Removing motor form Kondia Varispeed mill

tay2daizzo8 · Jul 27, 2020

Removing motor from Kondia Varispeed mill

Hi Everyone,

I have a Kondia Mill im trying to remove the motor from. Im stuck trying to get the pully off the shaft so i can pull the motor.
One place i saw referenced two tapped holes in the spring loaded plate on the bottom of the motor to release the tension? but i have not 2 screw holes but one hex bolt . Im afraid if i start cranking on this bolt the spring will come flying out and ill be SOL. or maybe i just need to remove the belt but it doesnt seem possible without taking off the motor.

Im taking it apart because there is an issue with the motor itself, my repair guy said it want receiving full voltage to the motor but was getting full voltage at the connections to the motor.

Any help greatly appreciated

Limy Sami · Jul 27, 2020

Some pics would really help - not that many Kondia's about.

tay2daizzo8 · Jul 27, 2020

atomarc · Jul 27, 2020

The motor removes from the top with the vari-drive sheave you have pictured still attached to the motor, don't remove it until the motor is out. I have enclosed a link to this procedure on a different machine, but it should be fairly close to the procedure for your Kondia.

Bridgeport Mill Variable Speed Drive (2J) Disassembly Part 1 / Belt replacement - YouTube

Stuart

dana gear · Jul 27, 2020

Kondia Vari-drive
Set the spindle speed to the top position. This will raise the sliding motor pulley to the top most position and therefore the push spring will be at minimum resistance.
Take off the lower cover and remove it.
Proceed to remove the hex head bolt 10x30 on the end of the shaft, when removing the hex bolt you will then see the spring retainer move downward pushed by the main spring. This will allow removal of the spring and spring retainer as well as the splined shaft once the bolt has been removed. use a little care here.
remove the two screws that retain the motor to the housing and remove the motor by pulling the motor upwards.

atomarc · Jul 27, 2020

This will be interesting. I've never worked on a Kondia mill. I recently rebuilt the pulleys on a Bridgeport clone (Birmingham) and it was a real learning experience. I hope the Kondia is different..the motor pulley on the Bridgeport vari-drives has about a bazillion pounds of captive spring tension and any attempt to mess with it before removing the motor and capturing things will lead to digital amputation..or worse. :eek:

While I'm not sure on this, I'll say with 99.9% certainty, the motor and pulley must come out together, from the top.

Stuart

tay2daizzo8 · Jul 28, 2020

dana gear said:
Kondia Vari-drive
Set the spindle speed to the top position. This will raise the sliding motor pulley to the top most position and therefore the push spring will be at minimum resistance.
Take off the lower cover and remove it.
Proceed to remove the hex head bolt 10x30 on the end of the shaft, when removing the hex bolt you will then see the spring retainer move downward pushed by the main spring. This will allow removal of the spring and spring retainer as well as the splined shaft once the bolt has been removed. use a little care here.
remove the two screws that retain the motor to the housing and remove the motor by pulling the motor upwards.

once i remove the hex bolt will there be enough length on the thread to put it back together without some form of spring compressor?

atomarc I watched the video and read up on the Bridgeport version of this and the 2 screws to release tension make sense but the Kondia has only one hex head.

Also i am not able to power the machine at the moment to get the varidrive to its top postion, can i do this without the motor running?

tay2daizzo8 · Jul 28, 2020

atomarc said:
This will be interesting. I've never worked on a Kondia mill. I recently rebuilt the pulleys on a Bridgeport clone (Birmingham) and it was a real learning experience. I hope the Kondia is different..the motor pulley on the Bridgeport vari-drives has about a bazillion pounds of captive spring tension and any attempt to mess with it before removing the motor and capturing things will lead to digital amputation..or worse.

While I'm not sure on this, I'll say with 99.9% certainty, the motor and pulley must come out together, from the top.

Stuart

this definatly seems the case but i see know way of slipping the belt off inside the head, the pulleys seem to large to get over them.

atomarc · Jul 28, 2020

As I have never worked on a Kondia mill any future advice would be speculation as it appears they come apart quite differently than a Bridgeport. All I can say is whatever you do, that large spring must be unloaded somehow...safely. It holds a lot of tension.

If you're taking this apart for a belt replacement, then cutting the belt while in the machine would be an option.

Stuart

tay2daizzo8 · Jul 28, 2020

im trying to locate a manual but to no avail...i REALLY dont want to loosen that spring without knowing how to decompress it.

I am sending the motor out to be rebuilt but if i was replacing the belt(and probably should while its out) how do i get a new belt in if i just cut the old one?

atomarc · Jul 28, 2020

Have you watched this video?

Milling Machine Motor Removal and Drive Pulley Repair - YouTube

Because your machine isn't powered and it's necessary to adjust the speed to a extreme to spread the pulleys, would it be possible to drive it backwards through the spindle using a chuck and a good 1/2" drill?

Stuart

dana gear · Jul 28, 2020

The instructions I provided in post number 5 are straight from the Kondia Vari-drive service manual.
We have several of these mills here and have pulled the motor on 2 of them over the years, fallowing the Kondia service instructions.
Reinstall is a reversal of removal. Unfortunately the service break down /parts page folds out into a 25" X 25" print or I would post.
You do want to get the Spindle speed lever to the top position, this will raise the sliding motor pulley to its top most position and therefore reduce spring pressure.
We have never pulled the motor without raising the speed first, other wise dirt simple...........

tay2daizzo8 · Jul 29, 2020

DanaGear---did you watch the video in post#11. it looks like the Enco is the same design as the Kondia and that spring looks to be a bitch to get back on

atomarc · Jul 29, 2020

I'm going to make some wild ass guesses here. If you look closely at the video I linked in post #11, you will see what appears to be a snap ring groove under the cap that's held on with the screw. In the video, there is no snap ring and when the bolt is removed the spring and bottom half of the pulley are free to explode, which doesn't fit with Dana Gears experience. My WAG is that there is suppose to be a snap ring under the cap that holds the pulley assembly together, and that removing the bolt only, allows you to slide the splined adapter and pulley assembly as a unit off the motor shaft.. or more correctly, leave the intact pulley assembly where it is and pull only the motor up, off the cover.

