Thread: Aciera 23 problem

I hope someone can help with this problem I have with my Aciera 23.

Several months back, my automatic on/off feature started acting up. This is the top right hand button. When you activate this button and you move the quill down a few millimeters the spindle will come on and turn itself off. It started by occasionally not doing its function and then these occurrences became more frequent until it would just not work anymore. I thought it was maybe a switch in the head that needed to be adjusted but today another feature went out. The head can be raised and lowered by 2 separate switches, the down feed works fine but when I push the button to raise the head nothing happens. It did not dawn on me until the function was completely out that it was acting the same way as the automatic on/off switch. I would try to raise the head and nothing was happening but then it would kick on so I thought it was the belt slipping. So today I adjusted the belt's tension but the head would not go up.

What do you guys think? Is it a switch problem? Do these switches have some kind of reset or fuses? I have never seen switches like these before.
Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

Hi Allen

As for the raising of the head, does the electric motor run and nothing happens, or does the machine stay silent when you push the up button ?
In the first case you'll have to search for a mechanical problem. The second case indicates an electrical problem.

I'd say the switches of the control pannel are rather unlikely to be the cause of your problem. I can't see no fuses or reset on yours. Just plain on/off pushbuttons. That kind of switch is almost bombproof and I have yet to see one fail (well, I actually saw *one* in the past, but the fact is it is very rare). Just wire them to a multimeter and test them, jsut in case.

I don't know the electric circuitry of your machine, but I suspect these main switches are backed with micro-switches. Probably one somewhere at the top of the quill to detect its movement down, and two on the column, to limit the travel up and down.
I'd try to locate those micro-switches and check them first.

When I push the button nothing happens. There is an electrical panel with breakers but I have checked all of them and non are tripped.

Do you have a electrical diagram
That would make things easier

Peter from Holland

No, I have the owners manual, sales catalog but no electrical diagram

Allen

The fact that nothing happens when you press the buttons strongly suggest an electrical problem rather than a mechanical one.

There seem to be two limit switches on the side of the column (#3 on drawing linked below).

Planche CG - Swissmachines

For the quill, there are also two microswitches (#2 on drawing).

Planche BM - Swissmachines

May be you could see what happens if you shunt them ?

I think there is relay ladder logic in the electrical cabinet that could be acting up.

Allen, could we have a picture of the inside of electical cabinet? All the 23s I have seen have had scary huge electrical cabinets.

T. ... shunt! Awesome command of English! I would have said short, but I think shunt is better.

<jbc>

In fact, we say "shunt" in french too, when we have to by-pass something. I didn't know if it was the right word for the situation, but felt I would be understood anyway ;-)

Thanks for all your assistants I'll photo the cabinet when I get back from my trip

Speaking of relays, can you hear them closing when you push the buttons ?

Possible the Chinese air cleaner box on top and the cheap work light are making the Aciera irritable. Is the voltage from the transformer that supplies the power to switch the switches outputting rated voltage ?

I seriously doubt the air cleaner box and the light have as much to do with it as my shop vac.

A friend and I exchanged switches and still nothing happened. Without electrical schematics it is very hard to understand what is going on inside the cabinet. But we were able to isolate contactors and overload relays. Each switch has a set of numbers and letters assigned to it. For example: H1 & B1, H2 B2, etc... We were looking for these numbers on the contactors and overload relays and could not find them. Until I started pushing the buttons and we could see the different contactors work. This is how we isolated each contactor. Instead of keeping the same number and letter sequence, they changed the letters but kept the numbers the same. We can see a discoloration on the contactor that controls the head in the up position which tells us that it has been over arcing so I spent half the day tracking down contactors and overload relays; I will get them in on Monday and hopefully this will solve the problem.
FYI, if you are looking for contactors and overload relays made by Telemecanique (used in Aciera), that company was purchased by Schneider Electric and they need to cross reference because they own several different companies including Square D.

Cool.

Now that you have the panel open, you might as well check that the DC current to the relay coils is correct.

There appears to be a timer in your ladder. It could be there to help keep the relays from arcing, by dwelling too allow for the switched current to fall. You might want to check that too.

Good luck.

Is the timer you are referring to in the 3rd picture on the right? I am not sure I understand what it is supposed to be doing, would you mind elaborating? Thanks.

I don't know what the timer is doing either, and although I can source the Aciera Schematic for your machine it would not be free to me, nor would I have the assurance that it is the exact correct version for your machine.

There are two types of relays in your machine. Logic relays, and above them, power relays. Usually the timer is there to make certain that the power relays have settled before the logic relays are switched.