Hitachi 254Y HELP!!!

I been trying for a year to get this 254Y fixed. I put new power feed contacts, new diamond guides, tram the heads, filters, evrything you can think of I have done. It will cut for about an inch through 2 inch steel then the wire breaks. Somtimes I can't even get an inch. I cannot belive that there is only one guy in the united states that has ever worked on Hitaichi wire EDM. I know they are out of business but this is crazy. ONE GUY!!! To have this cat flown into michigan and have him look at it for one day is about $6000.00 the guy rapes you!!! Labor $150 an hour. Per diem $180 a day, car rental, whatever the heck that is. I'm suprized he isn't charging mileage. Plane tickets $800 for a three state jump. That is NUTS, CRAZY and I can think about a few more words to use. Can anybody give me some advice on what to check. Or if anybody knows anybody that works on this type of junk, Please let me know!!!! HELP, HELP, HELP!!!!!!!

Hi sreimer:
Wire breaks are a normal part of wire EDM operations.
Have you tried changing your spark generator settings to make the cut less aggressive?
Try turning down the on time and turning up the off time.
Try opening up the spark gap.
Make sure your flushing is good.

A break after an inch of cutting is not unusual at all.
What matters is how the machine responds after that.
If you re thread the wire and go some more, or start a new cut, does it cut normally again or does it simply refuse to go any longer than a set period of time.

If it quits after an hour and cannot be persuaded to continue, a common culprit is a board that's overheating and failing.
Are the cabinet filters in good shape; do all the cabinet cooling fans run OK?
Cheers

Marcus
Implant Mechanix – Design & Innovation - home
Vancouver Wire EDM -- Wire EDM Machining

Ours had similar issue's when we first got it. Does your water level drop below the float switches on the upper head when this happens? Ours did, and would continue trying to cut, but without water pressure from the flush cups, as the tank was trying to re-fill. If so I have a simple fix.

Terry

First let me say this I reloaded the parameters from factory . I thought that the guy before me was messing around to much. So after I did that I was cutting a half inch hole through 1 inch stock. It got around 3/4 of the way and broke the wire. I tried to restart immediately and it would not cut at all. So gave up, was getting frustrated. I went back to it a couple weeks later. I had to cut about a 1 inch piece off a 2 inch thick piece about 6 inches long. Low and behold it cut and I actually cut 2 pieces. No wire breaks. Wow I thought this thing is doing good. So I set up the piece I am trying to cut now. It's about 7 inches by 3 inches and 2 inches thick. The shape of a bow tie. I have got through about 5 inches of it with about 10 wire breaks. So frustration set in again. The flushing seems adequate. The float levels seem to be good. The water stays above the upper head. Drains when it gets to full because of flush water. Now I had a guy in today doing some training on another Edm machine we have. This cat knows his stuff. Wow I can't believe what he went through to get this one running half way decent. He didn't have time for the 254y, but he don't have a lot of experience with that model anyhow. But Edm is Edm the principle is the same just different conditions. I guess what I need to do is check the boards for burnt components. I really think it is in a board. I would really like find someone who has run one of these the 254y or a 254r. I heard the R is pretty much the same. I do really appreciate the help guys. I will post after I check the boards!!!