More
Strippit Super 30/30
Punch-Head Repair Notes!
This Webpage  is a  Continuation of my Webpage     Super 30/30  Punch-Head Notes
which  Should be Reviewed First!

These  Punch-Head Notes  Apply also to All 
Sonic 18/30,   Custom 18/30,   Custom 30/30,   Custom 30/40-Mechanical, 
Super 30/40-Mechanical,   as well as the Most Popular   Super 30/30   Punch Machine.
You should start by Reading the  Operation  &  Maintenance  Manual   to familiarize
yourself with How the Punching Mechanism of these Machines actually works.
If you can't be Bothered to   Obtain a Manual,   Read-It,  and  at least attempt to
understand your Machine's Problems,   Don't Expect Me to Bother Much to Help You.....

Below is a  Basic Pictorial on How these Machines Punch,   But  does not go into the
Timing Sequences provided by the  Limit Switches  &  Relays.  
Again,  there is more  Detailed Description of Machine Operation in the Manual.
Problem;

12F ---  Varying Short  to  Normal Stroke  in  Single,  Normal Operation in Nibble.

---  Caused by Limit Switch  LS1 Short.   LS1 is  Normally-Open  &  Closes when Activated!

---  But,  Can Also be caused by  Too-Thick Oil  in  Punch-Head,  as  Too-Thick Oil does
Not flow  Back & Forth  fast enough through the Bottom of Piston when Valve is Open.
For Many Decades,   Strippit has recommended
  Mobil  DTE-24  Hydraulic Oil   which is a    ISO 32  Weight  Hydraulic Oil.  
Do  NOT  Confuse  the    International Standard  ISO  with the  U.S. Standard  SAE

                                                  ISO 32    =    SAE  10WT

Recently,  I have switched to using   Mobil-1  0W-20  SAE  Motor Oil   in the Punch-Head;
---   I think it gives More Lubrication Protection to  Valve  &  Piston Valve-Seat,  and  I have
      been finding more Valve Seating Wear Problems on these 30 to 60+ year old Machines.
---   It's Easy to find    Mobil-1  0W-20    here in the U.S.  in handy  1 Quart Containers.

Problem;

Oil Sprays-Out Top of Piston when Punching High-Tonnage Holes.
Usually caused by  Poor-Fitting  or  Worn  Valve & Piston  Valve-Seat.

Only other possible cause is a Cracked Piston from Too Many High-Tonnage Punches,
and  I Do See Cracked Pistons from time to time.

Lets  Review   Your Junior High-School Math Class Skills   &   See  if  You  Paid Attention!

Punch Piston is  4.750"  in Diameter   so   Radius of Punch Piston  is  4.750 /2   =   2.375"
Area  of a    Circle is  =   Pi  x  R squared
Area of Punch Piston  =  3.1416 x 2.375 squared  =  3.1416 x 5.6406  =  17.72 Square-Inches

If we are  Punching a  30-Ton Hole,  that equals  30 x 2000   =    60,000 pounds of Force!
Divide   60,000  by  17.72    =    3,386  Pounds per Square Inch   and
That   3,386 PSI  is the   Pressure of the Oil  Between  Piston  and  Ram!

With that Very High-Pressure
If there is  Any Wear  or  Misalignment  of  Valve  &  Piston  Valve-Seat,
Oil will Shoot Past Valve Violently up into Piston  and  out Past Baffles on Top of Piston!

ONLY Solution is to  Carefully Hand-Lap  Valve  to  Piston-Seat  per  Strippit Manual
to  Re-establish a Good Seal!    Read The Manual!
We had Customers that had  The Oil Splashing Out Top of Piston Problem.  
They  Disassembled Punch-Head,  took out Piston,  Carefully Lapped  Valve  &  Piston-Seat,
reassembled Punch-Head,   Did this 2-Times,   and   it Fixed their Oil Splash Problem.

