# Sunhill wide belt sander won't oscillate



## dave.o (Dec 13, 2010)

My 15" sunhill wide belt sander doesn't oscillate anymore. Has anybody been able to repair their sander?


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## sketel (Sep 15, 2010)

First of all, no I don't have an answer to your question. I actually wanted to ask you about your experience with sunhill's customer support. 

It seems if they had good customer support like grizzly, their main competitor in their price range, you would not be asking the question on this forum. I am interested because I have been tempted to buy some of their equipment since some of it is supposedly made to the same specs and at the same factories as Oliver. 

Is that the open end sander you have? That's the one I was thinking of getting so any comments on its performance would be appreciated.


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## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

Do you have the manual?It matters procedurely speaking..........

All the widebelts I've looked at have been straightfwd WRT tracking.Clean/regulated air first and foremost.Then usually a bit of housework(cleaning)around limiters.Check for air leaks with soapy water.BW


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## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

sketel...Just some observations here comparing Sunhill vs Grizz.They're probably made in same factory,so service would be one compelling reason to pick the Grizz..........however if buying used and left to fix "stuff" myself,and these used machines were both older,probably go with Sunhill.This last more of a gut feeling.Grizz has really come on,qualitywise in the last 10 years.Prior to that(used equip.) its more of a crapshoot.....best of luck,BW


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## dave.o (Dec 13, 2010)

Sunhill is out of business as far as I know. There is a guy named Dan who used to work for Sunhill and now works for Oliver Machinery in Washington state.
He recommended the Powermatic 1632 as a comparable machine.
I'll try the soapy water method and see if I can find a leak and will report back.


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## sketel (Sep 15, 2010)

I see. That explains why I saw auctions of a bunch of sunhill machinery up in seattle last year. I thought maybe they did that every year to get rid of surplus.


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## ALG (Dec 14, 2010)

*sunhill 15 inch sander*

I have a sunhill 15inch open end sander ,my sanding belt wont balance 
i have spent hours trying to clean ,adjust the air etc etc Now i have to manually operate it .....moving the knob left to right depending wher the belt riding off.Its very irritating,i try the sunhill tel # but no response


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## dave.o (Dec 13, 2010)

Okay,here's where I'm at. I discovered a metal plate just under the upper roller with a small set screw and I removed it. Lo and behold this compartment was PACKED with 13 years worth of sawdust. There is a part called the MOTION PISTON CONTROL in here which controls the oscillation and it was not throwing out even when I opened up the air supply to it to the max. I took it out and tried taking it apart....no luck...tried pulling the piston out manually while my wife used the air compressor to clean it up and put some machine oil on it....still doesn't work.
So now I am going to order the comparable part from the Powermatic 1632 and see if I can somehow get it to replace mine.
Wish me luck....and I will report back.
We also(my wife actually) have been manually adjusting the tracking lever up until now in order to dimension enough wood to get out our last orders.


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## dave.o (Dec 13, 2010)

Disregard ordering the part from Powermatic...it looks like the Grizzly G9983 is the same exact machine as the Sunhill SDM15...so I plan on ordering parts from Grizzly. I'll let you know if it works.


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## ALG (Dec 14, 2010)

I did the same, i opened up that area but there was very little dust ,i also open the air flow but no result from the piston .i think you are right Dave O..the piston is damage.Let me know how it goes with the grizzly part.


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## dave.o (Dec 13, 2010)

ALG...I have ordered enough parts to replace that entire piston assembly.
I'm pretty sure that the diaphram is leaking and I hope this does it.I should have the parts by early next week. I have also ordered a new diaphram for the upper air assembly that is above the fork.
BTW...Grizzly was GREAT to deal with and if all else fails I will buy the 15" Grizzly G9983 to replace my Sunhill.
I'll let you know how it goes.


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## dave.o (Dec 13, 2010)

ALG....I'm back in business!!! Turned out it was a bad diaphragm in the lower piston assembly and the Grizzly parts were an exact match for the Sunhill. I haven't replaced the upper diaphragm yet, but I will after the glow of success wears off a bit and I've had lunch.
May I suggest you download the manual for the grizzly 9983, check out the exploded diagrams and order parts over the phone as a few of the part numbers have changed. It's a good idea to order a new retaining ring as weel as the shaft and diaphragm and top and bottom covers. Good luck!!


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## ALG (Dec 14, 2010)

thank u dave .i will call grizzly ..how much did it cost


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## ALG (Dec 14, 2010)

which diaphram is it ,whats the part #


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## dave.o (Dec 13, 2010)

Here are the part numbers I ordered;
P9983336 SPRING
P9983441 DIAPHRAGM (upper)
P9983331 TOP COVER
P9983335 SHAFT
P99796315 PLATE (includes lower diaphragm)
PR05M RETAINING RING
P9983337 BOTTOM COVER
The other parts needed for this assembly I used from the origional.


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## masterartisan (Sep 9, 2011)

*wide belt sander problems*

I hope someone will answer this call for help. I too am having problems with my Sunhill Sheng Shing sander. I'm having the same sanding belt return issues. Can someone help out? PLEASE

Update:
Well...Upon further investigation I found the culprit...a broken air line buried inside a horizontal support piece. Last year I bought 100 feet of airline to fix a line that broke then...so I replaced the line and the sander is working again. 

I would still like to connect with anyone who is familiar with the Sunhill Sheng Shing 25" sander to establish a group to help people who will one day encounter the same problems. 

Thanks, 
Barry from Buffalo, NY


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## dpottr (Feb 12, 2012)

I recently purchased a well used Sunhill SDM-25 for a reasonable price. There are some issues that I would appreciate some guidance from all of the experts out there on. 

1. The spiral rubber sanding belt contact roller is worn in the middle about 1/16" to 3/32" and full size on the outside edges. Will this cause problems with the sanding or belt grip and is there a way to level the roller? 

2. The air lines are cracked. I see that people have replaced theirs in the past is there a perfered type of tubing to be used. The existing yellow tubing says polypropylene on it, but is there something special about the yellow versus the cloudy white/clear tubing that they sell at the local hardware store?

3. Is the brake piston spring loaded so that if there is a loss of air the brake is applied? Mine currently is not spring loaded.

4. Is there a special type of conveyor belt material that should be used?

5. I have seen a bridgeport and a powermatic model that look identical to my machine. Is there a grizzly equivalent?

6. I understand that the new sanders use electronic eye tracking. I am assuming this is an improvement to the pneumatic tracking that my machine has. Has anyone out there upgraded. Is it worth the investment and what parts did you use?

7. If anyone has any tuning trips for initial setup that would be much appreciated as well.

Have a great day!!
Dean From Wichita KS


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## masterartisan (Sep 9, 2011)

*Tubing*

Dean, 
All of the issues that I have experienced have all been due to air line problems. I went to my local Grainger Supply (with a piece of the old stuff) and purchased a 100 foot roll and replaced all of my lines. That solved the problem. For the lines inside the horizontal support piece I first taped the new tubing to the old and pulled the new tube into position. Leave the lines long so that if an end starts to fatigue you can just trim it down a bit and your back in business. My air tracking system works fine, I personally wouldn't incur the expense of upgrading unless I had lots of other related tracking issues. Just my two cents.
Barry from Buffalo, NY


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