Clarke CL300 Blowing Fuses

Hello,

I’m new to this forum and hope someone can offer advice on an issue I have with my Clarke CL300 lathe. The circuit fuse always blows when mains power is switched on. I have check everything and replaced the speed control switch/potentiometer, but the issue is still present.

I have traced a problem with the old FC250 control board in that there seems to be a short between connection “AC4”(live) and connection “5” (this is when nothing else is connected to the board.

Is this something that I can fix (replace relay?) or do I need to order a new board from Arceurotrade?

Any advice welcome.

Regards

James

Disconnect all the wiring from the board...

Then:

Test with your DVM on Ohms range between pins 5 and 3, should read open circuit.

Test with your DVM on Ohms range between pins 6 and 7, should read open circuit

What do you have between pins 6 and 4? 

Edited By John Rudd on 19/11/2022 11:17:29

Hi John,

Many thanks for the quick feedback.

I have checked (nothing else connected):

Pins 5 and 3 - is open circuit

Pins 6 and 7 - is open circuit

Pins 6 and 4 is also open circuit

I have closed circuit between:

Pins 4 and 5

Pins 4 and 7

and

Pins 5 and 7

James

The usual culprits on these boards are the Mosfets going short circuit....and taking out the opto couplers...

Pins 4 and 7 go straight to the bridge rectifier, if you measure between these two terminals, are they reading a low resistance? (check with the probes in both directions....ie, Red to 7 and Black to 4, then swap Red to 4 and Black to 7)

Edited By John Rudd on 19/11/2022 11:40:55

Ok, measuring between pins 4 and 7:

About 13.0 settling down (about 5 seconds) to 00.5 Ohms in both directions. (DVM set to "200" Ohms setting)

Should I just replace the board, or is there any scope for repairing it?

Any advice is welcome.

Regards

James

James the boards can be repaired ( I do repair these and other boards for lathes/mills but am a bit busy at the moment) ....If you have the requisite skills and have access to parts...

Might be better for you to buy a replacement from Arceurotrade....

John, many thanks for the valued advice. I'll purchase a new board.

Regards

James

The Clarke CL300 is sold by Machine Mart, not ArcEurotrade and you will need to check with them if their boards are the same - otherwise order from Machine Mart.

There ae several different controller boards I believe and they may not all be interchangeable.

If, like me you have sufficient electrical skills, you can do as I did, the last time my CL300 control board stopped working. I got one of these and adapted the PCB to replace the existing control board.

Admittedly, it's not as sophisticated as the proper control board. There is no speed feedback for example, but it ran my lathe for several months before I splashed out on a 3phase motor and inverter package because I had some spare cash at the time. It still works and is in the workshop, ready to replace the controller on the mini mill-drill, if that should decide to stop working.

Posted by Ketan Swali on 16/06/2020 11:18:08:

It is a SIEG C2 lathe, spare parts for which can be found on this page.

Ketan at ARC.

https://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Machine-Spares/C2-Mini-Lathe-Spares/C2-182A-Control-Board-FC250J

Edited By John Rudd on 20/11/2022 20:06:52

That’s the part I have ordered, certainly looks identical in the image. Will report back if I have any issues.

Cheers!

James

Happy to report lathe up and running again with new board.

Thanks All.

Regards,

James

James, good to hear that its fixed...but it would be better if you knew what caused the failure in the first instance?

Usual failures are down to the motor...

hopefully your machine will continue to perform faultlessly...

Let me know if I can help further..