Strippit FC1000/3 Machine
Problems & Fixes
All the FC1000/3 HECC80 Machines used the G.E. Model 3 and 3A Servo Drives.
These Servos were not widely used in the Industry, can be hard to repair, and Parts are somewhat Expensive & Hard to get. Its Best to do everything you can do to Avoid Servo Problems!
There are More Pictures and Discussion of These Servos on My 2 Servo Web-Pages. Read Them!
These Machines & Servo Drives are actually fairly reliable, but they are all around 20 years old now,
and Should have Regular Maintenance, and I would Even "Baby" them a little to Minimize Problems.
However, The Typical Shop Gives Them Zero Maintenance, and Is Surprised when they Finally Fail.
Typical Failures are the Red LED-Lights On in the Servo Cabinet which means Over-Current, and the CRT-Display will show a "Servo Down" Message. This is usually caused by either a Burned-Out Servo-Motor, or Blown Power-Modules, and / or Blown PWMC7 & PWMC8 Servo Control Boards.
Blown Power-Modules Can Blow The Servo-Controls Boards,
and
Blown Servo-Controls Can Blow The Power-Modules!
You usually end up Replacing both Modules and the Boards at the same time,
or you risk Blowing them again the First time you put Power on to Machine!
To Minimize Servo-Drive Problems, Do ALL Of The Following!!!
1 --- Incoming AC Voltage to Machine is the Most Important factors of Servo Reliability. Because of the 2-Speed Press Drive Motor, FC1000/3 Machines are all Single-Voltage Machines.
That is, they are Wired for 230 Volts AC, OR are Wired for 460 Volts AC, and can Not be changed.
Your Machine's voltage is Stamped on the Metal-ID Plate on the back-side of the Machine.
High AC-Voltage Causes High DC Servo-Buss Voltage
which is the Major Cause of Servo Drive Failures!!!
I Recommend that Machines Wired for 230 Volts have the
incoming voltage at 220 to 230 Maximum!
I Recommend that Machines Wired for 460 Volts have the
incoming voltage at 440 to 460 Maximum!
If your Voltage is Higher, Reduce it! Get the Power Company to Change Transformer-Taps on your Power Poles Outside. Some Shops also have their Own Inside/Outside Transformers for the whole building, have your Electrician or Power Company Change the Taps in it if Necessary.
And finally, you can add Boost-Buck Transformers on the Machine itself to Reduce or Raise the Machine or Servo-Drive Voltage.
These are Transformers that typically can be Wired to Raise or Reduce Voltage 12, 24, or 44 Volts.
Interesting enough, this can be done with 2 or 3 Transformers. These are made by many Manufactures like Grainger, Acme, G.E., Federal-Pacfic, and many others. Consult the Transformer Manufacturer and a Good Industrial Electrician for more information on Model Selection & Installation.
The Last Machine I Installed, I added 2 Acme Buck-Transformers to Servos, and it only cost $600.
No Excuses, Just Get It Done Right!
The Following are 3 Examples of how we added
Boost-Buck Transformers to get the Correct Servo Voltages.
4 --- Slow-Down the X & Y Axis Speed.
FC1000/3 Machines are Very Fast at Up to 3000 Inches per minute, but the Axis are usually Accelerating or Decelerating Hard from this Speed,
which Greatly Stresses the Servo-Motors, Servo-Drives, Bearings, and Ballscrews.
By Slowing-Down Speed, you will Greatly Reduce Wear & Failures with these Expensive items!
The Best way to do this is to Insert a F2 Command in ALL Of Your Part-Programs
on the Line of Code where you make your First XY Move and Turn-On the Punch.
Example;
N001 G69 Home X, Y, and T Axis
N002 X48 Y38 M75 Go to Load Position and Stop
N003 X22.345 Y19.739 T02 G68 F2 The First Punch Line, the F2 Limits Speed to 2000 IPM
Note! Surprisingly, the F2 does Not lengthen your Run-Time very much, as axis are not at the 3000 IPM Speed very much. But this Reducing the Hard Acceleration & Deceleration Greatly Improves Reliability, Accuracy, and Reduces some Punching and Part-Holding Problems.
