Spindle Drive Fault (Alarm 2) on CHNC I with Fanuc OT-B control

We just bought a 1990 CHNC I with GE Fanuc OT-B control. It was originally wired to run on 460V so I rewired it for 208V, since that is what we have. Also connected to the same input were three wires labeled R1, S1, T1 so I moved them together to 208V. I didn't touch any of the wires connected to the secondary output - 230/200UVW.

I can home and jog both XZ axis as well as rotate the spindle by hand when spindle free is engaged. But when I do a M3, S200 MDI command and hit Cycle Start, I can hear the relay click then get Spindle Drive Fault and the LED's on the drive are showing AL-2. The drive is a Fanuc A06B-6059-H206#H511
When I jog the spindle, the spindle brake does disengage and the there is movement on the Load meter, but there is absolutely no reaction from the servo motor. Also the only other alarm I get is about the lubricating system not working as the reservoir is broken, but I don't think that would the prevent the spindle from working. I also tried wiring it back for 460V and used a 450V 3phase transformer, but same thing.

This is all new to me as the only controls I have ever had exposed to is Mach3 and Pathpilot so feel free to provide any baby steps to try. Forgot to mention that I also checked all the fuses on the board that has the LED.


Thanks in advance for any help.

Have you got 3 phase supply going to the motor as it looks to me like youve wired incorrectly

I'm not sure if I understand your question, but I have 208V 3 phase power going into the primary side of the transformer - 208R/S/T

so if you have 208v inputting what is output ?
What is being output from the spindle amplifier to the motor

I have no idea. Like I explained in the first post, I bought the machined used and it was wired to run on 460V so I'm assuming that if you change the input voltage and keep everything else the same, it should work? I have also tried changing the input voltage back to 460V and ran it on a 3 phase 208V to 460V transformer with the same results. All this is assuming that the previous owner had it wired to run properly at 460V.

Thanks

Spoke to seller and seller said it needs to be run with a collet in and I have been trying without a collet as I don't have any 16C collet available. I really hope it's that simple. I'm having a collet on order and will update this thread again.

Thanks

Received collet today, but still getting same error. The only thing that might prevent the spindle from working is the air pressure as the compressor I'm using can only provide 25psi of pressure with it running continuously. There is a lot of air coming out of the ext port on the MAC solenoid valve for the collet open/closer, but I'm not sure if that is normal or not. If I blocked it then it comes out of the other solenoid. Does anyone know if the air pressure has to be at certain PSI for the spindle to work? Also, could it be that I'm not issuing the command correctly? Basically, I press MDI, Program, type M 3 then press Input. Same for spindle speed, S 200 then Input. I hit Cycle Start, hear a click then get spindle drive fault.

Also, can someone tell me how to set spindle jog rpm? When I press JOG I can see the brake releases but no spindle movement. If I hold down JOG, then the load meter goes up to over 100% but no reaction from spindle. Finally, I only have the operator guide, but not operator manual. I would greatly appreciate if someone could provide me the manual in PDF format or any format.

Thanks

Can turn the spindle by hand? Don't know what you have done so far, but there is a spindle lock on the front side of the spindle toward the rear. It is a round knob you can push it in and out by hand and if it is in when you command the spindle to turn air pressure releases it, BUT you said you don't have much air pressure!!!!

If I press "free" under spindle, it releases the brake then I can turn it by hand. I can also turn it by hand if I press Jog under spindle. Basically when I press Jog, it releases the spindle brake, but not turning the spindle. If I hold down Jog, then the load meter goes to 100% or over, but no reaction from ac servo motor. I didn't have enough air pressure before so I connected two compressors in parallel and now it can maintain about 60 psi so I don't think the issue is relate to not having enough pressure. I tried running some of the programs saved by the previous owner and it executes the program, but also give spindle drive fault error when it gets to the part where it has to turn on the spindle.

Thanks

I can't really help you much, but that machine takes a lot of air, I believe it's like 90 psi, and 7cfm or something like that. So it very well still could be your air supply

When you spin the spindle by hand do you see any rpm on the screen? If not you need to check the feedback timing belt and the wire connections.

CHNC 1 Fanuc Maintenance Manual

CHNC 1 Fanuc OTB Operator's Manual

CHNC 1 Parts List

CHNC 1 Fanuc Programmer's Manual

Yes, the RPM does show up on the screen when I spin the spindle by hand. I'm going to rent a 4.3cfm @ 90psi compressor from homedepot and try again. Hopefully it plus the small california air compressor I have is enough to sustain 80-90 psi. Thank you very much for the manuals.

Rental compressor plus one california compressor still could only provide a continuous pressure of 60psi, but I also waited for the pressure to get to 120psi to turn it on and tried when the pressure at the gauge was 80psi, but same thing. The only alarm I get when the pressure drop very low (under 20psi) is related to the collet switch. So you guys don't think there is something wrong with the motor or drive? Is the pressure gauge in the attached picture supposed to show any pressure? Mine stay at 0 psi no matter what.

Thanks

Never mind about the pressure gauge. It's for the spindle pin lock - bad gauge, but pin still works fine.

check the sensor cable of spindle drive.

Seller replaced drive, but didn't transfer parameters from old drive to new one so when an M03 command is executed, nothing happens. Anyway, after transferring parameters from old drive to new one by swapping chip, it still fault with the same error 1001 spindle drive fault with AL-2 displayed on the drive. Motor and encoder checked out fine. What else could be causing this fault? Would bad parameters in the drive cause this?

Thanks

Final update on this long issue.

We replaced the spindle drive with a known good one and it works fine now. So in short, first drive is bad and so is second one. So now we just need to fix the leaky air issue.

Thank you