Amp U400 help

spacerschoice

Grumbler in Training
Joined
Jan 21, 2020
Posts
12
Location
Lexington, KY
Help me! I work for a “small” picture framing business (I’m the only framer in a high end gallery) and I have realized that the owners expect me to do maintenance on our machines. I cannot do any maintenance on anything ever! I can’t find a way to teach myself more about fixing some of my issues. I am willing to learn but I’m not one to just start taking things apart and I can’t find much on the internet that isn’t just
diagrams of the machine the basics of using it.

My underpinner has been working weird for months, and is now no longer shooting v-nails. The “thing” that pushes them into the moulding is getting stuck and totally missing the v nails. Some will come out and some won’t. I cleaned the glue and stuff out of it but it’s still an issue. We don’t have a warranty and the company we bought it from isn’t interested in coming to look at it. I could probably do minor/regular things to keep the thing working smoothly if only I knew how.

As you can see my terminology is limited so talking on the phone with Fletcher hasn’t been helpful. They are general with their feedback and literally scared to talk to me about a machine that has no warranty. I don’t think the thing is trash but others I have used have come with a big company and a maintenance person to dump these problems on.

So my big questions are
Why aren’t my v nails coming out?
How do I clean the lines/tubes connected to the underpinner? (They are dirty and have some condensation in them could be the problem)
Why does my frontal clamp move in slow motion but only sometimes?
Are there any resources out there than can help me learn to keep my amp in shape?
Is there any hope??
 
Found the schematics for it here:

PDF:

This is basically just a parts list and "exploded view" of the machine.
Doesn't have any details about maintenance requirements.
Double OOPS!. The PDF has English titles etc. but the list of the actual parts is not in English?
Sorry, I tried to help.
 
Just a good thorough down-to-the-bare-metal cleaning might be all it needs. Could it be low pneumatic pressure? Just fishing around. 🐟
 
Where is it written that framers are responsible for equipment repairs? Its not part of any framer training that I know of. If they expect someone to repair their equipment, they should provide training. Light maintenace is one thing (but after training; self or otherwise) but repairs are another. I would tell the company exactly what you told us. Its not your problem, its theirs.
 
The “thing” that pushes them into the moulding is getting stuck and totally missing the v nails.
I had a similar problem with my Cassesse underpinner several months ago.
Mine is a different design but the principal may be relevant.

The "Thing" that pushes them...on my machine is called the hammer.
It is encased inside another part called the distributor.
The hammer is in the bottom of the distributor when not activated.
The air pressure pushes the hammer upward to force the wedges into the material.
My machine wasn't pushing the wedges all the way into the material.
I had to disassemble the distributor to reset the position of the hammer so that it could fully complete its upward travel to set the wedges.
It wasn't terribly difficult to do. But I do have a complete owner's manual to guide me.

Also, you said the clamps are "slower", there is condensation in the lines and it has been degrading over time.
These are probably signs there is a problem with the air pressure, and something I learned from other Grumblers: unfiltered compressed air can cause all of these problems, because of water accumulation.

There are others on the forum who are much better at diagnosing these kinds of mechanical issues than I.
Give it another day or so, you'll get some better answers.

Also also...Larry is right.
If care of the machines beyond basic cleaning and maintenance was not part of your discussion when hired, the burden is on your employer to resolve an issue that involves actual repair work.
Do they really think it's your obligation to perform a task you have no experience in, that if done incorrectly could be very costly to replace the entire machine?
If your employer has no air filtration installed on equipment they have been using long before you were hired, and it is the cause of these problems, that is on them to rectify, not you.
 
I am not familiar with that machine, having a Cassese, with a manual.
I had to do pretty much what Niko did and it was fairly easy.

Is there air filtration filter? Water in the lines suggest that there isn't.
Do you lubricate the part where the v-nails come out often enough? It helps keep the build up glue out and run everything smoothly.
 
Do you routinely drain the water from your air compressor tank?

The hammer could be bent or deformed so it doesn't drive smoothly through the distributor. It is probably attached to the driver by a screw at the base, which could just be loose. It's a good thing to have a replacement on hand. Check it and look around for a replacement. Order one or two for the future.
 
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Or it could be as simple as that it hasn't had any tool oil added to the intake air and everything inside is dried out or gummy and needs fresh oil to make it operate properly. There should be oil added at least monthly.
 
Hello everyone! I’m back at it today and a lot of you are saying clean air lines, draining, and nuematic oil should help- agreed. I have figured out how to pop my lines off (easy once I figured out how) and I now have some air tool oil that I will use on the lines. I’ve cleaned them up as much as I can and even forced air into the tubes that I can detach both ends. Also, I will be out buying that thing that drains condensation from the air compressor to the underpinner.
So now that I have some instructions over the phone I am still having problems currently.
Case one- the hammer is still stuck I want to show you guys a pic but a pic from my phone is “too big”?
Case two- the foot pedal now won’t work haha new problem new day
 
When you say the "Hammer" is getting stuck, is it getting stuck at the bottom, top, middle, or various positions?
Have you removed, and cleaned the Nail Head?
The Nail Head is the removable part of the rectangle that the V-Nails come out of.
If the Nail Head is fine, I would assume assume the getting stuck problem is moisture in the line.
 
When you say the "Hammer" is getting stuck, is it getting stuck at the bottom, top, middle, or various positions?
Have you removed, and cleaned the Nail Head?
The Nail Head is the removable part of the rectangle that the V-Nails come out of.
If the Nail Head is fine, I would assume assume the getting stuck problem is moisture in the line.
Yes it has been getting stuck in the fully up position. It now isn’t stuck and ive cleaned the nail head (the amount of glue was embarrassing). I think moisture is my main problem which I’ve now learned how to help decrease that in the future, I’m just wondering if the wear and tear up to now is causing me problems even though I’ve cleaned it up a lot? Like the foot pedal not responding. I will say randomly the foot pedal worked after messing with the lines more. But only work for a couple of presses and now (again) won’t work- weird
 
What does the air pressure gauge on the V-nailer read?
We keep ours a tiny bit over 100 PSI.
 
What does the air pressure gauge on the V-nailer read?
We keep ours a tiny bit over 100 PSI.
There are about 3 pressure gauges on this whole thing. The one on top I just adjust based on how hard the wood is as per the table in the manual. The two underneath- no reference on what this should typically be set to.
 
I can't be sure about the pedal, but that sounds like not enough air getting to it (not enough pressure)
I have discovered that the part that holds the protective shield on is pressurized (we don't have the shield I don't use it at all), and if its pushed out of the way it cuts the air off from the foot pedal. Figured that one out on my own after many responses like yours haha
 
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