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Another Fadal problem

Kurac

Plastic
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Location
CA
Howdy Folks,

I am having a strange problem with a 2005 Fadal 3016HT, after I throw the blade switch and press the green button, as I am walking over to the pendant to turn on the video screen and release the estop, the spindle load gauge is pulsing from 0% to about 75% :eek:

I did some research and it sounded like the encoder, so I replaced that, same result. My mill didn't come with the keypad that sits in the Baldor Vector drive so I found one on ebay, when that gets here I'll try and do a zero balance and see if that helps. I did try running a part, until the spindle started having some RPM fluctuations so I hit the spindle stop button and it kept on going, then I hit the estop and it slowly stopped. I checked that fuse that goes to those regen resistors 0 ohms on that and 14 ohms on the resistors.

Looking for some advice on what it could be if its not the Baldor Vector Drive itself.

thanks in advance
 
Sounds to me like your drive has gone out.... sorry

Had the same symptoms on a new to me 4020.
Think it was about $2600 CDN to have it rebuilt with 2 year warranty, and they threw in a key pad.
 
At the price above poster paid I’d recommend ditching the Valdir drive and just get the glentek drive brand new. They are around $2500 last I remember. Make sure to measure your motor lead ohms and make sure no issues there before you hook up new drive.
 
Also check your tap at transformer a little high is hard on the spindle drive


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I am trying to get a Fadal Tech out, its cheaper than guessing which parts to replace. In the mean time, I like to guess. I do have about 7,000 hours on the drive, so I wouldn't be surprised if thats what it is, or it could be a chewed up wire somewhere.
 
Also check your tap at transformer a little high is hard on the spindle drive


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I blew the braking resistor circuit in a drive with slightly high voltage due to line fluctuations. My transformer was already tapped at the highest setting. That was an anc drive though. Luckily after a lot of research and fadal techs telling me it would not work I was able to get it fixed with a board sold by glentek for braking.

Moral of the story is fadal techs aren’t always the best solution. Their response was automatically buy a new drive. I have had other situations where techs didn’t know what was going on or had never heard of some things. Probably I’m dealing with crappy techs but I will keep the companies and names out of it.
 
Moral of the story is fadal techs aren’t always the best solution. Their response was automatically buy a new drive.

BTDT.

The factory manuals are truly an excellent resource, they're a lot to digest and really need to be read cover to cover for their value. But, they will lead you to the correct answer.
 
BTDT.

The factory manuals are truly an excellent resource, they're a lot to digest and really need to be read cover to cover for their value. But, they will lead you to the correct answer.

Yea I spent a while without internet on a ship and I’ve read all the fadal manuals cover to cover. I only have PDFs of the newer ones though and older stuff can be obscure and hard to find info on.
 
BTDT.

The factory manuals are truly an excellent resource, they're a lot to digest and really need to be read cover to cover for their value. But, they will lead you to the correct answer.

Just looked through the flow chart on spindle drive problems, could not find my issue in there.
 
The fluctuation/pulsing is usually a drive issue not encoder issue, I had to replace 2 of mine because of that problem over the years.
we sent out one drive years ago to have repaired due to fluctuation. They replaced transistors(think it was transistors) and some caps 6 months later same issue, sent it back they said just replace drive.
one went out 3 years ago on our 96. just bought a new drive for it instead of sending it out had it up and running in 30 mins after ups showed up. and it fixed my rigid tap issue that we couldnt get fixed. I have no idea why. but it worked with out breaking taps.
and Like dave said What your tap on the transformer as I think thats what made out go out on the 96
 
Well, I checked all my connections, pulled of the main fuses and cleaned them up along with the blade switch contacts. There was some dirt and corrosion on the fuses. Then my keypad for the inverter came in so I did a zero balance. So far the spindle only faulted out once #10 but the weird thing is the RPM on the keypad is either half or double what the machine is showing on the pendant display. Is this normal?
 
The drive is reading motor RPM. The spindle is either 1/2x motor RPM or 2x motor RPM depending on if you're in high or low range.

Got it thanks! that makes sense, its the first time I have had a keypad on the inverter so I had no idea. I am just letting it run right now while increasing RPM 500 every 5-10 minutes.
 
I have an update. I was able to identify and fix the source of my problem. I have about 40 hours since I found out what it was so I am confident I got it. I also had the FADAL tech come out because I already called him. The guy was pretty good, he went through the machine and checked and adjusted everything. I learned a few things as well. The only action item he found was that the Z-axis thrust bearings need to be replace, so I'll order those up and have them handy for the next break down.

So all my trouble was caused by crusty corroded fuses in that square D blade switch box. Those stupid things have probably been giving me trouble for years. I guess being located right above the coolant tank is not a good environment for bare copper. My fix was to rub the ends with steel wool and the same to the contacts they rest in, problem solved.
 








 
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