---   When in Doubt,  Change The Oil!    I would also change Piston / Ram Oil once a year!
     --  See the Diagram on my  Webpage    Un-Jam Strippit Super 30/30 Punch Machines
     --  Remove  Swing-Arm Punch Holder  from Machine
     --  Remove  2 Lock-Pins  from Swing-Arm Holder  and  Lock the 2 Pins back in Machine
          with the 2 Handles.   This will  Close  LS4 Switch  to allow Punching.
     --  Put a Bowl under Ram to catch  Check-Valve Ball  and  Oil
     --  Remove  5/16"-18  Set-Screw,  Item #15,  usually Located on Bottom Left-Side of Ram
     --  Ball usually will Not just Fall-Out,  so
         Turn Machine on  and  Punch 1 or 2 times.   Ball should  Fall or Shoot  into bowl.
     --  Oil will slowly drip out,  I usually let it drip out overnight until empty
     --  Put Ball back  and  Carefully  (Don't  Cross-Thread!) Thread Set-Screw back into Ram
     --  Refill Piston with  Correct Oil  to  Correct Amount  using your  Dip-Stick.
     
So the  LS1,  and  LS2,  Mechanical Timing Switches are  Activated for Only About  28ms

Expressed Another Way, 
28ms   =    about  1/36th of a second,   and   In that  Tiny Bit of Time,
---   LS1  Normally-Open Switch Contacts  on  Left Flywheel  Must Close, 
---   Sending  A.C. Power  to  CR1  Relay Coil, 
---   CR1 Relay  then has to  Very Quickly Pull-In  and
---   CR1 Relay's  Set of  Auxiliary Contacts  have to Close  and
---   Get  A.C. Power from  Normally-Closed  2LS  Switch Contacts on  Right Flywheel
      back to  CR1 Coil  to  Lock-In  CR1 Relay   Before   LS1 Releases
---   All has to happen Before  the  28ms Closure Time  of  LS1 Switch is Over,  Or
---   If it does Not Happen Correctly in the 28ms,  you get  No Punch  or  Short-Stroke Punch

So  it's Easy to see that These Parts are Critical,    So Check for:
---   Bad  or  Worn-Out  Mechanical Switches
---   Worn-Out  Switch-Arms
---   Incorrect  or  Wrong  Type of  1LS  or  2LS  Switch
---   Worn  Switch  Cams
---   Bad  Mag-Switches  or  Broken Magnets,  if Machine is so Equipped
---   Bad  or   Worn-Out  or   Slow  CR2  Relay
---   Bad  or   Worn-Out  or   Slow  CR1  Relay

These Parts,  if Bad or Worn,  can Cause
Many Punching   and   Short-Stroke Stroke  Problems.
That's why when I am Working on  Punching Stroke Problems
I Carefully-Check  and  Start Repairs with;

---   Replacing  LS1  &   LS2  Switches  and  Cams,   or  Mag-Switches
---   Change the Oil  in Punch-Head
---   Change   CR2  Relay
---   Change   CR1  Relay
---   Check for  Low Transformer Output-Voltage on Machines;
   ---  Wired to Low  208VAC  3-Phase Electric Systems, instead of 230 / 460
   ---  Having a Too-Small Replacement Transformer fitted,
         Needs to be at least  .25 KVA,    .35KVA  or  .50 KVA  is Better
   ---  Transformer Output Voltage should be about  110  to  120 VAC


This is why I'm switching to using   Mobil-1  0W-20  Oil  in  Piston / Ram.
I think it Lubricates Better  to Slow-down  or  Stop Valve  &  Piston-Seat  Wear.
Do NOT use any Heaver Oil  than   Mobil  DTE-24   or   Mobil-1  0W-20 !!!
Having The Correct  LS1  &  LS2  Timing Switches in Good-Condition
and
CR1  &  CR2  Relays  in  Good-Condition
is Critical to
Proper Consistent Punching  with  No Partial Short-Stroke Punches!
Set Oil to Correct Level in Punch-Head with the  Dip-Stick!
Time for Even More Fun Math!
And I will Show you Why
Good  Switches  &  Relays  are so important on these Machines.

