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Poolewood VFD Issues

cpbender

cpbender

Joined
Dec 18, 2007
Messages
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Location
PA
Our Poolewood Euro 2000 won't turn on. It's holiday season. My wife needs to turn penguins. Help!

Some background info:

The controller is a Yaskawa VS-606V7, modified with the addition of a potentiometer on the remote box.

The stop button on the controller started acting dodgy a few months ago. Sometimes it would take a concerted effort to turn the lathe off -- holding the stop button for some time -- sometimes the lathe would just turn off normally.

Now the run button won’t turn the lathe on. The run button has a green LED that flashes when the lathe is off and is constant on when the lathe is running. The LED won’t turn to constant on now, just keeps flashing when the run button is pressed.

The remote box gets power, RPM shows on the LED display and can be adjusted with the potentiometer as normal.

On the control circuit terminals, S1 is FWD run/stop and SC is ground. Voltage between the two reads 25v, where it should be with the lathe off if I’m interpreting the manual correctly.

My guess is that the switches controlling run and stop may have reached the ends of their lifetimes, but that’s just a guess, and I can’t figure out a way to test that guess.

So – curious if anybody has any troubleshooting tips, or if it’s just time to get a new VFD. If the latter, would be interested in opinions on the relative merits of inexpensive Huanyang VFDs versus much less inexpensive US VFDs.

Thanks!
 
From your description the stop switch has failed and needs replacing. Its pretty common for stop switches to be normally closed in action and opens the circuit when the button is pushed. If the switch fails it may stay open and not allow the vfd to power up. It may be nothing but sawdust packed into the switch. Disassemble and inspect and clean it up to see if thats the problem. If its a membrane type switch the problem may be a relay or worse, the vfd circuits.
I may be totally wrong, this is just my experience with industrial circuits and your system may not have the discrete components you can pull apart and test.
 
The switches are mounted on a circuit board, not much in the way of dust in there, and I don't have the eyesight or soldering skill to try to remove or replace them unfortunately... below is an upside-down pic of the circuit board, the 2 green switches on the left are run (bottom one) and stop (top one).IMG_4827.JPG
 
I don't know if this would be relevant here but this is one thing that I had to fix. The rubber pad on my VCR/CD control requires a lot of pressure to get it to work. I take the control apart and wipe the condensation off with 91% rubbing alcohol. How it gets condensation inside a house is puzzling. Reassemble and back to normal. Can't do this with the cable control so you have to take it to the store and pay for a new one?
 
Thanks - I'll pick up some contact cleaner and try that. I don't believe these are membrane switches, although I'm not completely sure what that means. The switches click when pressed, but the click seems to be somewhat less pronounced on the run/stop switches than on the other 4 identical switches on the circuit board. Or maybe that's just my imagination...
 
I would be very hesitant to spray contact cleaner except as a last gasp resort. Contact cleaner is designed for wiping contacts on open rotary switches. It can wind up leaving residue on the contacts of these miniature switches.

It looks like there are five solder pads for each switch. Some may only serve to anchor the switch to the PWB (printed wiring board). Check both sides of the board to see which ones actually have connections to a circuit trace. I am guessing that the switches are SPST (single pole single throw) which would mean only two connections. If that turns out to be the case then you could try using a using a jumper to momentarily bridge across the run contacts to see if that has any effect.
 
Thanks, all! Bill, jumping across the 2 relevant contacts on the run switch worked, so the problem is definitely in the switch, what to do next?

Thx, Conrad
 
ok, I found a replacement controller for $23, seems easier than trying to replace or clean the switches, hopefully I'll be able to figure out the programming... thanks again for all the advice!!
 
I suspect that you could find an identical switch at Mouser Electronics. If removing and replacing components on a PWB isn't your thing, I wouldn't recommend learning how to do it on something as important as that. If you have a good buddy who is a whiz kid electronics tech (a good kind of friend to have) maybe you could talk them into doing the job. If there is a computer repair shop that does actual PWB repaínear you that would be a good option.
 
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