Do-It-Yourself Story

The compactor failed with the ram down, so the drawer wouldn't open which in turn made the mounting brackets inaccessible. This necessitated sliding a thin oscillating saw blade between the cabinet face frame and the counter top to cut through the brackets. It was then possible to roll the unit out and place it on its side. I removed the five screws holding the bottom pan in place, dropped the pan exposing the gear/chain train. The large gear was cracked from shaft out to the edge. One of the jack screw nuts had also fallen off as had the sprocket that it was holding on the screw. This likely precipitated the gear failure. The "e" clip holding the large gear in place was removed by putting a screwdriver in the back opening and twisting. I opted to change the small gear even though it was undamaged to lessen the likelihood of needing to adjust the gear spacing. It is removed by driving out the roll pin with a punch. The replacement was installed with the new roll pin supplied with the kit. There should be no play with a piece of paper placed where the teeth mesh, and a small amount of play without the paper. I then placed the chain around the sprocket on the large gear and slipped the gear on the shaft, inserting the "e" clip by inserting a screw driver in one of the hooks and pushing it on the shaft. Before the chain could be installed on the jack sprockets, the jacks needed to be synchronized. This must be done with the compactor upright to keep the forces on the jacks uniform. I placed the upright unit across two wooden chairs so I could access the jacks from beneath. I rotated the jack screws until the nylon nuts on the ram touched the nylon stops. I rotated one jack screw using a small wrench on the flats at the ends of the screw. The other jack screw still had the end nut attached so I rotated it with a socket wrench. I then backed off both jack screws exactly one turn. The sprocket must be installed with the chain on. It may be necessary to rotate the jack screw slightly to align it with the sprocket, but never more than half a turn. I greased the needle bearing and slipped the sprocket on the shaft. I cleaned the threads on the end of the shaft and in the nut with a paper towel soaked with alcohol, applied blue lock-tite to the threads in the nut and installed it. It was necessary to jam the sprocket with a piece of wood in order to turn the nut. I brought the nut snug to the spring washer and backed it off 1/8 turn. I replaced the bottom pan and five screws. Mission accomplished!