And It Costs You Nothing! Add the F2 to All Your Programs!!!
5 --- Service the Servo-Motors. Bad Motors can Blow Servo-Modules & Servo-Boards!
-- Carbon-Dust builds-Up inside the Motors and Arcs.
Take the Brush-Covers off and Blow-Out the Dust.
-- Examine the Brushes. Replace if Worn-Down. Careful, These are Very Tricky to Check!
If you Lose a Spring or Screw, it will get Pulled-Into Motor, and it will have to be
Disassembled & Repaired by a Professional (Not by Local Motor Shop "Down the Street")!!!
-- Check Brush Retaining Springs, Replace if they seem Weak or are Burnt.
-- Make sure Motors have Strong Cooling Air-Flow out of Motor.
Air-Blowers can Fail, Filters can get Clogged, Air-Hoses can Rot-Out. Repair as necessary.
-- Check Tachometer Ohms. A good Tach Armature with a Clean Commutator,
good Tach-Brushes, Tach-Springs that are not Bent-Up, will read about 65 to 80 Ohms.
If much over a 100 Ohms, something is Wrong. Have it Fixed.
-- Watch Brushes & Commutator while making 30 Inch-Moves at Full 3000 IPM Speed.
If There Is Strong Arcing & Popping, Motor Armature Probably Has Shorted-Windings,
And Motor Should Be Replaced Before It Blows-Up The Servo-Drive!!!
-- Most Servo Motors Fail from Overheating.
Your Operator Jammed a Punch-Down, or a Slug Popped-up, or a Sheet Jammed Up.
The Machine's Axis tries to Move, but it can't from the Jam-Up, so you are in a Stalled-Motor
Condition which Draws Full-Power from the Servo and will Cook the Motor in a Minute or 2 if he
does not Shut it Off! He also will Forget to tell you this!
The Motor Windings then get so Hot that the Insulation Breaks-Down, then Electricity Shorts
from Winding to Winding, Pulling Too Much Current, and will Trip a Servo Over-Current Fault,
or even Blow the Servo Drive. You Can Not Check for this with a Ohm-Meter or Megger!
It is Hard to tell a Bad Burn-Armature Motor out in the Customers Shop.
The Best way to tell is to replace with a Known Good Motor.
However, I have Developed the following way to Quick-Test a Motor in the Field,
Though This Will Not Find All Faults!
You will need a small Variable Voltage Laboratory Power Supply with Build-in Voltmeter
and Current Meters. I use this Model that puts out up to 40 Volts DC at up to 3 Amps.
This page was last updated: May 7, 2008
This is the #17546-000
Resolver Feedback Package.
Why Pay Strippit 3 Times our Price
for the Same Part?
Machine Technologies Price
is only $800.00 Exchanged.
Where to Buy It is
Kind of a No-Brainer,
Don't You Think?
Update. I am told that Strippit does Not even have Feedback Packages Anymore!
We have Lots of them!
And Don't Forget the #17648-000
Resolver Coupling.
These Often are Broken by Bad Resolvers.
11 --- Make sure a 8 Foot Ground Rod was put-in All-The-Way into the Ground!
And is firmly attached to the Ground Strap hanging under the Machine's Cabinet.
12 --- Many FC1000/3 Machines have been Moved, and were Never Properly Reinstalled.
If not properly installed, there is excessive Vibration which I have seen shake Transistors
right off a Servo board! Excess Vibration can & will cause many Control & Servo Failures!
-- The Machine Must be Level, with equal Pressure on all 6 Barry-Mount Rubber Feet.
-- The 4 Shipping Bolts in Servo Cabinet, and the 4 Bolts in Control Cabinet must be Removed.
-- The Bolts on the Cross-Bar between Cabinets must be Removed.
-- The Feet under the 2 Cabinets must be Lowered to the Lift Cabinets a bit,
so they "Float" on the Rubber Mounts attached to Machine Frame.
