Martin B Posted August 20, 2019 Report Share Posted August 20, 2019 Hi, I have bought an unbranded wheel from eBay that has an in-line pedal with a handle on it that is fixed to the wheel, the shaft runs through the wheel to the other side. I have a problem in that when the pedal is as far back as it will go the wheel doesn't stop turning. I wondered if anyone here knows of these types of pedals and whether there is a way to adjust it so in its back position the wheel will stop completely? Thanking you in advance, Martin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted August 20, 2019 Report Share Posted August 20, 2019 Without a brand, I suggest you post a couple pictures including one of the electronics if possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin B Posted August 20, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2019 Hi, thanks. I had planned to do that but couldn't see an upload option when I first wrote the post. I've attached 2 images here. In the underside image you can see bolts at the end of the pedal shaft. I've adjusted these so the pedal will go as far back as possible and it still doesn't stop completely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted August 20, 2019 Report Share Posted August 20, 2019 Martin, what made you decide to buy this particular wheel? i will be very interested in how this works out. this appears to be one of those cheap wheels we talked about last year when they started showing up all over ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted August 20, 2019 Report Share Posted August 20, 2019 Yeah, that wheel is a Chinese made wheel that they have started selling on eBay and Amazon. The quality of the build is very poor. If you have the option to return it since it doesn't work properly, I highly recommend doing that. I wouldn't expect it to last very long even if it did function properly. Then save up for a better wheel. As far as getting it to work, I don't think anyone here on the forum has ever actually used on of those, but hopefully someone who has will see your post and chime in. On most wheels there is an adjustment dial on the controller where you can set the low end and high end. I don't know if that exists on that wheel, though. Look for dials on the electronic parts and see if they do anything. Otherwise, it could be an assembly error, and you would have figure out which part was assembled in the wrong position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MFP Posted August 20, 2019 Report Share Posted August 20, 2019 Just to underscore Neil's point.....my Shimpo is 40 years old and still going strong. If you buy a brand wheel.....it will last you much better. Sometimes if you check around, there might be a local potter's guild where people sell their used wheels because they bought something niftier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted August 20, 2019 Report Share Posted August 20, 2019 Neil is correct, interesting machine. First step is to confirm it stops when the shaft potentiometer is at its minimum position. The potentiometer appears to be the black tubular piece that has the wire attached to it. This is just like a volume control knob. Likely three wires in the cable. It appears that the most likely thing to check would be the stops and another calibration possibility would be the hose clamp that fastens this assembly to the stop shaft. So what would I try? I would loosen the hose clamp and confirm (gently) that the potentiometer minimum and maximum positions are indeed reached and at minimum travel the wheel is still moving. If still moving then we have to find an electrical limit. Keep in mind the potentiometer is not made to take a lot of force so the mechanical stops absolutely need to be set correctly and limit the force on the potentiometer From there I need a picture of the control board and a bit of luck to spot where that cable from the potentiometer plugs in to take an educated guess at the electrical limit adjustment if there is one. No guarantees, all would be supposition but these things often are somewhat identifiable by sight. I am not sure the control board is visible though, it may be fully enclosed. Not sure that helps but more pictures especially where the pedal speed control wire terminates at the circuit board could get you further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin B Posted August 22, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2019 Thank you for the replies so far, you've been really helpful. Unfortunately I can't return the wheel as the eBay seller doesn't accept returns. It was sold as being a Pottery Crafts brand wheel so although it looked like the cheap Chinese ones I'd see I thought it was maybe a proper model those were based off. I was wrong and should have researched more. So I'm stuck with it for now, which isn't so bad. I've managed to throw one reasonable thing on it so far (I'm still practicing). I will see if I can make the wheel stop after loosening the hose clamp (my Dad calls them jubilee clips) and manually moving the potentiometer, I'm not optimistic from my initial investigation. I will try to get pictures of where the cables go and hopefully there will be some adjustment there. I may be able to get to it tomorrow, otherwise it will be late on the weekend. Thanks again to everyone who has responded so far. Martin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted August 22, 2019 Report Share Posted August 22, 2019 Those china wheels for under 400$ are just not worth buying-if you can still return it do so as noted in above posts.This is the beginning of much disapointment I'm afraid to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin B Posted August 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2019 So, some good news. I loosened the jubilee clip and twisted the potentiometer sleeve on the shaft and felt what I can only describe as a pop. Afterwards the sleeve moved freely between 2 points within the fixed part of the potentiometer so I decided to turn the wheel on and test it manually. When I turned it on the wheel did not start spinning right away as it had before, my initial thought was that I had broken it. But to my surprise when I turned the sleeve the wheel started and got faster the more I turned. I could turn it then the other way and it came to a complete stop again. Encouraged by this I twisted the sleeve so the wheel was not spinning, made sure the pedal was as far back as it would go and then tightened the jubilee clip to secure the sleeve in this 'off' position. I then tested it several times with the pedal and the wheel stops completely and the speed can be controlled quite well. It would seem that the sleeve just wasn't in quite the right position. Thank you Bill for the advice on where to look and what to do. It seems I have gotten it working for now. I appreciate what others have said about it being a cheap Chinese wheel. I think you're right, but with the seller not accepting returns I think it am stuck with it. It wasn't expensive and will hopefully be a good starting point for me to perfect my throwing technique so I can move onto something better in the future. Thank you to those that responded. If anyone wants more information or detail on what I did (not that there's much more to add) please just ask. And if anyone is interested in how I get on with the wheel I can always post something here. Martin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted August 23, 2019 Report Share Posted August 23, 2019 1 hour ago, Martin B said: So, some good news. Encouraged by this I twisted the sleeve so the wheel was not spinning, made sure the pedal was as far back as it would go and then tightened the jubilee clip to secure the sleeve in this 'off' position. I then tested it several times with the pedal and the wheel stops completely and the speed can be controlled quite well. It would seem that the sleeve just wasn't in quite the right position. Thank you Bill for the advice on where to look and what to do. It seems I have gotten it working for now. I appreciate what others have said about it being a cheap Chinese wheel. I think you're right, but with the seller not accepting returns I think it am stuck with it. It wasn't expensive and will hopefully be a good starting point for me to perfect my throwing technique so I can move onto something better in the future. Thank you to those that responded. If anyone wants more information or detail on what I did (not that there's much more to add) please just ask. And if anyone is interested in how I get on with the wheel I can always post something here. Martin. Martin, Way to go, cautiously fixing your wheel! Sorry we could not be more helpful to begin with. Don’t worry about cheap, I started throwing on all sorts of wheels it was good practice. Hopefully you go on to throw all sorts of cool stuff. Enjoy -BK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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