wonderful World Of Westinghouse" (gearboxes)

[Tablejam]

We just acquired some good/used Westy combos and I have a few questions. They all have mechanical start switches which I like and will keep and all of them stop very good except one. This particular one is very easy to crank (as compared to the others that stop well) and it does coast so I'm thinking it's purely a mechanical issue in the gearbox. I have it on a table and it seems to be working fine, with some minor cam adjustments. I've never taken one of these apart, I've only rebuilt Nationals, which are very easy to rebuild, and if you have a National coast you can adjust the carbon brushes in the motor to get it to stop properly (besides shimming the gearbox)- but Westys do not have carbon brushes, so....

-compared to Nationals, how easy are these to rebuild?

-if I have one coasting, what do I have to do to get it to stop, are there shims I can add and how do I do it? I thought I saw on here someone said you can partly open the gearbox on the machine to add shims...is this true?

-If I have one go bad would I be better off just sending it in for repair?

Thanks guys.

[Bowling_Bias]

I consider rebuilding westinghouse motors to be pretty high on my PITA list, lol. The repair manual has instructions for shimming the motor. That being said, I really don't have any coasting issues unless an electrical problem develops.

I would take the time/money to replace the motor overload switches. Although the mechanical start switch will provide many years of reliable service, usually when they go bad the points will stick and the motor will overheat. In general, when I have a westinghouse combo that is "running hot" the first thing I check for is the mech start switch sticking intermittently.

If you don't have a copy, the motor repair manual can be found on the amf qubica portal MANUAL - 8270 Motor Manual - 610-007-01

[keeth]

TJ this is a job for you for sure! The big circular plate opposite the output shaft has shims in there remove one at a time to get the result that you want.

[Toby]

Stahl's has written an excellent rebuild manual for Westinghouse motors, complete with color pictures and clear instructions. Give Mike an e-mail and see if you can get a copy. I don't remember that it covers coasting issues, but I have a couple small troubleshooting booklets that you might find informative. I'll dig one up and see if it's worth scanning.

Toby

[8270king]

Westy's run forever

[Tablejam]

This is fantastic.

When I put all of these on I also went ahead and pulled the stators off, cleaned them up and cleaned and lubed the start switch mechanisms, they all make a nice click sound when they start and I don't expect to have any electrical problems with these for years.

I love my Nationals and im beginning to really like these....thanks for the info.

[Mark_S]

Like king says westys run forever.

If the cent mech is the one with the springs you just have to watch for it sticking. A little drop of wd40 tends to help stop this happening.

[Coors]

they all make a nice click sound when they start and I don't expect to have any electrical problems with these for years.

I wish you the best. Had 20 lanes of Westies. the Circuit boards Points seemed to burn up pretty quick. I got into the habit of just checking the points at Christmas and 4th of Julyish. with only 4 of them, you should be fine. I personally had the Mech's with the 6 fly weights. . . .replaced a few with the springy deals, take `Take Mark_S's advice in Lubin' the little Spring mech deals. . . . . Happy for your find.

[Tablejam]

Out of the six two of them have the mechs with the springs, I don't care for the ones with the weights as I seem to recall working at one center that had those and they had a tendency to fly off, maybe it was just those in particular. I was kind of wondering how difficult it would be to replace the weighted mechs with the ones with the springs?

[keeth]

Seriously TJ leave it in place until you have to mess with it,the weighted ones are fine until they finally croak. The weighted ones may STILL be the originals.

[smurtland]

I do believe that you cant get the centrifugal switches anymore. you have to "upgrade" to the solid state start switch.

[Tablejam]

^Yeah that's probably best, just leave them alone....they are fine now!

Appreciate all the feedback on this from everyone.

[clutchplate]

I do believe that you cant get the centrifugal switches anymore. you have to "upgrade" to the solid state start switch.

Stahls sells the weight style centrigugal mechanisms. The spring steel is not too good though, they break pretty frequently. I believe the part # is 785-501-378.

[Pin_Head]

The only P.I.T.A thing i found was getting to the 4 small screws that held the rotor down in place in the housing, very little access to them, other than that pretty easy and as Jerry said, awesome gearbox that runs forever , stators are brilliant too..... TJ sounds like you really scored well there mate...

[Tablejam]

Im going to try removing a shim or two from the coasting one later this week as it sounds like its pretty easy to do then it will be all good. These all look like they were kept up very well or recently rebuilt...its pretty cool when you get old used stuff in this condition.