Swan SI 100E not shaving

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Breeto's

Sun Apr 15, 2012 9:51 am

I was at an event yesterday and shaved about 250 12oz servings. The machine was working perfect for the first 200, then the ice started coming out every couple seconds. Soon enough, no ice was coming out at all. It turns on and spins, just no ice. The machine is almost brand new, with yesterday being the first event. I adjusted the brake and the problem still continues. Please help!
pster

Tue Apr 17, 2012 11:39 am

Hi,

Did you purchase your machine new? Are you able to release the main shaft by turning the brake screw to the left? My machine was doing the same thing (shave ice every few seconds), so I tried to adjust the brake. That's when I found out I had a warped brake gear. The main shaft wouldn't drop all the way even when the brake screw was removed. Some people like to apply manual pressure to the spinning handle to create brake pressure which in turn warps the brake gear. I had to replace my brake shoe, blade, and brake worm to get a consistent shave. Hope this helps.
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Kianakai
Posts: 110
Joined: Tue Jul 27, 2010 2:35 pm
Location: So Cal
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Thu Apr 19, 2012 6:47 am

Have you opened the top and check all the parts? brake shoe, spring ...make sure the is no grease on the shoe. Check that the blade goes up and down?....sometimes while shaving and goes intermittent, i would notice ice between the blade and platform. I would lift the block ice and push out the accumulated ice using a straw.
What size block ice? I noticed that small size blocks shaves better that large heavy ones.

How did you adjust the brake? There is a youtube video that shows how to adjust it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=telY5KTZfc0
Breeto's

Mon Apr 23, 2012 7:13 am

So I ended up changing out the blade for a new one and it worked! I must have had a dull blade. Thanks for the responses!
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IceMan326
Posts: 397
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2009 4:43 pm

Tue Apr 24, 2012 3:05 pm

Absolutely true!
A lot of times, people do not realize how important it is to have a razor shape blade on their machine. Just by looking at it sometimes is really difficult to determine if it's dull or not. I change mines ever 2 weeks on my Fujimarcas, but had since converted to the SWAN SI-100 blades.

Swan Blades do fit on Fujimarcas btw guys! :D
I love Shave Ice, period. :D
mattream
Posts: 231
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 10:53 am
Location: Parker, CO
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Tue Mar 19, 2013 2:06 pm

I'd like to resurrect this topic. I just got a Swan and was having the same problem. It was used, so when I saw that problem, I assumed it was the blade and ordered and installed a new one. I have also stripped down, cleaned and re-lubed everything.

I got one shave ice out without problems, then it started shaving intermittently. It seems like the space between the blade and the shaving plate gets clogged with ice. Not sure if there is a way to adjust the blade, if my ice was the issue, or what.

Any great ideas?
Matt
MaunaSnoa Shave Ice
http://www.facebook.com/MaunaSnoa
Cool Chick

Tue Apr 02, 2013 4:55 am

I was told that you can pour a little bit of water on the blade when Ice forms and the shaving stops. It works very well.
mattream
Posts: 231
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 10:53 am
Location: Parker, CO
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Tue Apr 02, 2013 5:58 am

Cool Chick wrote:I was told that you can pour a little bit of water on the blade when Ice forms and the shaving stops. It works very well.
That works temporarily. As it turns out, my ice probably was not tempered appropriately. I was using compressed block ice and it's harder to tell when that's ready to go.
Matt
MaunaSnoa Shave Ice
http://www.facebook.com/MaunaSnoa
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Kianakai
Posts: 110
Joined: Tue Jul 27, 2010 2:35 pm
Location: So Cal
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Tue Apr 02, 2013 6:09 am

Aloha Matt...are you able to buy regular block ice? I had this problem using these (compressed) blocks from Smart N Final...I had to switch to uncompressed ice block. The ones you can see though the block....clear after letting it sweat a little.
mattream
Posts: 231
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2013 10:53 am
Location: Parker, CO
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Tue Apr 02, 2013 6:12 am

IceMan326 wrote:Swan Blades do fit on Fujimarcas btw guys! :D
I have both machines and tried this out. Both blades are the same size and shape, and both have their large screw holes in the same place.

My Fujimarca, however, has an additional metal piece that screws directly onto the blade, meaning there are two small threaded holes on the blade itself to receive the screws that hold that metal piece on. The Swan does not have that metal piece, thus no two small threaded holes. Does that make sense?
Matt
MaunaSnoa Shave Ice
http://www.facebook.com/MaunaSnoa
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