Dear smithworks,
Steve Murdock is correct, he/we can send you an illustrated set-up and adjustment guide. follow this (start to finish, in order), and your hammer should run exactly as new, exactly as in our control demonstration video. We also offer a text-only troubleshooting guide, which has been helpful for others in the past. However, it does not include instructions for adjusting the cylinder cushions, so I will get to work on adding that, thanks all for bringing it to my attention. If you have "tried every possible adjustment" without following the established procedure you may have made things worse, not better. Look at the control demo video for an example of how all of the Bull/Phoenix control hammer should behave.
Basically, if the ram is slamming up fast when you take your foot off the treadle, most likely the throttle link is adjusted way too short for the current inlet pressure, or you are being sluggish when removing your foot from the treadle. Simply clamp the ram down and snap your foot off the treadle QUICKLY, so that the throttle valve snaps (almost) shut before the ram starts back up. The ram should take nearly a full second to rise back to the top, with the throttle"snapped back" in the "idle" position. If the ram slams back up quickly, the throttle link needs adjusting: follow the directions exactly and your hammer should perform as good as new. All the Bull/Phoenix hammers had air cushions on both ends of the original cylinder, but the cushion only works on the last 3/4" of the stroke. The cushion seals for almost all hammers ever shipped are standard NFPA style, and we keep complete seal kits in stock for all of the cylinders we have ever supplied, except a few cylinders shipped in 1998-1999 that were built by Hennels. In any case, if your top cushion seal is shot, rob the bottom one for a spare until we can send you a replacement. The bottom cushion seal never gets any use unless you a running the hammer with one or both of the dies removed.
Also, the cylinder on your hammer is capable of lifting more than 500 lbs (depending on the supply air pressure) so you can add weight to the ram for heavier single blows when needed for a special application. Yes, adding weight slows down the cycle time but this should not be an issue for single blows. I have added up to 100 lbs (for 250 lb total ram weight) to these same hammers for blanking and coining operations, and the results were brilliant. The weight can be added in the form of a 1" thick round plate up to 12-1/2" dia., drilled to match the die bolt pattern, and installed between the bottom of the ram and top of the the bottom die, (the die bolts must be lengthened by 1" as well). For convenience you can use steel pipe flange plates, a blind flange for the bottom, then stack 1 or more 6" threaded steel flanges stacked on top of the plate (surrounding the bottom end of the ram itself. The 6" threaded flange clears the 6" round bottom end of the ram itself nicely. Bolt the flanges to the plate around the edges and you are good to go. As long as the weights do not hit anything this should work fine for occasional projects. hope this is helpful.
