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Board repair

Fulcircleny

Cast Iron
Joined
Apr 6, 2011
Location
Utica, NY
Evening all,

I have isolated a problem in my Okuma Cadet to the X axis servo amp board. (BL-D 50 A X AXIS) Careful testing of what I knew how to test finally gave way to swapping boards with a sister machine. I am Positive the problem resides on this board. The repair costs seem a bit steep from those who have either quoted sight unseen, or the one company that did the free testing and estimate. Though truth be told I think they open the box, and sent the quote.....
Can anyone recommend a repair facility, they were happy with? Price, turn around time, reliability, all are factors for me. Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,
Chris
 
If you are handy enough with a meter there are some checks you can do to determine if a local TV repair shop may be able to help you out. You mentioned you did careful testing so you may have already done this, but check the on board power supplies for +5VDC and +/- 15VDC and possibly +24VDC but memory is a little fuzzy on that one. There are test points for this on the lower right side of the top board.

There are standard 3 terminal regulators for the +/- 15VDC (7915 and 7815) and possibly for the + 5VDC. If one of these voltages are bad then a local electronics person may be able to check the circuity and change the regulator or support component.

I had a bad BDL board last week that turned out to be a defective rectifier diode ahead of the - 15VDC regulator. Less than one hour labor to find a $ .50 part is a good day for the customer :) , especially since I was there to fix two other machines and this one happened to decide to join them and fail as well while I was there :D
 
Man do I feel your pain. I am TRYING to get a VMC running here and paid over a grand to factory refurbish the Z axis drive and just sent off the main power supply for repair to a facility in Brooklyn NY. They were by far cheaper than anyone else altho I must say that I had to send it back to them again after it failed again. They just sent it back and it should be here tomorrow or monday so I will let you know how it goes. They do seem to be capable and honest and again their pricing is quite reasonable. My spare X or Y axis drive amp is blown and I would LOVE to be able to fix it myself with a cheap component online but so far that has eluded me. How do you check these low voltage components? Do you have to apply power to the unit inside the machine or is there another way? Sure would love to have the spare working again in case of another failure sometime down the road but don't have the extra grand to get it done. Would love to hear more about this troubleshooting. Peace

Pete
 
I would LOVE to be able to fix it myself with a cheap component online but so far that has eluded me. How do you check these low voltage components? Do you have to apply power to the unit inside the machine or is there another way? Sure would love to have the spare working again in case of another failure sometime down the road but don't have the extra grand to get it done. Would love to hear more about this troubleshooting.
Used Huntron Tracker 2000 if you have two identical boards...one good, one bad. Doesn't work for IC's however.
 
Pipes, Thank you, I will try what you suggest, though my carefull testing was really more in the range of checking the board fuses, the dc power suppy etc. Pete, please keep me informed. During this exercise, I was told by Okuma service to check all the small 1A fuses. I was given no warnings, just a simple best of luck. I got to the 1A fuse "ice cube type) on the dc power supply gave a little tug only to find out it was soldered in place. I called Okuma to get the fuse only to be told they do not sell componant parts on any board. BUT they will sell me a new power supply in the neighborhood of 3800.00, how nice of them, don't you think? So I go on line find the fuse, do the repair, put THAT board in the sister machine and VIOLA! back at it. Cost of the fuse? 4.95, cost of shipping? 9.00

Soo Yes, I am very interested in your experiance with the brooklyn shop. I had the board looked at by some folks in Maryland. I am sure the quote is "going rate" but I just have this feeling, after my experiance with Okuma......

Thanx Guys,

Chris
 
Pipes, Thank you, I will try what you suggest, though my carefull testing was really more in the range of checking the board fuses, the dc power suppy etc.

Chris

Chris,

The test points should be near the status indicator lights at the bottom right. Speaking of which, are any of these alarms lit? If the problem is related to the +/- 15VDC supply VR should be lit. If there is another light lit check the manual for the meaning.

If no lights are lit and you are positive the problem is the top board then it may be the main switching circuit for the low voltage supply which is on the lower left side and is difficult to test out without a schematic or knowledge of the individual components by their designator and markings.
 
Ooh ouch man....sorry to hear that I will try to remember to let you guys know how it goes with it. Remind me to remember too not to buy an Okuma LOL... Glad to hear you had some success anyways....peace

Pete
 
Used Huntron Tracker 2000 if you have two identical boards...one good, one bad. Doesn't work for IC's however.
For IC's the BK Precision IC tester works fantastic...has saved me thousands of $. But unlike the Huntron Tracker testing, you do have to desolder each IC to test...just no way around that. Sometimes the BK 575 will pop up on eBay for less than $500.

http://www.bkprecision.com/products/component-testers/ic-testers/575A-digital-ic-tester.html

So, the usual procedure is to eliminate all components as suspect such that only thing left are the IC's, and only then test the IC's as the desoldering of same, especially without harming them in the process, can be tricky and time consuming. But with proper desoldering equipment, right size tip, constant cleaning of airway and practice, it can be done.
 
Pipes,

From the left, the seventh red led was lit, HV is what is labled almost directly under the lite. I AM positive this board is the problem. When I decided it was time to start swapping boards, I took the bad board and installed it in a sister lathe. Got the exact same error message at the control, and the same led lit. I then took the good board from the sister, and put it in the original machine, it worked perfectly. Did the swap again, just to confirm I had not blown the good board, and again, the sister worked fine and the original did not work, with the same error message, "201-3 Alarm - A SERVO AMP X AXIS 2C6" I looked up the error code, but, honestly it was not much help other than to tell me the servo amp board was where the issue was. Even the service guy on duty that morning was a bit clueless, (see above post about fuses). I totally understand the cost, repair houses "need" to get. I don't like to work for free either. But, I have a hard time justifying a weeks worth of time, on a one day job.... Again, thank you for the help and your time

Chris
 
Pipes,

From the left, the seventh red led was lit, HV is what is labled almost directly under the lite.

Chris

Chris,

If you received all of the manuals with your lathe then check the maintenance manual for the BLD drive. There will be a detail of what the HV alarm means and basic repair measures you can take.

If you don't have a manual with that detail drop me a PM and I will stop at the customer that has it and look up the alarm.
 
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