'Loose' towers

[Quinch]

I have a few Clenports that over the years and with lots of use have become a bit loose as they turn, they still seem to vend ok but it concerns me that they might not if they get any worse.

Just to clarify what I mean: when first using a new tower each turn of the segments to line up a different row of sweets is quite pronounced/stiff and involves a bit of effort but a few of mine now turn without any effort hardly and can end up with the row of sweets half over the barrel.

I've stripped many towers over the years and know how every part in a tower works so the first things I checked were the central spring and the bumps under the centering ring (black ring at base of threaded rod), the bumps seem ok and not worn down and the spring is the same height as new springs so I can't see how that has lost any tension in it. Also the central threaded rod has not been adjusted in any way, after checking the spring/bumps and rod I am at a loss as to why this is happening and other machines I have that are equally old don't have the issue.

Any ideas?

[Siting Services]

That's a weird one. My first thoughts would be the indexing ring being worn or the spring losing tension.

Have you tried to increase the tension on the spring by a mm or so? That might help to tighten up the tower. Another thing to try is to add an extra washer or two at the top nut? That will in turn give extra tension.

Let us know how you get on if you get this solved.

Kind regards,

Barbara

[Quinch]

Thanks Barbara, sound like good suggestions. I think adding a washer or two at the top nut might be the easiest way to increase tension on the spring but it's still a bit perplexing how it happens in the first place. I've had a few different Clenport M81's over the years and sometimes they have a metal washer and sometimes not, also the central rod was slightly shorter on the last batch I had about a year ago.

I've got another question for Barbara or anyone who really knows about towers: when building an M81 back up from scratch and you have put the 2 halves of the body back together and are tightening up the central nut on the bottom section of threaded rod before attaching the top section of rod (that the segments fit around) - how much do you tighten the nut (full rotations with the 18mm spanner) ?
I've never been exactly sure but it's really important because on the one hand you need it tight to hold the body of the tower together properly but the tighter it is the less space there is in the nut for the top rod which holds the entire weight of the segments, lid and 81 pots of sweets. This also relates to my issue of loose towers because the further the top central rod goes into the nut the tighter the whole top part of a tower is held together.

[PabloV8Haggis]

Hi,
Even new towers can sometimes be a problem!
I strip everything down these days, grease the ring with silicone grease put it all back together then use lock tight on top nut, then I am confident that all is well.
Nothing worse than putting a tower out, only for it to fail for one reason or the other.
For the rods that break down to two pieces I also lock tight them as well, as has been intimated to you, I always use a washer at the top.
Going back to your query, I would have systematically put a new ring and new spring on filled machine up and run through a large amount of coins.
Cheers
Pablo

[Ade]

change black index ring at base of tower its worn as barbara said, or put few extra washers under locking nut at top of tower

[Style]

Also make sure the nut at the bottom of the centre rod is tight.
Andy

[cliffxtc]

Hi,
Even new towers can sometimes be a problem!
I strip everything down these days, grease the ring with silicone grease put it all back together then use lock tight on top nut, then I am confident that all is well.
Nothing worse than putting a tower out, only for it to fail for one reason or the other.
For the rods that break down to two pieces I also lock tight them as well, as has been intimated to you, I always use a washer at the top.
Going back to your query, I would have systematically put a new ring and new spring on filled machine up and run through a large amount of coins.
Cheers
Pablo

What's lock tight?

[PabloV8Haggis]

Lock tight you can get from Halfords, it is used to lock bolts and nuts together, mainly for motor trade. I swear by it!