On my Super 30/30 Machine,  the  2 Flywheels are  18.5 inches  in  Diameter.

But,  LS1 & LS2  Timing Switch Cams are  2  Inches Inside the Flywheel  Out-Side Diameter
So, the Diameter that Switch Cams Travel is  18.5" - 4"  =  14.5" Switch Cam Travel Diameter

I want to know the  Linear Distance  that the  Switch Cams Travel
in Circumference in this Case,   in  1  Revolution of Flywheel. 
Circumference of a Circle is the Linear distance of a Circle's edge.

Radius is Half of Switch Cam Travel Diameter  14.5" /2   =   7.25" Switch Cam Travel Radius

The Formula for finding Circumference is    C  =  2 Pi  x  Radius
Circumference    =    2  x  3.1416  x  7.25    =    6.2832  x  7.25    =  
  =   45.55 Linear Inches  that the  Switch Cams Travel  in  1  Revolution

The Strippit Maintenance Manuel states that Machine can Punch 165 Strokes a Minute which means Flywheel is turning  165 rpm  (Revolutions Per Minute).    I checked my Machine by probing the  LS1 Switch with my Digital Oscilloscope  and  I measured about  166  RPM,  Remarkably Close!   So,  I will use 165 RPM  Flywheel Speed Number in my calculations.

A  millisecond  (ms or msec)  is  one thousandth of a second.
1 Minute  has  60 seconds    =    60 x 1000    =    60,000ms.

If we Divide  60,000ms  by  165rpm  we find that  1  Revolution takes  363.636ms
and that the
45.55 Linear Inches that the Switch Cams Travel in 1 Revolution  takes same  363.636ms
and  that Time of
363.636ms  Divided by 45.55 Linear Inches  that the  Switch Cams Travel 
gives you the  Time of   7.983ms per inch  of  Switch Cam Travel.

Measuring from Half-Way Up the Start-Slope of a Switch Cam  to 
Half-Way Down the End-Slope of  Switch Cam is  3.5 inches,    See  Photo Below.

A perfect  LS1  or  LS2  Mechanical Timing Switch would be activated for about that
3.5 inches  x  7.983ms per inch   =    27.94ms.   =    About  28ms,    Not Very Much Time!!!

#19274-000     Normally-Open  Mag-Switch   (Red-Wires Type),      LS1  is on the  Left Side
#19275-000     Normally-Closed  Mag-Switch   (Blue-Wires Type),   LS2  is on the  Right Side
#105092-000   Magnet    2  are used,   1 Magnet is Mounted on each Flywheel
Mechanical  LS1  on Left,       LS3  in  Middle,       Mechanical  LS2  on Right
#49790-040                        #12979-000                         #49790-040
Bottom   Black-Relay  in  ABOVE  Photo is  Original  CR1  Type that Strippit used.
I'm Amazed it Ever Even Worked in these Machines as the  28ms Time-Window  to
Close-Contacts  to  Lock itself in is So Short!   This Allen-Brady Relay is No Longer Made.

Bottom   Gray-Relay  in  Photo  BELOW  is our  Replacement CR1 Relay 
and the Specifications say that it can Fully Close in only  16ms,  Very Fast!

Strippit Machines were  Wired  MANY Different Ways over 40+ Years of Production.  
So,  we Cannot tell you Exactly how-to wire-in our Replacement  CR1.   It's Not that hard, 
But  Has to be Installed  by  Someone who  Understands  Electricity  &  Wiring, 
as  Wiring Variations Need to be Figured-Out at  Installation!

========================================================================

Upper   Clear-Relay  in  ABOVE  Photo is  Original Plug-In  CR2  Type that Strippit used.
It just Plugs into a Socket so it can be  Easily Replaced in Seconds!

Upper   White-Relay  in  Photo  BELOW  is our  Replacement Plug-In  CR2  Relay.
It  Also has a  Light  that  Lights-Up  when  Relay is Pulled-In
to help make it  Easier to Troubleshoot Problems.

This page was last updated: July 9, 2024

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