Brush Change kills my X3 mill, No it lives on

I wonder if any of the electrical/motor gurus can help

Over the last couple of weeks I had noticed the odd drop in speed of the X3 while cutting, not enough to stop it just a slight fluctuation for a fraction of a second. Thought I would have a look at the brushes (switched off at wall socket) and one was worn down to about 1/4" long the other fine so I put in a new one.

Turned back on and nothing. Took brushes back out and held multimeter in the brush sockets and got 34V but that did not vary when pot turned. Then tried the same with a lamp in a pendant and no sign of life, tried the multimeter again and nothing.

I am getting 240V to the board but not reading anything where the motor connects. The green light is not comming on but I think that may have been dead before and I am getting 240V to that as it connects to teh on/off switch not the board.

Any suggestions of other things I could check?

Thanks J

My SX3 has had the board in the head fail and the main board has a problem too as the tapping function doesn't work anywhere. It is 10 years old. The green light not working was a symptom before total failure. I know nothing of electronics unfortunately.

I think the main control board has some fuses, so worth checking those before you go much further. Can't suggest anything else at the moment, except maybe a loose connection somewhere.

No fuses on the board.

Quick blow fuse is fine as power has to go through that to get to the board.

Check fuses, then check cut out switches on guards and covers. Are the new brushes seating on the commutator?

Ian S C

I have checked all the obvious things. Loose Wires and interlocks

As there is no DC output from the board I don't think brush seating is the problem, lamp test also shows no voltage to motor.

Found DC voltage at the board, then lunch stopped play, will report back later.

Looks like the fault was probably caused by a plonker.

I went back and did a continuity check on the safety interlocks, chuck guard was working OK and I had it in the closed position. just thought I would check across the safety cut out on the front of the machine and it was open. Quick turn to release the button and circuit complete.

Strange as I had pressed and released this button a few times to see if things would work but depending on how it is tripped you do need to turn the power off to reset it, combined with the non working green light I had not set it correctly.

All back together and running nicely now. Thanks to all those who responded in the thread and by PM.

J

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Huuuuuzzzzzar.!

Nick

Tricky chaps, those plonkers, they seemed to have got you going big time. I have to confess I have been victim to one in a similar way in the past.

I'm glad all is now well. After all the help and advice you have given me and others over the years I felt a little helpless not being able to offer something constructive on this occasion in return.

Jim

It saw the SX2.7 and threw its toys out of the pram.

You give it some TLC and now it's playing again.

Talking of the SX2.7 I was toying with the idea of a Brushless conversion to the X3 as I know where I can lay my hands on a nice Brushless motor that is just the right sort of size, Ketan will never know and I won't have to worry about changing brushes again

Edited By JasonB on 30/09/2017 19:59:26

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That's a very neat little motor, Jason !!

MichaelG.

Glad I don't have interlocks on my machines. That's a nice looking motor, I suppose you have the power supply as well, how does it compare in power to the old motor?

Ian S C

Michael & Ian. That is the motor from the SX2.7 that I will be using for the forthcoming series on milling for beginners so it comes with all the control gear in the back of the column.

It is very neat and not too heavy, that combined with the greater torque meaning it can be directly coupled to the spindle via a toothed belt and therefore elimination the need for a gear box makes it so much easier to raise and lower the head and there is no gearbox noise either. As to how it performs I have not yet cut enough metal to give an opinion but initial tests look very promising.

Thanks, Jason

A sneak peek at the controller would be nice

MichaelG.

Michael, there's nothing special,about the motor controller, have a look at the spares listing on Arc's website...

Here's the controller from my SX2.......

Edited By John Rudd on 01/10/2017 17:04:57

Thanks for that, John

Sorry, I didn't realise that it was a standard item

... couldn't find spares listed for the SX2.7

MichaelG.

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Edit: ... So is the 750W version the same board, with uprated components ?

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 01/10/2017 17:15:18

Hi Michael,

The concept of the control board for 500w brushless motor for SX2 is similar to the control boards for SX2.7 - 750w motor, SX3 -1000w motor, and SX4 - 1500w motor. However they are a little different in construction from each other as well as program of each board is different. Spares for SX2.7 will be put up on our website soon, but we do not have a clear time line at present.

Ketan at ARC

I'd expect the board to be about the same, but as you say, uprated for the extra power, however, there may have been technical developments since the X2 was launched.....the microcontroller on the X2 is an Atmel device with the software needed, the latest offering may be completely different?

Maybe Ketan could enlighten us? 

Ah, I see he already has......

Edited By John Rudd on 01/10/2017 18:49:03