Clarke Metal Lathe CL300M

Hi all

Completely new to turning and engineering in general (from a medical background), in my spare time i wanted to learn how to mill and turn aluminium.

Having done no research i decided to walk into machine mart have a few discussions with staff and decided on purchasing a Clarke CL300M .

A local seller on gumtree was selling one so thought I would purchase it. Got it home watched some basics on youtube, then thought ok lets get cracking.

I was experimenting and playing around with the tools and its effects, i used it on low then switched to high, after about 30 seconds poof a tiny bit of smoke and my fuse box tripped.

Reset my fusebox returned to the lathe, checked the fuse intact and working, the lathe not so much, my guess is that either the speed controller or motor is kaput.

I am ok with electronics and like for like replacements, or can follow instructions.

What are my options ?

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 24/06/2016 21:27:46

Hi there Zak. I suggest you enter "CL300" into the SEARCH THIS SITE box which will show you previous threads on this subject.

Hi Zak

have a look at this post

**LINK**

six years ago I ended up tracing the circuit for the old version of the speed control board for CL300M

as the service information was not available

John

PS the photo bucket link didn't work for me

Edited By john swift 1 on 24/06/2016 20:53:04

I fixed the photo although I'm a bit confused what it is meant to show...

See here for info on posting from Photobucket.

Neil

its the work I did experimenting with the Lathe which broke the lathe (maybe indicating stress etc which could have broken the lathe)

Thanks for replying, i am not sure whats blown in my lathe how i can i tell if its the controller or the motor what tests am i looking to run ?

I saw many threads (buzzing sound, pcb repair, motor repair etc )

I guess what i am asking is how would one go about diagnosing the condition any one else had a small poof and an intact fuse etc ?

Firstly look for any visible signs of damage inside the control box, should give you an idea of what has expired.

Disconnect the motor, then connect a 100 watt household light bulb in place of the motor.

If the light bulb brightness varies when you adjust the speed pot, chances are the control board is ok.

Try running the motor from a 12volt car battery ( again disconnect rhe motor first from the controller).

Thanks for replying: 

Ok purchased a car battery (cant be bothered using mine from my car was only £20 anyway )

Here is my current set up,

There are multiple wires so just trying to figure out whats what,

My guess for the motor is :
Brown and blue is +

Yellow is - 

i have no idea how to test the controller 

Edited By zak moussa on 25/06/2016 14:01:00

These mini lathes are prone to destroying themselves.....just be careful in what you replace....there's always a possibility that although you are replacing say a blown pcb, the underlying cause may not have been found.

So, on to testing .....

Follow the wires from the motor back to where they connect to the control box.

Disconnect it, remove from the lathe, check the brushes first and the condition of the commutator.......before doing anything else.If all is well, connect to your battery, doesn't matter way round the wires are connected.....the motor needs to turn freely and smoothly with little or no sparking from the brushes.

Next, connect a mains domestic light bulb to the wires where the motor was connected. Does the bulb light up full when power is applied or can you vary the brightness with the speed pot?

Conduct these two tests and feedback your results.....please.

Edited By John Rudd on 25/06/2016 14:19:46

Hi Zak

I see from the photos your lathe has the FC250J speed control board

they have two FET's on the heat sink that have a habit of going short circuit

if you over load the motor

John

Zak,

Do you have anything from the motor at all? Does it run at all/ slowly/fast/no control ...?

Edited By John Rudd on 25/06/2016 16:20:54

Ok so no power to the light switch

Used a small battery i had lying around to test the motor the motor turned

Edited By zak moussa on 25/06/2016 16:56:48

so the motor works fine the controller was hooked up to the light and did not work could this be the FETs ?

the motor appears to work when hooked up to the small battery see the last picture

deleted post, I see you've sorted it.

Edited By john carruthers on 25/06/2016 17:01:17

I have not sorted the problem- just thanking people for the help so far 

Edited By zak moussa on 25/06/2016 17:42:49

It could be, but it could be something else........

Have you examined the board for any burning?

Do you have a multimeter and know how to use it?

no i have not examined the board ,my brother has one i can borrow

No idea how to use it though

Hi Zak,

Bad luck! I had a near miss with my similar mini-lathe when a length of swarf found its way along the lead-screw and into the electronics. There was a blue flash and smoke. I was lucky and the lathe still worked.

I notice that your pictures seem to show a lot of swarf inside the control box. It looks as if there's a quite a pile on the right hand side under the lead-screw and other bits scattered around.

If it is swarf, the first thing to do is to remove it. You should also remove the clear plastic bag that protects the circuit board and carefully remove any metal shreds that might have found their way inside. It's possible that there's swarf under the board as well.

Then you can start debugging the electronics. I can't help with that because I upgraded from a mini-lathe and no longer have it or the manuals. I remember that the most common fault is blown FETS, but f necessary you can buy a replacement board.

I stopped more swarf getting in by reducing the gap between the lead-crew and control box with some electrical tape.

Cheers,

Dave