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Useful Case Pro mods


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I added a couple of modifications to the Case Pro that make it more user-friendly and less prone to damage.

1. I installed a microswitch on the case feeder tube, a few inches above the bushing. Wired it in series with both the sizer and the feeder motors.

This prevents the machine from running when you either run out of cases, or also, if your feeder jams. Otherwise you just keep wearing out the feeder motor or clutch.

2. Overcurrent protection for the sizer motor. With some especially badly bulged cases the machine would sometimes stall, resulting in motor getting very, very hot. The typical operating current is about .25A, but the stall current reaches .9A.

With the protection you can get very cheap and simple, or you can get fancier. The cheapest way involves putting a Poly Fuse or just a circuit breaker, rated .3A, in series with the motor. These, of course, have to be manually reset - either by turning the whole thing OFF, or by pressing the button.

You can also get fancier, and use the self-resetting breaker - this is what I have at the moment. The beauty of this approach is that a case that makes the machine stall will eventually be pushed out, after 2 or 3 starts, so the system becomes self-clearing.

If someone is curious, the self-resetting breaker is the Sager Electronics part number 2-6500-P10-0.3A. A bit pricey at $42, but worth every penny.

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Very smart to install protection on all auto driven equipment. It prevents a LOT of issues. I am getting another Case pro this Saturday and will install a 3ph motor controlled by GS2.

It protects itself but will addd the micro switch on the case feeder tube. THANKS for the idea!!!

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Mine does not have it....I guess PW removes it before shipping for obvious reasons. The single phase motor that PW uses for the Case Pro auto drive is too small and it overheats. That is the only flaw I see with that system......it is too slow as well. That's why I like the bigger 3ph motor that you can run for hours and control speed as you wish.

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I added a couple of modifications to the Case Pro that make it more user-friendly and less prone to damage.

1. I installed a microswitch on the case feeder tube, a few inches above the bushing. Wired it in series with both the sizer and the feeder motors.

This prevents the machine from running when you either run out of cases, or also, if your feeder jams. Otherwise you just keep wearing out the feeder motor or clutch.

What happens once the "last" case clears the switch? you should still have a few cases in there, right? Do you manually remove cases or you just wired the switch to the CF motor?

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I added a couple of modifications to the Case Pro that make it more user-friendly and less prone to damage.

1. I installed a microswitch on the case feeder tube, a few inches above the bushing. Wired it in series with both the sizer and the feeder motors.

This prevents the machine from running when you either run out of cases, or also, if your feeder jams. Otherwise you just keep wearing out the feeder motor or clutch.

What happens once the "last" case clears the switch? you should still have a few cases in there, right? Do you manually remove cases or you just wired the switch to the CF motor?

Great question! :) The way the switch is positioned now, there are still 12 cases in there, so I simply press on the switch lever with my finger - easy to do - and let it push them through. I am thinking about moving it lower, so perhaps only have to deal with 3-4 cases, but it is not big deal anyway. You can also easily install a pushbutton on the switch box, to bipass that microswitch,

Had a chance to watch the resettable circuit breaker in action. One case got stuck, so it turned the machine OFF, then ON again, and that cleared the jam, as I was hoping. So I hightly recommend it - a bit pricey, but effective.

BTW, the 30rpm number I gave before, from memory, was incorrect, it actually runs at 18rpm. To me this is not an issue, but I understand that it might look slow to some folks. I don't babysit the machine, I load it and go do some reloading, while hearing it churning. When it stops, I go and check what happened.

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