Powermatic 2 question
 

I have had my PM2 now for a year and a half and has performed flawlessly after extensive hard use.It seems like it is getting a little tired these days.I have found youtubes on dissasembly for cleaning and lubing.Hvae other people here experienced the same and if so did you decide to give it a good once over or just replace the unit??? Right now amazon has them for $67.Right now I am leaning just to replace it.I feel I most definately have gotten my moneys worth out of this unit.

i've gone through 3 of those, and all seemed to go most of the way to 50,000 tubes and never experienced that

it's more than likely a lot of debris/dust on the upper plate where the arm swings or pivots in operating the injector spoon putting a bind on that arm and making the motor seem weak. I'm still using a PM2 for my own smokes as i'm only making a few each day - every few weeks i'll hold it off the desk right side up, and then tilt it some to the 12;00 O'clock and smack it with the heel of my right hand, then tilt it toward 3;00 O'clock and repeat smacking it, then 6:00 and then 9:00. A lot of dust and small flakes fall out the vent grill on the bottom.

But even doing that, i have to pull it apart and clean that upper swinging arm area

At that $67 price, you ought to grab one, cause when the one you've got fails, you know they'll be $98 again

fwiw

Just a thought on lubrication. While it is a good thing to lubricate moving parts that rub against each other some consideration must be given to the type and amount of lubricant used. Given the dry and dusty environment that exists inside a cigarette machine an oil based lube is probably not the best idea. Many lubes would just catch and hold the tobacco dust creating more friction. I would suggest a silicone spray or graphite lube as it won’t collect desbris.

you just reminded me, there's a spray on food grade silicone lube that drys leaving a lube coating - it does not attract or hold dust or debris

not cheap, iirc about $14 for a spray can

found it Sprayon S00211000 LU211 Food Grade Dry Silicone Lubricant Aerosol, 13.25 ounces
https://www.amazon.com/Food-Grade-Silicone-Spray-13-25/dp/B0086A7806?tag=duckduckgo-d-20

I prefer tobacco without additives, including silicone. I clean with alcohol, allow to air dry, then wipe with a soft cloth. I do this once a year and have never had a problem. Others may do as they like.

you do realize where we're talking about applying it, it does not come in contact with the tobacco going into your cigs, right? And even Zico applied some grease there where that actuator arm slides, so they must think it needs some lubrication

Zico added the lube to drive up the cost. Moving metal parts that rub against each other will just “seat” themselves into a nice smooth operating state.

that's a joke, right?

and no, they won't just "seat" - they'll continue wearing into each other, with the fit (or gap) between the components in the friction environment continuing to grow and getting sloppier and sloppier

How does one train the silicone to stay put?

you don't "train" it - it dries to a clear film, looks like a clear lacquer coat on whatever you apply it to

only reason i like it, is it dries so it doesn't trap, hold or collect dust or debris. It's also used in food processing plants, like sausage grinding stations, where the chute the ground meat travels down - makes for easier cleanup - just a wet hose spraying the chutes down cleans everything up - nothing sticks to it.

There are other coatings that are self lubricating, but much more expensive - ie teflon, and ceramic coatings - cerakote has some self lubricating ceramic coats used for (firearm) barrel bores. Life expectancy on the SAW 249 went from 6500 - 7000 rounds to 12500 to 13000 rounds, with the only maintenance, they passed a dry patch thru the barrel every 1000 rounds to push out any fouling. That was from an engineer at Picatinny Arsenal (US Army testing grounds) that turned me onto ceracote

and it has other applications that don't apply here, but it's an electrical insulator - i used it on a couple of computer motherboards to seal the circuits that are exposed - both computers were going to liquid cooling, which gives you better or more efficient cooling but if a leak develops, and any water/glycol hits those exposed circuits, it'll be an electrical macrena dance with a lot of expensive components frying