VF2D Z axis drive issue after MOCON replacement

Hi everyone, i've recently purchased a used 2004 VF2D for my small job shop, all electronics look newer and are dated 2014. TL;DR at the end.

When I got the machine up and running at the shop it was all fine for up to a week, everything worked well, then one day on power up one drive blew up with sparks and everything, it was an additional older drive that the seller had installed as preparation for a 4th axis which I still don't have yet so it wasn't being used, all the other amps on the machine are smart amps which through research I realized that the old amp needed a load balancer which it didn't have.

I removed the blown drive, low voltage power source died, replaced that, machine starts up, everything seems fine and it just works for the day, next day the machine is powered up again, all axis return to home and while idle I get an alarm 157 MOCON WATCHDOG FAULT. Did all the test I could and I ended up replacing the MOCON for another used one, it's not the same exact model as my previous MOCON, I start up the machine and I get an alarm 105 Z SERVO ERROR TOO LARGE and the servo drive is at fault, break does release as every time I pushed reset the Z column would come down a little.

I switched the Z axis drive amp with the Y axis drive amp and now the error would jump to the Y axis, I disabled the Y axis in the parameters and I could single axis home every axis so my conclusion is that the 45 amp is damaged.

I purchased another used 45 servo drive, this drive would start up green but I would get an alarm 163 Z AXIS DRIVE FAULT, had warranty and sent it back but I'm being told the servo drive is fine and working on their machine, that since I changed the MOCON board my parameters are wrong.

TL;DR
Changed my VF2 MOCON to one that is not exactly the same as the machine had, replaced a 45 amp servo drive (supposedly in working condition) and got a 163 Axis drive fault alarm, told by seller my parameters must be wrong and thus the fault

Is that possible? how can I make sure?

Hope anyone here can help me out sort this problem

Welcome to the PM Haas forum. A lot there for a first post. Honestly there is quite a bit to get into here potentially... any new update to the issue overall as it's been a few days?

It is not uncommon to get a failure or two and then get into chase-and-tackle on a few others while you get everything running consistently again. I think you may have some further checking related to motor and grounds, and overall connector & terminal checks. Any machine I get, I end up going thru most every wire block, screw terminal, and plug block to ensure it's all tight and right. So many machines have arrived with loose screws and wires and connectors. It's been posted here before as well as part of any new machine acceptance routing.
You mention the LV supply. What did you replace it with? a AT-PC style supply or something from Haas? The reason many spec the AT-type supplies is the true 5V and around 400-500 Watt ratings typially. Some of the new stuff has 3V, 5V and lower ratings. Just something to ensure you have all the rating and capacities correct.
On the vector drive, the power lines for the drives connect to all 3 or 4 in parallel. Have you monitored or measured the DC out from the Vector to the drives? (DIAGS will show a voltage on the screen based on a smaller reference voltage that goes into the Mocon. Measure the HV-DC right off the lugs w/ a meter to get the true DC voltage. There are posts here on the fractional reference voltage used to indicate the 340VDC values if you want to know more there.
Have you saved all your values in backup form? if not, get them onto a disk or USB stick is good advice. Offsets, Parms, settings, programs. Takes 5 mins.
Could not tell if you solved the drive issues but you can start checking for motor checks Motor to ground check. Many posts in here about dirty, nasty motors and connections.

If you have one consistent error, start with that one.

countryguy said:

Welcome to the PM Haas forum. A lot there for a first post. Honestly there is quite a bit to get into here potentially... any new update to the issue overall as it's been a few days?

It is not uncommon to get a failure or two and then get into chase-and-tackle on a few others while you get everything running consistently again. I think you may have some further checking related to motor and grounds, and overall connector & terminal checks. Any machine I get, I end up going thru most every wire block, screw terminal, and plug block to ensure it's all tight and right. So many machines have arrived with loose screws and wires and connectors. It's been posted here before as well as part of any new machine acceptance routing.
You mention the LV supply. What did you replace it with? a AT-PC style supply or something from Haas? The reason many spec the AT-type supplies is the true 5V and around 400-500 Watt ratings typially. Some of the new stuff has 3V, 5V and lower ratings. Just something to ensure you have all the rating and capacities correct.
On the vector drive, the power lines for the drives connect to all 3 or 4 in parallel. Have you monitored or measured the DC out from the Vector to the drives? (DIAGS will show a voltage on the screen based on a smaller reference voltage that goes into the Mocon. Measure the HV-DC right off the lugs w/ a meter to get the true DC voltage. There are posts here on the fractional reference voltage used to indicate the 340VDC values if you want to know more there.
Have you saved all your values in backup form? if not, get them onto a disk or USB stick is good advice. Offsets, Parms, settings, programs. Takes 5 mins.
Could not tell if you solved the drive issues but you can start checking for motor checks Motor to ground check. Many posts in here about dirty, nasty motors and connections.

If you have one consistent error, start with that one.

Click to expand...

Hi, I've been reading the forum for quite some time now since I built my own plasma table and own a small 5 axis Pocket NC, it's the first big cnc machine I've got and I never registered but I felt right at home and just kind of forgot to introduce myself, I will properly do that in another post in the proper sub forum.

There haven't been any updates since I haven't replaced the 45 servo amp, it's on it's way and will arrive someday next week (remote area and DHL doesn't deliver daily) I will promptly update the post if that solves the problem.

I did replace the LV supply with an AT-PC, voltage ratings are in range and it has the same ratings as the Haas one as per the manual of the supply.

The DC voltage out the vector drive is consistently in the normal range of 340v and is getting through to all servo drives.

I did a complete backup just in case too thanks for the suggestion.

I haven't done any motor to ground checks directly on the motors, just on the leads that go to the servo drives and they are not shorted, didn't check anything further since I could home and jog every single axis with just the two servo drives I have left.

