In the Radia community, there are so many businesses that use our industrial mixers every day. Many of these businesses have machines that are older than their operators. Paint mixers were first built exclusively as belt-driven machines, however, belts inherently break down over time. Our Radia engineers have designed our machines to be gear-driven and meant to stand the test of time. To prove how reliable our industrial mixers really are, we currently only have one person in our technical support department. One person! That being said, nothing is perfect, but to help you with any little issues that may arise, we are going to share with you the most commonly encountered technical issues and how best to fix them yourselves!
Are your cans coming loose or getting crushed during their shake cycle in your 5995 mixer?
If this is happening to you, then you need to adjust your clamping pressure. Here are the steps you need to take in order to do this quickly and efficiently!
- Make sure your machine is off. Better safe than sorry!
- Get a 5/16th inch socket to unscrew the eight bolts to remove your front control panel.
- Once you remove the panel, you will see the controller. There are a series of LED lights, two adjustment knobs, and a high and low zone on the left and right respectively.
- The high zone controls the pressure for the 5-gallon buckets, and the low zone controls the pressure for the 1-gallon buckets.
- If your machine is crushing cans on its initial clamp, then pressure needs to be decreased.
- If your machine is crushing or denting cans after it clamps or during the shake cycle, then there is not enough clamp pressure and the can/pail is actually bouncing between the plates denting it. For this, we need to increase clamp pressure.
- We recommend adjusting the pressure one notch at a time. The dials in the high and low zone can be either alphabetical or numerical depending on the year of your machine.
- After you make an adjustment, you will need to run the machine for 10 cycles before the pressure is adjusted in the controller, so have a dummy/test can available.
- If you’re still having issues, then you can call us!
Your mixer won’t turn on?
If this is the case, we need to first ask you to make sure that your machine is plugged in! It seems obvious, but sometimes you may have a classic case of the Mondays, and the fix is just as simple as that. However, if it is plugged in then do this:
- Check the Emergency Stop, and make sure that it is pulled on by rotating the red button clockwise until it pops out.
- Check the building’s circuit breaker. 5 gallon or multi-size platform shakers should not be run on an extension cord or a power strip. They should be plugged directly into their own 20amp power receptacle.
- Still won’t turn on? Give us a call!
Your top plate is coming down & locking on your bucket in your 5995?
If this is happening to you, we’ll help you figure out how to lift that top plate up to remove the bucket to give to your customer as quickly as possible!
- Make sure your machine is off by unplugging it and pushing the e-stop button in.
- Open the door to your machine, and right above the top plate, you will see the belt that runs along the lead screws, which lifts and lowers the top plate.
- To lift the plate, grab the belt, and pull it from left to right. It will resist at first, but it will eventually become easier to pull. As you pull, the belt will manually lift the top plate up.
- Pull the bucket out, close the door, plug your machine back in, twist the e-stop button to the right, and this will reset your machine, which will allow for the top plate to return to its home position.
- Something still wrong? Call us!
Is the circuit breaker on the front panel of your mixer tripped?
If you can see a white stripe on the side of the breaker, or it has a spongey-feel when you press it, this is probably your issue! Here is what you should do:
- Turn the power off on your machine!
- Hold the circuit breaker in for three to five seconds.
- If it doesn’t stay down and firm, then you need a new circuit breaker.
- If it stays down and trips right on start-up, then you need to give us a call!
Your mixer has power, but it won’t spin?
This one may be an easy fix for you!
- Open and close door very slowly and listen for a clicking noise.
- If you do not hear a clicking noise, the door switch may be out of adjustment. Try to adjust, and give us a call if this doesn’t work!
- To make the adjustment, open the door, and look at the back right side of the machine. You should see a metal tab that is attached to the back of the door. Gently bend this tab away from you. Less is more— bending the tab too much will allow it to catch on the enclosure when the door is closed, which will keep your door stuck in the closed position.
- If you do hear a click, there could be something wrong with the machine’s controller. If this is the case, call us!
Need to change the orange belt in your 1400 or 5400 Classic Shaker?
- Unplug your machine!
- You will need to remove the plastic cover if you have the 1400 model. The next few steps explain how to do this.
- Go around to the back of the machine and unplug the limit switch by pinching the sides and pulling it out.
- Next, grab a 7/16” socket to remove the four bolts on the back.
- Once the four bolts are removed, you can take the top plastic cover right off.
- Then you will want to remove the center cover and you will want a ½” socket to remove the four center bolts. There are two on each side of the machine.
- You will then need to remove the timer plate by taking out the four screws that are holding it in.
- Once the screws are removed, gently lift the timer plate, turn it sideways and place it in the opening you have just created by lifting it.
- Remove the enclosure by then pulling up and out on the sides. Make sure to get the limit switch connecter out of its hole to make this step easier.
- Once the enclosure is removed, you will see the transmission pulley and the motor pulley. The transmission pulley is the one on the top, and the motor pulley is below it.
- Pull on the belt and turn it counterclockwise. It will come right off the motor pulley. Keep turning until it fully releases and comes out entirely.
- Feed the new belt into the top rack and turn the transmission pulley counterclockwise until it clears the bracket.
- Pull the belt around the motor pulley and rotate the transmission pulley clockwise until the belt falls into place.
- You now have a new belt in your machine! You can place the enclosures back on top and get your machine back up and running!
- If something still isn’t right, give us a call!
We hope these tips can help you and your business keep working smoothly and efficiently. We pride ourselves on giving you the best product to get your work done, and we are here for you if any technical issues arise! Durable, reliable, and just one phone call away.