ALSGS Power feed oops on Warco VMC

When you are installing your new power feed and just have to do a test BEFORE installing the limit switches AND you don't appreciate the range of the Z axis.I drove it down until it hit the bottom...

In the words of the of the late great John Stevenson "clumsy b8stard".

All was not lost, replacement "Zytel Gear" ordered via the usual auction site at not great cost. It arrived from China in good time. Spent this morning fitting the limit switches BEFORE replacing the gear.

Interestingly there is a motor overload cutout on the feed that didn't trip. So a bit of a design fault in that the gear strips before the overload kicks in. Also the the ALSGS manual doesn't mention the gear in the troubleshooting section, despite it being easy to access under a plastic cover. Youtube came to the rescue here.

Still a few tasks to complete the install of the Z feed, but already appreciating the X feed working under power.

Also have to give a shout-out to Warco who sent me a replacement Brass bevel gear FOC as the current shipping feed units are sized for the latest generation of VMC which have different diameter spindles to my 2001 model.

Edited By Stuart Bridger on 01/05/2023 13:52:37

Some of those power feed units used to come supplied with a spare Zytel gear mounted on the inside of the bottom plastic cover. The unit I bought for my Warco VMC some years ago had the spare gear, as did the one we bought for the Bridgeport mill at work.