OK, got it. Welcome to the space. Lot's of good folks here! The drive you are waiting on is to install and hopefully resolve the 163 error on Z right?

Ripflame said:

Hi, I've been reading the forum for quite some time now since I built my own plasma table and own a small 5 axis Pocket NC, it's the first big cnc machine I've got and I never registered but I felt right at home and just kind of forgot to introduce myself, I will properly do that in another post in the proper sub forum.

There haven't been any updates since I haven't replaced the 45 servo amp, it's on it's way and will arrive someday next week (remote area and DHL doesn't deliver daily) I will promptly update the post if that solves the problem.

I did replace the LV supply with an AT-PC, voltage ratings are in range and it has the same ratings as the Haas one as per the manual of the supply.

The DC voltage out the vector drive is consistently in the normal range of 340v and is getting through to all servo drives.

I did a complete backup just in case too thanks for the suggestion.

I haven't done any motor to ground checks directly on the motors, just on the leads that go to the servo drives and they are not shorted, didn't check anything further since I could home and jog every single axis with just the two servo drives I have left.

Click to expand...

countryguy said:

OK, got it. Welcome to the space. Lot's of good folks here! The drive you are waiting on is to install and hopefully resolve the 163 error on Z right?

Click to expand...

Thank you! and yes that's right, hopefully I will be able to get back to making chips, will update the post when it arrives and have it installed.

Little update this week, there's no update, machine's still down.

The servo drive I ordered came today, I opened up the package and it was an older style of drive that needed the 12v input, I sent it back and they will cover all costs and send me an appropriate smart servo drive, should arrive next week, I'm losing my head waiting and waiting...

Will update again when the correct servo drive arrives.

Man... Sucks! Spares!! it's a $600 core w/ the HFO and you can take in a gold or silver. When they come up for sale on ebay as a responable price they are gone in a few hours!

Ripflame said:

Little update this week, there's no update, machine's still down.

The servo drive I ordered came today, I opened up the package and it was an older style of drive that needed the 12v input, I sent it back and they will cover all costs and send me an appropriate smart servo drive, should arrive next week, I'm losing my head waiting and waiting...

Will update again when the correct servo drive arrives.

Click to expand...

Update on the machine, 45 amp driver for Z axis arrived and it was in good working condition, but it seems the last 45 amp driver that I tested screwed over the Y axis driver so it went bad, I did manage to buy a 30 amp for the Y axis and now the machine is working again (finally!) I've been machining parts and so far so good, no overheating detected so far nor overloads.

I do have some other issues now though. Every morning when I turn the machine on I get an Alarm 161 X AXIS DRIVE FAULT, I power the machine down, wait a minute or two and power it back up and it starts up fine, no alarms whatsoever, what could be the cause of this? is my X axis driver going bad too?

Also I noticed the door fan on the cabinet never turns on, I purchased a new one and installed it and it still doesn't turn on, if I unplug it I can see theres 110v on the cable, but once I plug it in it doesn't even move, is this normal? does it turn on at an specified temp or something?

Cheers!

Seems my worries about the X axis driver were correct, just a couple hours after writing my last update the drive failed, Alarm 161 X AXIS DRIVE FAULT, the drive starts up green and stays green even it alarms out, no fault led turned on. I did check the ballscrew and it turns freely, motor isn't shorted (I checked at the motor itself) cable looks well enough, no noticeable bents nor worn out spots, I figured I'd swap Y driver with X driver and the problem moved to the Y Axis, could home X axis just fine, so my conclusion is yet another bad driver.

I will have to get another amp but I can't help but wonder if there's something wrong with something else on the machine or it was just the initial amp blowing up screwing all amps and they just took their sweet time failing.

It's been a real rollercoaster since my dad and I got this machine, with the short week it did work we could at least finish some late work on it.

Hope someone can shed some more light into my issues.

Cheers!

I supposed it could be another bad drive unit....
some thoughts
If the new drive does not work, I agree there is something in the loop that's amiss. Something in the block diagram of PS to Amp, Mocon to Harnesses and Harness to Motor. In some info on the post attached they do talk about checking some harness and connector pin elements. It's going to be a tougher one to fix it seems and you maybe forced to consider swapping the motor or getting it checked out.
The Mocon or Mocon cables probably not the issue but could you swap the X and Y harnesses to/from? etc.
Longer term; Sounds like you have our same issue. 1 Machine and limited spares. (longer story but in the end we scoured used ads daily until we found a non running (had fried spindle and gearbox)VF/5. Got it for a few $K. Tore it down and have an entire spares set now. Every cable and connector, Motors, etc. Has come in handy. Sucks to buy a non-running haas but still glad I did it.

Have you checked your AC voltage from Grounds to frame, check for Ohms on GRound to Motor chassis. Motor harness connector(plugged and unplugged.) Swap the MOCON cables around for kicks. Been where you are. It sucks. All you can do is keep digging and try to swap /isolate as much as possible.
Just throwing stuff out there at this point....
Is this a delta or Wye power setup? And on the AC taps input, Just check the AC-in is aligned. Is there an RPC unit involved. Check the voltage on each phase regardless. If RPC is the wild-leg on L2.

I looked over a lot of Goog's posts (like I'm sure you did) and the usual posts are the driver is bad, Motor is shorting out. (replace) or Harness related issues. Rubs and such. So I think you have to consider swapping the motor or having it tested. Ohming out the harness pins gnd and power for certain. I did buy a HV motor megger for my spindle tests. It'll check for insulation & winding shorts in a proper motor testing methodology. I assume it would work for the axis motors? https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/how-to-measure-insulation-resistance-of-a-motor AWS and I think under $100.


Y axis fault 162