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Fadal 4020 stuck on loading page

Joined
Feb 3, 2015
Hi all,
Cnc beginner and hobbist here. Picked up a 89-90 Fadal 4020 (sometimes I can't help myself) . Was in use at a tool and die shop(watched it run), has a Calmotion usb upgrade. Was running when I picked it up(watched it) . Current drive boards state 2007 on them.
Moved, unloaded, positioned, rough leveled, checked power transformer for appropriate leads- output taps. Now powered by Electram rpc. My power can shift up to about 6 volts a day I've observed. Left it set for 230v tap . Output at breaker box is about 232-242 across legs . Machine is 40 ft away.
Go to power up and it stays stuck on loading cnc page. All boards appear lit and axis drive boards blink green. Have requests sent to fadalcnc and calmotion, am in contact with Calmotion awaiting second reply. I can't seem to see anything glaringly wrong when I went through the online manuals section.
I've seen some fairly amazing experience and advice on here in my years of creeping, hoping someone can weigh in steer me straight. Thanks
Not sure how to add pics here. Can see on ig @ sasknomadicmind
 
You might try pulling the boards and reseating them into the rack (cabinet in the back right). After transport, they may have come loose.

Additionally, you can clean the gold contact fingers with the eraser tip of a pencil if they appear dirty. Do it one board at a time and be sure to put the board back in the same slot in the rack.

If your suspect of power issues, it is also important to check voltage levels of the DC supply (+12vdc -12vdc and 5vdc), which it in the top of the same control cabinet. Your machines the DC / control voltages come are rectified AC, coming from two of the three legs of the incoming 3 phase AC. When running from a RPC, it's important to NOT to have the 'dead leg' be one of those lines. (This does not sound like your issue, since you said it comes up to a loading screen, but is just one thing to check.)
 
Have you gone through the trouble shooting flow chart in the maintenance manual...

You'll notice the VERY FIRST thing the flow chart tells you to check is VOLTAGES.. Like
Wanispissd already said... 90% of all Fadal problems are related to some kind of messed
up voltages coming off that power supply...

I had one machine I fought with for a month. 11.85V and she wouldn't fire, 11.86V and she might,
11.87, and she was fine. I've also had power supplies that are putting out PERFECT voltage and
they will just not fire the machine up... The new fancy power supply they are selling cures a lot
of ills and makes up for a lot of old electronics..

Reseating the boards, and hitting the contacts with contact cleaner can help.. Especially after a move..

Also make sure your transformer is tapped correctly.. You want more than 220V but ALWAYS LESS THAN 240V
going into your spindle drive (leg to leg)... Over 240V and it won't be long before you are buying a new
spindle drive.. 240 coming in, tap for 240... Never bothered to notice there was 246V going to the drive..

Go back to the trouble shooting flow chart.. A lot of times it isn't going to find your problem,
but most times, it will let you eliminate a lot of things, and help get you pointed in the right
direction..

$50 says its something stupid.


Funny voltages do funny things...
23778128464_21f49419fa_c.jpg
 
Thanks all who weighed in. It appears reversing L1 and L2 cleared up the issue. I thought initially that only caused motor control contol issues but it appears to cause boot issues as well. The voltages were fine exactly 12v before and 5.10v.
 








 
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