Rh blocking finger adj

[eddieg]

I have a machine that when the turret is full and the deck comes back up empty, the turret is suppose to drop 10 pins. Well the pins will sit there sometimes and all I have to do is barely touch the 5 pin and they release, I've adj the lever to the hub many times. Any suggestions?

[cuda96]

If the adjustment is correct, quite often I just wipe the probe and blocking finger with WD-40. This will clean off any "gunk" built up and allow the finger to mover properly with the weight of the pin holding the probe against it.

[Steve Stafford (JBEES)]

Do they drop if you cycle the gear box without touching the pin?

[eddieg]

Yes

[brentman1]

Gearbox clutch adj is probably slightly low.

[PJ]

Your pinsetter might not be stopping at true zero and your blocking finger won't lift all the way.

[Carl D]

The start of the high part of the scissor/moving deck cam could also be worn.

[Steve Stafford (JBEES)]

As mentioned above, the spot on the cam where the moving deck cam follower reaches the highest dwell...is probably worn and requires the cam to rotate just a bit farther to get all of the movement needed by the moving deck cam follower. Here is a picture of just a worn section on the cam...





What would be nice is a new style cam. One that has the high dwell occur 5 degrees sooner and the low dwell that occurred 5 degrees later. This would not hurt anything but might help this spot from wearing so much. Also the contour to the high dwell could be tapered back a bit to allow slower movement of the cam follower. This would help A-2 speed machines from breaking 1:1's if the motor contactor hesitates when opening. OK...enough rambling.

As this area of the cam wears, you need to adjust the "timing" of the clutch so it disengages a bit later. This allows the gear box to turn a bit farther before stopping...positioning the cam so the high dwell is now pushing the moving deck cam follower all the way forward. Too much though and the deck can start to lower before stopping...causing other issues. If you have to "chase" the high dwell more than two diameters of the rake crank rod...it is time to change the moving deck scissor cam.

Hope that helps...

[eddieg]

Thanks to all you great mechanics for this help. I never thought about checking this. I will let you know what I find. Thanks again

[Taylor]

The cam that guides the flag for the blocking finger you can put a sleeve on there that is for the shaft on the lift rods that adj them it works good your gear box may be off before you
try it make sure you deck isn't shifting when you cycle it bcz if it does the it will have non stop blackouts

[dustin]

I have the same issue, but the pins do not drop if the machine is cycled. I've adjusted the blocking finger. The pin seems to be wedged in the five pin chute. If the pin is wiggled just a little or some pressure taken off of it (like pulling it back out just a touch) it will release. I've also adjusted the snubber cause it seems like the pin sometimes is sitting in there just a little crooked. Suggestions? I'm thinking about replacing the 5 pin release lever next....

[Steve Stafford (JBEES)]

Odds are that the blocking finger is not coming up due to a lack of spring pressure. The interlock probe could also be too high, the rubber bumper missing from the bottom of the blocking finger, allowing the blocking finger to be too low...but I would lean toward the spring issue. You should perform the hub lever adjustment that we have shown in the past to see if the issue goes away.

The goal or the hub lever adjustment is to get as much pressure on the spring as possible without causing any issues with either the LH blocking finger or the hub on the moving deck cam follower. First step...look at the ends of the spring and be sure the spring is actually on the spring wheels and not on the roll pins that support the spring wheels. This can cause the spring to be almost a 1/4" short on tension. This can effect how well it can raise the blocking finger. Next...set the gear box to 270 degrees while setting new pins...but leave the pins out of the moving deck. (Remove them if need be if you didn't set "no" pins) Loosen the hub lever. Remove the moving deck cable from the pulley at the top of the deck post. This will allow you to pull the moving deck cam follower forward. You want to pull it far enough forward so the hub and the hub lever will meet...at the point of the hub lever. You need to put the point of the hub lever just below the center line of the hub. Tighten the hub lever. Now pull the moving deck cam follower forward enough that the hub lever will move. Be sure that the point does not bind against the hub...if this happens during the cycle of the gear box, you could possibly break the LH side of the turret off. If it moves as it should, you will be fine. At this point, you have applied all of the pressure you can to the spring and not effect the hub. Next you need to be sure it will not effect the LH blocking finger. Cycle gear box so it is at 90 degrees with the deck lowered (Either a strike detection or standing pins...makes no difference at this point). Shut off (LOTO) and then using a flashlight, look at the front edge of the collar that stretches the spring to raise the right hand blocking finger. Here is a picture of what we are looking for.



In this picture, you can see the bolt that is used to hold the restricted drop link to the LH blocking finger. Your goal is to be sure that there is a small (1/16" or so) gap between the collar and the head of the bolt. If there is any gap...any gap at all...you are done. Do not try to make the gap any smaller.

If the hub lever we adjusted a bit earlier is too far back, the collar and the head of the bolt will touch. If they touch...the collar will lift the LH blocking finger which can cause pins to drop from the turret while the deck is down. The amount the finger is lifted will be small...but it will be enough to cause issues. You will never see it move because the head of the bolt actually falls onto the collars front edge...and that edge prevents it from going all the way down. Anyway...if they are touching...go back to setting new pins and loosen the hub lever and rotate CCW (move tip toward the front of the pinsetter) just a touch. Tighten hub lever and re-check collar to the head of the bolt at 90 degrees 1st ball. If there still is no clearance, repeat the adjustment until there is a small gap. Be sure that when you adjust the hub lever...you never turn it CW (tip toward the rear of the pinsetter) as this can cause damage to the turret as described above.

When finished, you will have put as much tension on the spring as possible without harming anything or causing another "adjustment" from changing.