[rwskinner]

Great! I hear some folks get a good vise and some get vise shaped boat anchors from them.

I wonder how they are on warranty? I ordered a power feed from them and the limit switch was busted all to heck when I opened the box this week. I still haven't gotten a reply back from them regarding the replacement part. We will see, keeping fingers crossed.

Air cylinder is looking nice. Let us know how it works out.

I got around to checking the 5 inch vise from Discount Machine (Shars), pretty dang good.
.0001 across the bed of the vise in the X and .0005 - .001 in the Y.
Hoss

YouTube - G0704 Shars 5 Inch Vise Specs.wmv

[BAR553]

Motor number 2 is acting up. Blew fuse, was very warm, sounded like something loose inside. took it apart, looked fine, no burn, nothing loose. Hooked it up on the table, no load, turned on still blew fuse.

Trouble shooting advice please.

Motor? Controller? How can I test without spending $100 on fuses?

[hoss2006]

Motor number 2 is acting up. Blew fuse, was very warm, sounded like something loose inside. took it apart, looked fine, no burn, nothing loose. Hooked it up on the table, no load, turned on still blew fuse.

Trouble shooting advice please.

Motor? Controller? How can I test without spending $100 on fuses?

I'm putting one of these circuit breakers in my console for this mill, I've only popped one fuse so far but this is cooler.
10 AMP RESETTABLE CIRCUIT BREAKER | AllElectronics.com
Gerling labs has a motor tester you can build that looks pretty simple.
http://www.repaircontrol.com/MotorTool.pdf
They should be the place to go to get the board fixed if needed.
Hoss

[hoss2006]

Assembled the air cylinder for the first time and it works!
Just gave it a quick test with the air nozzle and it pushed and pulled like it should.
I'll go back through it now and use loctite where it should.
Maybe I should powder coat it first, eh, ally is pretty enough.
I got the wrong solenoid valve so I just ordered a new one from Pneumatic Products.
4 Way 2 Pos Solenoid Air Valve 1/8" NPT 110VAC 4V110-06 - eBay (item 260496220024 end time Mar-18-11 13:24:53 PDT)
The hand lever type is cool but I'll use a switch on the console like the X2
and be able to use it for Auto mode too with a relay.
4/2 Way Lever Operated Pneumatic Valve 1/8" NPT Detent - eBay (item 250499683715 end time Mar-10-11 07:25:03 PST)
Hoss

[hoss2006]

Got the last of the components in to build the console for this mill, the majority
of it will fit on the 12x18 front panel.
The parts from the mills control panel with the tach will be reused too.
I'll have a section for ATC, 4th Axis and probing as well.
Should be fun building it.
Hoss

[Fastest1]

you are under stepper control arent you? I see the amp meter, is that for a load gauge? Spindle or stepper load? If stepper load, how do you intend on wiring that in?

[hoss2006]

That's for spindle load.
Interested to see how hard it works.
Hoss

[Fastest1]

Yeah I am more curious as to stepper load. Spindle load is easy, it stops spinning, the table keeps moving, the tool breaks, part gets messed up, conclusion? Too much load on the spindle. :-)

[photomankc]

You could wire ammeters into the supply lines to the stepper drivers but I'm not sure how informative it will be. I haven't tried but steppers are being switched on and off at high frequency and they don't really draw more based on the load as I understand it.

[Fastest1]

more for amusement than anything else.

You could wire ammeters into the supply lines to the stepper drivers but I'm not sure how informative it will be. I haven't tried but steppers are being switched on and off at high frequency and they don't really draw more based on the load as I understand it.

[Thomasn]

and another one down....and another one down....another one bites the dust..

Motor number 2 went down over the weekend. It had been making a clicking sound anytime it got above 1500rpm and went through a spell of puking plastic shaving during break-in. I think the motor controller went with it again. It turns about 140rpm wide open now.

On a side note: How hot should the spindle get? After about 30min of milling with 1/8" endmill it was pretty warm. I would not say it was hot..maybe 130deg

[mrcodewiz]

My 3rd motor seems to be doing OK so far. It is basically the same as motor #1 as far as I can tell. Same model and everything anyway.

