Machine slows down?!

[Jesrox]

I have an issue with my machine. When I’m tattooing…either lining or shading, sometimes it slows down. The only thing that seems to help is if I adjust it a little or by adjusting the rubber band around the machine, but then sometimes it goes back to slowing down again. I think it might be my power because I have to bring it up to 12v and it’ll be fine, but then when I have to shade, its a b*tch because I have to bring it down and it ends up slowing up again. I’m using a power supply from Technical Tattoo Supply. The cheap one. Thanks.

[avatar]

sounds like the machine isnt set up right have you taken it apart and made sure no exposed wires are touching the frame an such

as a personal preference i try to keep my machines running at about 6.5 – 9

[Jesrox]

Well it used to run fine at those levels now its extremely slow. No wires are exposed. This is happening on 2 of machines. I think its my power supply?

[D-Man]

Hi,
from my experience there are several reasons this can happen and many components which are involved. All of the below to be read as ** in my opinion **

The powersupply can definitely be an issue. Some power supplies use low cost components who generate too much heat and as they heat up the components start to fail.
The thing is that when you adjust your rubber band you give it time to “chill”, so you adjusting the rubber band could be just that you are giving it time to recover. Have any other measures shielded the same result (Eg stop for a minute)
*** do not open your powersupply .. you might void warranty and endanger youself *** but put your hand on the power supply and – this might seem strange – smell it.
See if you can use an amp meter to determine the draw and possibly check on actual voltage drop. Don’t rely too much on the voltage displayed .. it might be off or wrong.

My suggestion would be to take the number on the display as calibration mark, not as an actual voltage. The best voltage for the job will depend on the current tuning parameters of your machine, even the rubber bands being used, needles used, type of line you are running, etc

Check the foot pedal .. cheap (not as in price, but fabrication) might generate too much resistance, heat up and cause a voltage drop. Get a multimeter and check the resistance.

Check that every connection is making good contact and is secure … a bad connection (eg lose banana clip screw, half connected cable, bad soldering, etc)

If it is indeed improving with adjusting the rubber band, it might be that the armature bar is not moving with enough force. That can have several reasons:
1) check the capacitor .. is it still operational
2) do you have the clipcord connected correctly (as far as polarity goes)
3) do you have the right coils for your tasks (e.g driving larger/thicker needles requires a bit more force)
4) what material is your armature bar (I have seen cheap armature bars who magnetise temporarly, causing for the bar to try to stick to the coil cores more and more as you work. As you take a break they lose the magnetism)
5) coil wire material: aluminium wire vs copper wire – it is hard for the untrained eye to identify what kind of wire your coils are using. Aluminium wire tend to get hotter, the generated heat increases the resistance slowing the machine down – check the temp of your coils by touching them.
6) Heat: does your machine get very hot (could be caused by any of the above
7) and finally tunning: Are you running your machine too fast, is there (a lot) of spark between the front spring and the Contact Point Screw. Check the angle between the screw and the spring and take notice how much of the screw is coming in contact with the spring. Listen to your machine .. it should purr .. any roughness might mean that you need to readjust.

As far as the machine goes .. take it apart and check the solder lugs … I have seen it more than once that the solder lug was actually broken and only held in place by the heat shrink. Pull (gently with lots of lovin’) on the coil wire .. sometimes it is loose or the soldering into the lug is not done well … common problems with aluminium wire.

Check your spring material … if you are having one of those springs which can easily be bend with your finger you might be in bit of trouble as the force of the up and down movement might cause for spring to generate heat and possible bend (and you lose your tuning). My favourite are springs which will snap if you bend them too much and the only way to bend them is to “roll” them.

[Author]

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