[Noyrt]

I finally got the machine powered up and running, New surge suppressor board, new main power switchbox, etc. I went with the Phase Perfect phase converter (30A) it seems to work perfectly so far, and not had any issues except a wire that came loose in shipping inside it.. Luckily I like to take things apart I saw it before I powered it up.... All professionally installed by me . A note on the Phase Perfect converter. The output is DELTA so the L3 leg to ground is 208V (Phase to Phase is 240). Be careful to verify your transformer outputs are 120V to related equipment and not on the L3 leg. Mine was fine. Also a good idea to use the neutral lines from the xfmr, they seems to be more stable.

Got the machine in place and had to cut a hole in my floor and box in the floor joist to make the Z height fit. Makes a nice conversation piece for the dining room floor. .. Something to note if any one is interested, I had to change the jumper settings on the xfmr. from 208 to 240V . This apparently caused a problem with the spindle drive and it had to be re-nulled using the Auto Tuning / Zero Balance procedure for the Baldor Spindle drive. If you ran the spindle up using the Baldor keypad it worked fine, but would fail if using the machine control. Was werid? Anyway, the motor was failing and shutting down before I discovered this issue. -- It seems to run good and smooth now, although the motor was really dirty and smelled bad. I had to clean it! I took the motor completely off the machine, took it apart and cleaned it out (carefully) and replaced both bearings in the motor. Wasn't too hard, but had to rig up a hoist for the motor, (too heavy to handle safely). Worst part was trying to get the pulley off and get the old bearings off the shaft. Note: Use a torch on the pulley and it will loosen up and come off more easily, Feel free to ask if needed, I know the tricks now for this. Motor is back on and seems to run smooth and quiet. Replacing the fan on it too. Thinking of taking the draw bar out to inspect it, but it seems to work ok. (Not cutting any parts yet though). Still cleaning and inspecting.

Machine was really dirty and I have been digging all the metal chips out from under the table and way covers, carefully of course. All the wipers were gone! Question? Should all the little plastic oil lines be replaced for a machine this old? Looks like a big job, and none appear broken. But some do appear to have some black spots or clogs inside. Thinking of flushing it with kerosene like the book says.. any methods or opinions? The Z ways look wet on the top surface but not on the sides? Do the blocks oil on all three surfaces?

A couple of questions still though I am still reading and studying the machine. First the oil system seems to work but oils all the time (every 4 minutes - continuously) the book says it should only command an oil cycle when any of the 3 axis are jogged or moving. Mine oils all the time even if I let it sit for 30 min and walk away? Any ideas here?

Also I have a message at the bottom of the screen (lower left) that says "Probe Touching" ? There is no tool setter or probe on this machine. Don't know what this message means or how to clear it? Maybe could be old wiring somewhere.?

Can the door switch be disconnected or jumper, It won't run a program unless the doors are closed. I know its dangerous, but I would like it to run with doors open sometime to verify stuff.

My rotary in the toolchanger was set up for BT40, (Idiot that sold me the machine said it was CAT 40!) I ordered a set of CAT 40 tool holders for the rotary, and plan to change them all out. Anyone need any BT holders, I will have some used ones to sell cheap.

Its starting to come together, now I just need to learn how to run it.. Thanks, Tryon

[ThatguyDave]

I just picked up a 97 vmc 15xt as well but its pretty much a cream puff save for a rough spindle. I have no intention of replacing any of my oil lines. On my solid way machines the oil restrictors are more likely to give you problems than anything else. I have a good number of Fadals and these 97s are a little odd in that they were made in the era of the AC Fadals and even mimic the AC cold start procedure. I was shocked when I turned it on for the first time because my 94 vmc 15 runs quite differently. The 94 actually has zerk fitting for grease lubrication of the linear ways. Sooooo, to make a long story short I would not be at all surprised that way lubrication is not as described in the manual which was likely written in the early 90s. Enjoy