I am really starting to wonder if the temperature has led to my motor issues. My first one went out in November at which time I realized they had shipped the mill with 15A fuses instead of 10s which could have helped the motor melt down. It was in the mid 30s on the day it blew.

The 2nd motor was just plain junk but on the 3rd, I noticed it was very easy to blow the fuse unless I let the spindle warm up for quite a bit. The G0704 spindle is no stiffer than the spindle on my X2 but for whatever reason, the cold spindle would easily make the motor draw 8 or more amps even without a load on it. Letting it warm up first reduces the load on the motor considerably. I used it extensively this past weekend (several hours of high speed running each day) and it appears to be working out alright. The motor never got over 105 degrees or so. The temperatures in my area were in the 50s this past weekend.

I would be curious to hear what conditions the people that have blown their motors live in - What the temperature was, is your mill in a heated or unheated shop, how long did you let the spindle run before milling, were you using mainly low or high gear, etc.

I would also be curious to hear any feedback from others that have measured the amp draw of their motors to see what it is like.

[hoss2006]

and another one down....and another one down....another one bites the dust..

Motor number 2 went down over the weekend. It had been making a clicking sound anytime it got above 1500rpm and went through a spell of puking plastic shaving during break-in. I think the motor controller went with it again. It turns about 140rpm wide open now.

On a side note: How hot should the spindle get? After about 30min of milling with 1/8" endmill it was pretty warm. I would not say it was hot..maybe 130deg

140 deg is fine for the spindle, 160 would be getting too warm.

Something I'm wondering about the motors is the way you guys are turning them on.
Do you turn the pot down to zero before you push the green button?
The siegs are built so that the motor won't come on until you cycle the pot to zero first
giving a gentle increase in speed.
I noticed mine can be turned on with the pot at speed if I forget to put it back on zero.
If you don't usually start on zero, I would.
Hoss

[mrcodewiz]

I always turn mine down to 0 before I shut it off (and so it is at zero before I turn it on).

[Starleper1]

I'm not sure if the motor boards on these mills have it but some have a 'spin up' and 'spin down' pot to control how long it takes for it to come up/down to speed.

It's similar to the way an inverter ramps up a 3phase motor. This could be useful for a softer start.

[Thomasn]

I can't say I always turn it down, but 98% of the time I do. This motor never ran all that convincingly from the start. It always had some kind of clicking or other random noise when I turned it past 1500rpm so I just kept it below and worked slow.

[Maglin]

It's kind of funny the whole motor issues. Most electric motors need to be run over %60 RPM I believe it is for cooling purposes, but here Grizzly is suggesting to run them lower speed to stop from burning them up. Which would make them actually run hotter under a load, or so it would make sense.

Mrcodewiz did you happen to go back to the stock controller to see about temps and amp draw? Glad to hear it's at least still working. I'm starting to look at VFD's now just for ridgid tapping and thinking it wouldn't be a horrible idea to pick one up if I can swing the added cost.

edit: Oh yeah. And Grizzly's G0704 should be in stock in a couple of days. I'm looking forward to my phone call. I just wish I could remember the date the G0602 is supposed to arrive.

[hoss2006]

There have only been 6 members with motor problems but they keep complaining over and over that it seems like much more.
It's a bummer to have troubles but maybe giving grizzly an earful on the phone is the way to go.
They don't read my thread and I have no contact with them.
Demand a refund for the whole mill and maybe they'll start listening.
Hoss

[mrcodewiz]

...
Mrcodewiz did you happen to go back to the stock controller to see about temps and amp draw? Glad to hear it's at least still working. I'm starting to look at VFD's now just for ridgid tapping and thinking it wouldn't be a horrible idea to pick one up if I can swing the added cost.
...

I have not but I still plan to - I just got busy actually trying to make something. I will get to it, there are just so many things on the list.

[hoss2006]

The air cylinder is done, comparing it to a 4 incher from Ebay.
Waiting on some bolts from Mcmaster coming tomorrow to finish the power drawbar.
Hoss