Very loud BANG from inside the Haas cabinet

3:30 this morning I was in my office checking on insert sfm with the lathe just sitting there waiting for me to hit the green button, when the power flashed in the shop.
Just for a fraction of a second.
1/2 second later when the power came back on, there was a very loud BANG type sound (about like a 12 gauge going off) from the cabinet of my HL-4
I opened the cabinet, and could smell that something (probably expensive) was letting out the "magic smoke" smell although I could not see any.

I traced live 3-phase power to the underside of the the main switch. All fuses are good, and the breakers were not tripped, etc.
OK then, lets try turning it on again.
I hit the front panel power switch, and BANG! Again with the loud "electrical SNAP" sound.
I shut off all power to the machine, and started looking for a used/ NOS transformer online, as I think that it might have fried itself.

The 3 phase is still good all the way to the machine, (I was hoping I had just lost one leg, as has happened before) but no such luck.

HAs anybody had to replace the main big transformer in the bottom of the cabinet? What might I expect $ wise?

Anybody know where to get one besides Haas?

Thanks,

Doug.

BTW, is the power company in any way liable or somewhat responsible for damages because of a surge or power flicker?

Thanks again,

Doug?

Doug, the power company may be willing to honor a claim but you would have to prove to them that there was something wrong with the line or equipment feeding your shop. Just a spike or momentary lose wouldnt be enough I think. Of course it never hurts to try, just make sure your electrical work inside your building is all to code and permitted.

We had a problem here locally where the power was fluxing several times a week. A local waterjet company lost his pwr supply on his machine one day. The power company found a faulty underground three phase switch that was causing the problem. Unfortunately the waterjet guy is still waiting for the claim to be investigated and that was last year.

Charles

RC Networks will explode like that with dirty power, like from a VFD being used as phase converter. But the smell will be overpowering if it's one of them and sounds like you just barely smelled something ?

RCN's are resistor/capacitors encased in potting that limit sparking on contactors...and it's the capacitor that will smell. But even after exploding the machine will still run fine...it's just that you no longer have spark protection on the effected contactor.

Also check you business insurance, I seem to recall mine having something about power damage in it, but can't recall for sure.

JP

Update. Phew!!!

Turns out it was just this culprit here and not the step down.
It's kind of funny too. I am relieved, even HAPPY to pay the $650 for a new servo amp since it means that I don't have to spend $1500-5000

And THAT didn't produce smoke! ????

From here I would think that you could smell that from the other side of the machine!

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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

Not that I saw when I went back there. However I certainly COULD smell it!

Ox,

Remember that the PCB you see in the photo was also encased in a sheet metal enclosure. It was not just sitting out in the open where I could see the charr! LOL