For Hi-Tonnage Punching, there is a Much Better way to Mount the Machine using "Jake Bolts"
and Epoxie Machine Grout, which is how Strippit Mounts Machines now to Reduce Shock & Vibration, and Improve Machine Reliability. We can provide details if needed.
Note, There is More Information on Proper Machine Installation
on the "Bubble Memory Problems" Web-Page.
13 --- Test that the X & Y Slow-Down and Limit Switches are Working Properly.
These Switches Protect the Machine Mechanical Parts and the Electronic Servo Drives from Damage by Preventing Hard "Crashes" at the End of an Axis's Travel. As an Axis approaches it's End of Travel in the High-Speed Mode, it should Engage the "Slow-Down" Switch or Sensor forcing the Axis to Shift to "Slow" Mode. If you Persist in Moving Axis toward the End of Travel, you should next Engage the "Limit" Switch or Sensor, which should Generate an "All Hold" Condition and Shut-Down the Servo Drives, and the Axis should Stop a Couple of Inches before it would have Hit Something at the End of it's Travel. Check this every 6 Months, for Both Directions in Both X and Y Axis. Promptly Repair any Problems found.
14 --- Tune the Servo Drives a Little "Softer" with a Little Less Gain. This causes the Servo-Drives and Servo-Motors to Require Less Current, with the Result that they Fail Less and Last Longer.
Most Strippit Manuals and my Old Servo Manual say to set the X & Y Following Error to about 330 usec. when making 30 inch moves. I now set Following error to about 360 to 380 usec. when making 30 inch moves. This requires a Scope and a Technician that knows what he's doing.
I set T-Axis Following Error at 350 to 380 usec. while Homing the Turret Axis.
Also, I usually have the Gain on the "Max Speed" Pot on the PWMC Boards turned all the way Down for the Minimum-Gain. Note, The Adjustment Direction on this Pot is Counter-Intuitive,
as you have to Turn Pot Clockwise to Reduce the Gain!
15 --- Make sure Fan at Bottom of the Servo Drive Units is Running, and is Blowing Air Up through the Aluminum Heat Sinks! These Fan Motors Seize-Up in old age. We Stock Replacements!
16 --- Tooling is Critical!
Dull Punches & Dies, Wrong Die Clearances, Miss-Adjusted Holders, and Just Plain Worn-Out Tooling will Cause Stuck-Punches, Failure to Strip, and Slug Pop-Ups that will Not Only Ruin your
Part-Sheets, But will Also Tear Up the Mechanical Parts on your Machine, and can Blow-Up Servo Drives Electronics! Junk Tooling Will Not Work In A HI-Speed CNC Punch Press!
Caution! Caution! Caution!
Do Not Ever Reach-In, Get On-Machine To Lube,
Move Workclamps, Or Work On the Machine For Any Reason,
With The Power On!!!
Always Turn The Control Off!!!
If a Control or Machine Failure Should Occur,
Axis Could "Run Away" And Cause Injury Or Death!!!
7 --- Electronics Do Not Like Heat!
Strippit Air-Conditioned the Control Cabinet, But Not the Servo Cabinet.
I Would Seal-Up The Servo Cabinet,
and Mount a 4000 BTU Control Cabinet Air-Conditioner,
from Kooltronics or McLean Midwest Co's., to The Swing-Out Servo Cabinet Door!
These are Special Air-Conditioners that are Made to Easily Mount onto CNC Machine Cabinets,
Recirculates the Air to Keep Out Humidity and Dirt, and will not Spray Water into Cabinet.
Do Not Even Think about trying to adapt a cheap Window Air Conditioner to the Servo Cabinet!
Maintain Air Temperature at 70 to 72 Degrees Fahrenheit.
Also make sure Control Air Conditioner is Working and Keeping Control at 70 to 72 Degrees.
8 --- Capacitors go Bad with Age, and can cause Servo-Drives Failures.
We not only replace Bad Capacitors, but also Up-Size certain Capacitors for Greater Reliability.