With the motor removed the cover can then be taken off and the pulley and belt addressed.

This is only a WAG!

Stuart

Mtndew · Jul 29, 2020

Whatever you do, be extra careful about that spring tension!
I took a fully compressed spring to the chin back when I was just starting out in this business from a Bridgeport.
I should have gotten stitches but toughed it out.

tay2daizzo8 · Jul 29, 2020

Ok so let it be known to anyone who searches yee forum for this in the future.

JUST SLIP THE BELT OVER THE PULLY!!!! and pull the whole thing out...DO NOT TOUCH THE SPRING...

Still need to know how to removr the belt without a pair of snips

dana gear · Jul 29, 2020

atomarc said:
I'm going to make some wild ass guesses here. If you look closely at the video I linked in post #11, you will see what appears to be a snap ring groove under the cap that's held on with the screw. In the video, there is no snap ring and when the bolt is removed the spring and bottom half of the pulley are free to explode, which doesn't fit with Dana Gears experience. My WAG is that there is suppose to be a snap ring under the cap that holds the pulley assembly together, and that removing the bolt only, allows you to slide the splined adapter and pulley assembly as a unit off the motor shaft.. or more correctly, leave the intact pulley assembly where it is and pull only the motor up, off the cover.

With the motor removed the cover can then be taken off and the pulley and belt addressed.

This is only a WAG!

Stuart

The Clausing/Kondia Veri-drive is the same ONLY in principal with Bridgeport, Enco etc. the 30 mm long bolt allows the spring to release tension but ONLY if spindle speed is in the top position. Still care should be taken. Spring should be unloaded ( free of expansion pressure) by about 20 mm of backing out of the retaining bolt.
Pulling the bottom cover directly below the pulley, 4 socket head bolts, you will see that the cover has a small machined area on the inside to provide clearance for the head of the 10x30 mm bolt.

janvanruth · Jul 29, 2020

tay2daizzo8 said:
Hi Everyone,

I have a Kondia Mill im trying to remove the motor from. Im stuck trying to get the pully off the shaft so i can pull the motor.
One place i saw referenced two tapped holes in the spring loaded plate on the bottom of the motor to release the tension? but i have not 2 screw holes but one hex bolt . Im afraid if i start cranking on this bolt the spring will come flying out and ill be SOL. or maybe i just need to remove the belt but it doesnt seem possible without taking off the motor.

Im taking it apart because there is an issue with the motor itself, my repair guy said it want receiving full voltage to the motor but was getting full voltage at the connections to the motor.

Any help greatly appreciated

i own a kondia and had the motor out some time ago.
happily there is no need to get the pulley off to be able to get the motor out.
force the motor pulley to open as wide as possible by first turning the wheel for the speed adjustment to highest speed,while rotating the spindle by hand, and after that is done use a lever of some kind and some wedges to open the pulley.
i hammered in some wooden wedges if i recall correctly.
took some force but it did work.
once the pulley is fully open place a little block of wood in motor pulley to keep it open.
now you can take off the belt from the pulley by pulling up and tilting the motor.
the belt will barely have enough room to clear the pulley but it will fit.
there were two of us when we did it and i think i could have done it on my own if i had a hoist to hold the weight of the motor.

i may be wrong but as i recall on my machine there was NO bolt to secure the pulley half of the motor.
i seem to remember there was kind of a circlip securing the pulley half.
at the time i did not have the explosion drawing so it was all done learning on the go.

as said, no need to take the pulley off to pull the motor and no need to cut the belt.
i

atomarc · Jul 30, 2020

dana gear said:
The Clausing/Kondia Veri-drive is the same ONLY in principal with Bridgeport, Enco etc. the 30 mm long bolt allows the spring to release tension but ONLY if spindle speed is in the top position. Still care should be taken. Spring should be unloaded ( free of expansion pressure) by about 20 mm of backing out of the retaining bolt.
Pulling the bottom cover directly below the pulley, 4 socket head bolts, you will see that the cover has a small machined area on the inside to provide clearance for the head of the 10x30 mm bolt.

You have done this procedure, and I have not, so I'm not doubting you, but that is certainly a special spring if it can be in tension at 30mm but released from tension at around 20mm, unless I'm understanding this wrong.

Stuart

dana gear · Jul 31, 2020

atomarc said:
You have done this procedure, and I have not, so I'm not doubting you, but that is certainly a special spring if it can be in tension at 30mm but released from tension at around 20mm, unless I'm understanding this wrong.

Stuart

Ya, I now it sounds a little odd but the Clusing/Kondia very drive compression spring is a total different beast then say a Bridgeport, it coil diameter is a little smaller in diameter and it's shorter and when spindle speed is in the top position the compression spring is in it's most decompressed position. I can tell you that you will never slip a drive belt in a Kondia. I have both Bridgeports manual and CNC mills as well as several Kondias and I actually prefer the manual operation Kondia to my manual Bridgeports. There easy to maintain and very well made.

Removing motor form Kondia Varispeed mill

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