Fadal not responsive to keys

yetiking · Feb 2, 2020

My Fadal apparently does not like to be sat idle for months, who knew.

after a several month hiatus I flicked on my Fadal to scrolling green font and no response from any key input. after a bit of research and following the diagnostics flow charts I found that my 1040 battery was dead. after the battery was replace and a new power supply was Installed for good measure, the machine is still not responsive to any key input and starts up with "Unrecoverable memory error at 0012....spindle controller does not respond to #48.....no parameters bla bla memory needs to be zeroed"
With a Jumper on J2 jumper on 1040 cpu board I can boot to diagnostics mode, but again no key inputs work. The CPU board led does not blink and neither does the y axis board 1010.

I'm desperate for some expert advice.

yetiking · Feb 6, 2020

here are the error messages and J2 diagnostics menu that i cant select anything in.

any advice would be a great help!

tmt · Feb 6, 2020

Were these the same or similar messages you had before you replaced the battery?
Why did you replace the power supply?
Did you replace the power supply with a Fadal power supply?
Have you checked the input voltage on the output side of the disconnect switch across the 3 phases to see if they were correct?
Have you checked the the output voltages from the power supply and made sure the wires were properly installed?
Have checked all the wiring elsewhere?
Have you re-seated all the boards?
Have you checked ALL the fuses in the machine?

The error codes mean you are probably F***** if you haven't done at least this much in trying to solve your problem.

yetiking · Feb 22, 2020

following your suggestions I did a more thorough checking. I checked all the fuses in the power cabinet and control cabinet, I pulled all the relays and cleaned the boards and contacts. I removed all the control boards and cleaned the boards, contacts.
input voltage is 212, 208, 208. the 120v output legs for the controller are around 121+- 1 volt. the power supply output is 12.01 and 4.98v respectively.
the controller throws the same error codes and does not respond to any key strokes.

only 1 axis control board blinks from the start, but resets will start one more, but not the third.

its looking like im pretty screwed.
anyone have any suggestions? or know a fadal repair guy in the sf bay area?

Thanks for the help.

tmt · Feb 22, 2020

Well you may not be screwed just yet! Off the top of my head there are a couple obvious checks I can think of that I forgot to mention the first time. I guess that it was working fine before you had it shut down for a few months, even so you mentioned that your AC voltage was 210, 208, 208 so I am assuming you are using true 3-phase power. If you don't have the wiring diagram you can find it on (I have no affiliation with anyone who is selling anything for a Fadal) FadalCNC.c**, go to their tech-docs page and scroll to the bottom and locate Transormers under Wiring Diagrams. The only reason I mention them, is that I know that they have this document. I am sure all other Part Houses that supply parts for Fadals have them as well. Make sure that you jumpers on the transformer are correct. You might want to call your Fadal supply house and talk to someone in their tech support.

On other thing to check if you didn't already is the Voltage inputs to the motherboard shown in your picture #2. The big cable at the top I believe is +5 vdc while the ground and the + and - 12 vdc are on the bottom of the motherboard.

Again, why did you replace your power supply? Was it smoking or smell burned up? Did it somehow fry a card or two? Just thinking out loud here. How is the battery replaced? Does have clips or a holder on the board or does it solder to the board?

One last thing, at the previously mentioned web site the have a section with technical tips and they have a procedure outlined on how to zero the memory as well as other tips you might find handly.

Good Luck!

David Ferguson · Feb 22, 2020

may be obvious, but did you check the keyswitch at the top left of the control.

cnctoolcat · Feb 22, 2020

You have to clear the memory, install new battery, then go through a procedure to get the machine back up.

Give one of the aftermarket Fadal parts companies a call, they should have the procedures you need.

Gundraw · Feb 25, 2020

You have some clues that may help someone more knowledgable than me figure out your problem.

I had a similar issue recently documented here (Fadal Bootup Error - Number Out of Range) Like you, my control jammed so I had to manually enter diagnostic mode (J2 jumper) and clear the memory.

The fact that your keyboard is not working even in diagnostic mode is an issue for sure.

Know that when I had my issue, I did happen to notice that all of my axis boards lit up correctly even though the control was jammed.

Could be your memory got randomized in a way less fortunate than mine that is causing these issues. Your axis card lights make me think there is more, but I could be wrong.

I would think about removing the axis cards and booting the diagnostic mode on the CPU card, just in case something like a bad axis card is causing the control to stop responding.

Have you tried calling a place like ITS or FadalCNC? Those guys deal with these machines all the time and either may know the likely cause and have a solution, or perhaps can suggest a tech who may know?

cnc_lover · May 17, 2023

tmt said:
Well you may not be screwed just yet! Off the top of my head there are a couple obvious checks I can think of that I forgot to mention the first time. I guess that it was working fine before you had it shut down for a few months, even so you mentioned that your AC voltage was 210, 208, 208 so I am assuming you are using true 3-phase power. If you don't have the wiring diagram you can find it on (I have no affiliation with anyone who is selling anything for a Fadal) FadalCNC.c**, go to their tech-docs page and scroll to the bottom and locate Transormers under Wiring Diagrams. The only reason I mention them, is that I know that they have this document. I am sure all other Part Houses that supply parts for Fadals have them as well. Make sure that you jumpers on the transformer are correct. You might want to call your Fadal supply house and talk to someone in their tech support.

On other thing to check if you didn't already is the Voltage inputs to the motherboard shown in your picture #2. The big cable at the top I believe is +5 vdc while the ground and the + and - 12 vdc are on the bottom of the motherboard.

Again, why did you replace your power supply? Was it smoking or smell burned up? Did it somehow fry a card or two? Just thinking out loud here. How is the battery replaced? Does have clips or a holder on the board or does it solder to the board?

One last thing, at the previously mentioned web site the have a section with technical tips and they have a procedure outlined on how to zero the memory as well as other tips you might find handly.

Good Luck!

Hi,
Did you find what was wrong?
I have the same problem and keyboard is not responding in diagnostics.

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