[NPE Ltd]

Can anyone suggest any ideas!!!

I have a Hurco Hawk 30 that has sat idle throughout the xmas break. On returning yesterday there is now an error message
coming up on the console "Way Lube Oil Low; Enter machine diagnostics". The machine will run for a few minutes and then
this message appears and locks up the console. Then we reboot and the same happens again. We thought we had resolved this
by cleaning out the oil pump and bleeding the pipes, but it ran for 30mins and then same error message? The oil is topped up and
there appears to be oil going into the tubes?

If anyone knows how to bypass this error or if you have experienced this before and have a solution that would be much appreciated.

Kind Regards

Mark Newton

[bloke]

Is that NPE as in Wales NPE?
Pop the old cabinet open and locate the card rack. Re-seat the board(s) that sit edge on with the big grey plugs on. You'll need to undo the little screws at each end and then pop the board outwards a few millimetres.

[NPE Ltd]

Hello Bloke.

No we are NPE in Havant down in Portsmouth.

I have reseated the board with the big grey plugs on and re-booted the machine. Calibrated ok then started the warm up cycle
which ran for around 2 minutes and then same way lube oil low message appears. Any other suggestions?

Thankyou.

[bloke]

It sounds like you may have a power supply issue. Does the coolant randomly come on and or low air pressure messages?

[bloke]

It may be that the float switch in the tank is playing up. There are two pairs of wires in the tank power box. One pair is 115v AC supply and the other is to the float switch. Locate the float switch pair and short them together or open the circuit to see if the fault continues. If it does, it'll isolate the fault further.

[NPE Ltd]

Hello

No the coolant does not randomly come on and we do not get any air pressure messages? Just the way lube oil low message!

I have an electrician here at the moment who is looking at various things, but he is not familiar with milling machines.

He is checking all the connections to the pump are ok.

The screen now is starting to play up and keeps rebooting in a loop. It eventually gets to the correct screen, but it takes a while.
Could there be a hard drive issue?


Is there anything else I can get him to look at.

[bloke]

Havant. I'm going to Qinetiq on Tuesday for three days. Nice place.
I doubt it's a hard drive problem that's causing it to re-boot. That would normally give an 'Invalid system disk' fault. Have you had the sparky check the power supply voltages?

[NPE Ltd]

Hello.

Yes Quinetiq are about 10 mins away from us. We are really struggling here to solve this. The sparky is not really
into these machines and is more of a mate just doing a favour. And I think he wishes he never bothered!!!

If your in the area maybe you could pop in for a cup of tea!!

Thanks

[bloke]

If you need to check the power supply, the test points are under the aluminium cover for the control box. There is a small board on the side that has five test points - one on its own which is 0v and then there are four together. Moving away from the 0v test point, they are -12v, 5v, 12v & 24v.

[bloke]

Thanks for the offer of a cuppa but I'm going to be really short on time - I have to retrofit a Nikken 4th & 5th axis to an older machine they have on site. It's going to be a tad manic finishing and getting back for my nipper's birthday on thursday.

[NPE Ltd]

Hello

The sparky has buggered off now. But before he left us he checked the voltage in the tank and it was 24v. But this was with the
machine on, but the console not booted up. He traced the wires into the cabinet to a box whic has a blue "switch" that can be pushed
in and out. When this is in the voltage measured 115v as you suggested. It seems to push itself out randomly and when it does the
voltage drops. Could this be the problem that is causing the error message and screen booting problems?

Thanks

[bloke]

No, I think the button you are pressing is on a contactor that supplies the servo drives. A thought, you mention that this has only started after powering it back up after a break. Is it quite cold in your shop? It may need the cabinet running back up to temperature to expel condensation if it's been left a while. If you have a fan heater, point it into the cabinet for ten minutes with the power off and try it again.

[NPE Ltd]

Yes our factory is very cold, and we dont normally switch the machines off! as it causes problems!!!

I have put the fan heater on as suggested. The machine fired up first time with no reboots. And I have performed 2 warm up cycles.
I will keep testing the machine for a few hours and let you know the outcome.

Thankyou very much for your help so far, especially at the weekend!

[bloke]

No probs, fella. Have a good weekend.

[NPE Ltd]

Hello Bloke

The machine is running back to normal now, and touch wood it will stay that way. Thankyou very much for
all of your help and knowledge it is really appreciated. We are only a small business and just having one machine
down can cause us delays, so thanks and I hope it goes well at quinetiq.

Mark Newton

[bloke]

Glad it's stayed working.
Just tickling the first pint of the night at the Premier inn/pub combo in Gosport. Qinetiq is going well so far...