Bobw Appreciation Thread

[RC Mech]

I’d like to thank Bobw and others for their advice over the years regarding Fadal troubleshooting.

I have a 15xt and a 4020xtendo/VHT. The 4020 kept resetting when the spindle orientation (tool change, M3/4 etc.) was required. Needed a CS every time it happened, then I lose my work offsets (or at least don’t trust them). Bob had a reply in an old thread regarding voltages on the PS. The 5 V on my machine was 5.12, bit high. Apparently the electronics are sensitive to the 5 variance. Dialled the pot back and the machine appears to be happy.

Now the 12 V, I tried dialling that back from 12.23 V and the machine died. I assume this is a consequence of one leg of my 3 phase being a volt or less high (Canaderp utilities).

Anyways, thanks Bob.

 

[ducesrwld]

haha....great thread. can thank bob as well for all the posts he's put up and thoughts on Fadals for the average shop. i'll have to put a pic up at some point but we are in the process of piling Fadals on our floor right now be interesting what the final tally is for #'s by years end!

 

[EndlessWaltz]

^^ older fadals, rebuilt, or brand new ones?

 

[RC Mech]

Piling up Fadals? Not a bad way to get cheap production capacity I guess.

Local guy in Ontario has been trying to sell a newer slant-sheetmetal Fadal for a while now. 3020 or something along those lines, $9k last I saw. But it’s got a Siemens control. Worst of all worlds.

You can put up with Fadal’s frequent but DIY-level electrical abnormalities if only for the mechanical simplicity and great control.

 

[ducesrwld]

^^ older fadals, rebuilt, or brand new ones?

range from '92 to a rebuilt '05 and several in between. for the prices they are going for when you have to add multiple spindles its hard to pass on some of them that come up for sale i think we are averaging under 10k out the door bought, transported, and rigged in you can't beat that!

i'm average on the repair/mntc side and these things sure beat some of the old jap machines i used to have to deal with. they are by no means great at anything but for our business they get the job done. they fit a window and for now have the best value for our needs. i'd pile in haas' but what guys want and are getting for old worn out turds are out in loony land....

 

[RC Mech]

I may have spoken too soon with the fix for the ol’ 4020 VHT. Yesterday it was giving me fits, every time I wanted to change tools to set up for a job it would purge the air valves and reset itself. After 3x’s the machine was becoming unusable and I called ITS.

Found out about ITS from another one of Bob’s posts. Spoke with Dan, great guy. The fault I was getting was:

X Servo Amplifier Fault
Y Servo Amplifier Fault
Z Servo Amplifier Fault

All axes, might be the amp power supply. Checked voltage, all amps had 337 VDC. Sent Dan photos of the old (original) PS. While waiting, I poked around in the spindle drive cabinet- the spindle drive was new when I bought the machine. Solid looking Glentek drive with a pot to change the configuration. Was set on “15 HP 10k Sensored”. Machine is a VHT, should be set on “20 HP 10k Sensored”, turned the pot and the machine has never cut so well.

I can’t get it to fault now. Spindle is effortless when fly cutting. I have to admit I thought the VHT was lame when I first started using this machine but now it’s awesome.

The shop I bought it off was a Mennonite shop run via generator. I figure maybe the tech de-rated the machine when they installed the spindle drive.

Sweet machine when it’s configured properly.

 

[wesg]

I have no idea how many hours I've 'burned' reading his posts. And not a minute of it was wasted.

 

[Pete Deal]

Not a Fadal owner here but if i really hold Bobw in high regard. He’s one that seems to know how to git’er done in a very sensible no bs way. I’ve found his posts to always be worth reading.

 

[Kevinstj]

Yes, All of the Fadal owners on this forum have probably needed or used BobW's advice or knowledge. This is what makes these forums a great source . Guys like this are truly appreciated , but sometimes never acknowledged. Thanks BobW for all your help and insight.

 

[Speedie]

Check incoming power. Some VHT only like 230 3 phase

 

[RC Mech]

Check incoming power. Some VHT only like 230 3 phase

600V to a 240 xfmr, checked the legs for voltage and all are dead-nuts. This particular machine has the best transformer in the shop- you can adjust the output in 5V increments. Pretty wild.

IN OTHER NEWS:

The keyboard on this 4020 has been a POS since I bought it. Always hanging up, having to smash it to register an input. Replaced it with the keyboard off my 15XT and it’s worked flawlessly since.

I understand the frustration of this lacking any true diagnostic method, but for us it worked.

 

[Hobby Shop]

Bought a VMC15 a few months back and figured out real quick things are messed up because of everything Bob has posted up.

Thanks Bob.