2 Attachment(s)
broken EZpath .....ITS DEAD JIM
Hello all
i recentley came by a EZ path lathe ,I figured for the price compared to a manual machine it might be worth a punt and its not in bad condition for a 2000 machine , looks like its never done any real work other than plastics ,i keep finding plastic swarf in every nook and cranny and honestly i thought for my workshop at home i had gotten something cool
However its dead a few issues non of which are scary as such just which do you start to eliminate first and secondly can you get the parts to fix it
There is no output to the screen (more on that later as i think this is caused by the pc failure to boot)
It seems the light on the 5v rail isnt lighting up inside the ROMI box (i assume this has the motherboard hidden somewhere)
Attachment 310540
i had read through several posts on here re the supply being bad (poorly regulated) even though it gives out 5v , so
my first port of call was to check the supply in the romi box which has DX32 on it its giving out 5.07 v in light of some suggestions i wired up a PC supply with 5V and the corresponding other voltages for the 9pin molex and still nothing the little 5v LED fails to light so no BDMC?
Im assuming with no BMDC theres no pictures for the screen so i think i need to fix that first
NOW THE EXPENSIVE ONE I THINK.......
If i power the machine on at the contactor, three phase and earth all the fans come on the two servo amps light up some other card with a green light on it says romi on it but heres the bigge the VFD does nothing ,not a sausage no flashing no whirring ...its dead jim.......and there dont seem to be no fuses or breakers that are out of order...
Does anyone out there have any tips for where to begin advice possibly, Im actually in the UK so these machines also seem to be a bit rare in terms of repair people too
,wiring diagrams and manuals would also be useful as i dont seem to be able to find a source ,a very nice chap on here did send me some disks but i havent got that far ,plus i actually did find the backup from the machine and the floppys for installing it all again with a rubber band round them kicking about in the control cabinet so if anyone does need disks i think i could get the data from them
Attachment 310542
Attachment 310540
i have attached the images above so you get an idea of the cabinet, i could label them also
Im hoping someone will be able to help me out
Re: broken EZpath .....ITS DEAD JIM
The VFD won't start up until the controller activates a contactor on the inside of the cabinet. Mine's marked MOL1...wires 55 and 56 go into it. I'm pretty sure you can jumper it to test if the VFD is working.
Re: broken EZpath .....ITS DEAD JIM
Check the input taps on you transformers for correct input voltage settings. My 1996 model has 2 transformers in the control cabinet for the electronics and a big one in the foot at the tailstock end for the motor. A VFD has all kinds of protection circuits in it and will shut down if voltage and grounds are out of specs.Also could be a source of lost connection.
Re: broken EZpath .....ITS DEAD JIM
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Machinehead57
Check the input taps on you transformers for correct input voltage settings. My 1996 model has 2 transformers in the control cabinet for the electronics and a big one in the foot at the tailstock end for the motor. A VFD has all kinds of protection circuits in it and will shut down if voltage and grounds are out of specs.Also could be a source of lost connection.
I just purchased a Bridgeport Romi at a really good price and I live in the sticks with no 3 phase power and was wanting to hook up a VFD to this thing, but I am not sure how to go about it, any help or advice would be appreciated, thanks in advance Bert
Re: broken EZpath .....ITS DEAD JIM
You may have a problem, Bert. I also just bought one of those, and looking at the motor yesterday, I discovered that it was a two-speed, 460 volt only motor. The electrical schematic says that for 240 volt operation the customer must supply their own input transformer, which I assume would be a 240 to 480 step-up unit. So check your motor first.
Re: broken EZpath .....ITS DEAD JIM
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dstep
You may have a problem, Bert. I also just bought one of those, and looking at the motor yesterday, I discovered that it was a two-speed, 460 volt only motor. The electrical schematic says that for 240 volt operation the customer must supply their own input transformer, which I assume would be a 240 to 480 step-up unit. So check your motor first.
thank you for the reply I will check out the motor and see what it states on it. Bert
Re: broken EZpath .....ITS DEAD JIM
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dstep
You may have a problem, Bert. I also just bought one of those, and looking at the motor yesterday, I discovered that it was a two-speed, 460 volt only motor. The electrical schematic says that for 240 volt operation the customer must supply their own input transformer, which I assume would be a 240 to 480 step-up unit. So check your motor first.
I also have a 7.5 HP 230volt motor sitting here, so I will look at that option also, the inside cabinet on my states 230 volts but outside of the cabinet it has 460 volts, so I will check this out.
Re: broken EZpath .....ITS DEAD JIM
It might be worth mentioning that mine is a '94 model, so they may have changed things as the product matured. Seems short sighted that they would only offer 460V operation, as some don't have it in their shops. I run eight machines in my little shop, all with VFD's on each machine, no rotary phase converters as I don't really think they work well. They are very simple to hook up, so if you need help just ask.
David
Re: broken EZpath .....ITS DEAD JIM
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dstep
It might be worth mentioning that mine is a '94 model, so they may have changed things as the product matured. Seems short sighted that they would only offer 460V operation, as some don't have it in their shops. I run eight machines in my little shop, all with VFD's on each machine, no rotary phase converters as I don't really think they work well. They are very simple to hook up, so if you need help just ask.
David
So Dave, did you hook up a VFD to your Bridgeport Lathe? My lathe is also 220V/460V with the motor running at 460V. I was told that you bring the single phase power into the box and the transformer under the tailstock converts it from 230 volts to 460 volts to run the motors and other stuff. Let me know.
Re: broken EZpath .....ITS DEAD JIM
You are asking the wrong guy, as all I have done was remove the motherboard, hard drive, disk drive, and power supply to see if I could get them working. I saw the large transformer under the tail stock, but could not see an identification plate, so I figured I'd have to get down there and root around to find out what voltage it is. To answer your question, no I have not put a VFD on this machine. I don't know for sure, but I believe that this machine hasn't run since '03, so it will need some attention before I power it up.
Re: broken EZpath .....ITS DEAD JIM
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dstep
You are asking the wrong guy, as all I have done was remove the motherboard, hard drive, disk drive, and power supply to see if I could get them working. I saw the large transformer under the tail stock, but could not see an identification plate, so I figured I'd have to get down there and root around to find out what voltage it is. To answer your question, no I have not put a VFD on this machine. I don't know for sure, but I believe that this machine hasn't run since '03, so it will need some attention before I power it up.
okay thank you, for the fast response I will go ahead and hook up my new rotary phase converter and branch off the control circuit so I don't fry it. Bert
Re: broken EZpath .....ITS DEAD JIM
Never heard of anyone using a rotary phase converter to power a step-up transformer, as the third leg is usually a bit weak, but good luck to you. Had a look at mine, and it does say 240V on the door like yours, so I can give it a go once I get the software loaded into the computer. I am currently trying to sort out the control cables from the carriage, as someone used a choker around the bed to lift the lathe and crushed the cable tray where it goes into the cabinet.
David
Re: broken EZpath .....ITS DEAD JIM
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dstep
Never heard of anyone using a rotary phase converter to power a step-up transformer, as the third leg is usually a bit weak, but good luck to you. Had a look at mine, and it does say 240V on the door like yours, so I can give it a go once I get the software loaded into the computer. I am currently trying to sort out the control cables from the carriage, as someone used a choker around the bed to lift the lathe and crushed the cable tray where it goes into the cabinet.
David
Let me know how it goes. I welded up a spreader bar for mine so that wouldn't happen, let me know if you need any help with sorting wires. Bert
