HM La Pinta - noisy?

[Seanaskew19]

Ive searched the forum and only found 1 post with sort of the same problem from 3 years ago, so apologies if this has been answered elsewhere.

Just got a HM la Pinta and used it all day yesterday. It seems too noisy but I am comparing it to my La Santa Maria (which is pretty much silent). I have no complaints with its tattooing performance, i'm just concerned that I could fuck it up completely if I keep running it as it is.

Recommended voltage is 5 - 8.5, I was using it at 7 - 7.5 on the hardest hit. going from hard to soft made no difference. Reducing volts does lessen the noise but as I was within the recommended volts I thought there may be something wrong.

Could it just be that it is louder because it has an adjustable hit?

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

[OwlsDen]

The more open the give is the louder it will be. Try tightening the give all the way, clean and lube the slide and if it is still loud then shoot Roman and email and he will help you. He is pretty good about getting back to people.

[Seanaskew19]

Cheers for the reply Owl, did all of what you suggest yesterday, the amount of give makes no difference, and was using it all the way in. Like I say, it tattoo's no problem at all, so it's maybe just me thinking it is loud because my Santa Maria is silent. Have pm'd Roman aswell but not expecting a reply on a Sunday evening.

[reigningink]

Mine was loud too a while back. It ended up being the give knob itself. It was broken. The pin part that holds the spring and armature together had snapped. I got a new one from roman and it was silent Again. This may not be your issue, but it was mine. Hope you can get it fixed, they are great machines.

[Jack Steel]

check the motor bearing

[Seanaskew19]

Cheers for the suggestions, give knob etc is fine, but I think I may have guessed what it is, the slide itself doesn't seem as solidly fixed as it should be, there is just a slight bit of play on it. When the machine is running and I very gently press on the front of the slide the machine is silent. The slide on the Santa Maria is solid, no play at all. So I think that's what it is, it just seems like something needs tightening.

[Heath]

Mail it to me if you wanna get rid of it. I love the Pinta and own two of them. Grease it some and it'll be half as loud. They aren't silent but damn they tattoo amazingly well.

[Seanaskew19]

Haha thanks for the "offer" but it's staying right here with me!

[Jack Steel]

like u describe it its a bearing / slidebearing in the motor , pushing against the slider takes away the play