The PWMC7 & PWMC8 boards can be sent-in to us, and we can replace them with only 2 day
Turn-Around Repair time.
The PSRG3 or PSRG5 Power Supply board should also be Updated
with New Caps., and we can also Retrofit a Better MVR-Relay to Improve Reliability,
and Add a LED-Indicator Light to Signal when the Relay is Pulled-In or Not,
which greatly helps in Troubleshooting Servo On & Off Problems.
9 --- Make sure Ballscrews & Guide-Bars are Clean, Well Oiled, and in Good Condition.
A bad worn Ballscrew or Guide-Bearings can add a lot of Mechanical Drag on the Servo-Drives
which can Stress & Fail them.
The Axis Lube System Does Not Work On Many FC1000/3 Machines because of a
Control Software Bug, and Failures in the Lube-Drive Hardware. Do Not Depend On It!
Its Best to Lube X & Y Axis Ballscrews by Hand Every Day!
Use a Coffee-Can with the same " Mobil DTE "Heavy" ISO 100 " Lube Oil that you are
using in the Press-Drive Lube Tank, and using a 2" Wide Paint Brush,
Paint the Ballscrews and the Thomson Guide Bars with this Oil.
Do This Every day!!!
6 --- Check Resolver-Feedback Packages.
I would do this once a year, every year, for both X & Y Axis.
When Resolver-Feedbacks Fail, Axis will Run-Away, and could Slam into end of Carriage,
possibly damaging Axis and Blowing the Servo-Drive.
Take Package off, and Spin Small Resolver-Shaft between your fingers.
It should Spin Very Smooth. If Rough, or if there is Side-To-Side Play,
or a lot of End-to-End Play, Replace Package. Axis will need to be Rezeroed when Reinstalled.
Do Not take your Bad Servo Motor to the "Local" Motor Shop!
These Shops are set-up to Rewind A.C. Electric Motors and Can Not handle D.C. Servo Motors!
They usually end up Damaging them further when they try to figure out how to even take them apart!
Then They Badly Cut-the-Commutator, Install New Bearings, and Paint It,
and Say its "Rebuilt", when In-Fact, its still Burnt-Out!
Because Of Problems Trying To Get Servo Motors Repairs Properly,
I Started Rebuilding Them Myself 16 Years Ago.
Every One Of Our Motors Is Tested Good On A Actual Strippit Machine!
We Now Keep All The Strippit DC Servo Motors In-Stock For Instant Shipping!
Here is a Picture of
Fab Metal's (Knoxville, TN) FC1000/3 Machine,
which is Factory-Wired
for 230 VAC,
that we have added.
2 --- 1.5KVA Acme Electric Corp.
Cat. #T-1-11684
Boost-Buck Transformers
to get the Machine Voltage
Correct at 225 VAC.
And we have Never had a Servo Problem with this Machine!
1 -- Remove the Center-Part of the Motor Coupling so that \ the Motor can spin free.
2 -- Un-Hook 2 Motor Armature wires from the Servo Drive.
3 -- Turn Power Supply On.
4 -- Turn the Power Supplied's Voltage down to Zero.
5 -- Hook Power supplies leads to Motors Armature Wires.
6 -- Slowly turn the Voltage up to 30 Volts D.C.
7 -- A Good FC1000/3 X-Motor
will draw about 1.0 to 1.1 Amps.
A Good FC1000/3 Y-Motor
will draw about 1.0 to 1.5 Amps.
A Good FC1000/3 T-Motor
will draw about 0.6 to 0.7 Amps.
And Motors will run Smooth and Quiet.
8 -- A Bad Motor will Try to Draw Too-Much Current,
and will put my Power Supply into its Current Limit Mode
at over 3 Amps, and Motor will Not even turn!
9 -- A Bad Motor will often Also Have a Rough, Burnt, and
Out-Of-Round Commutator. Replace Bad Motors!!!
FC1000/3 Press Drives are Quite Reliable, but are not trouble free.
They "Punch Too Fast" in my Opinion, which leads to Tool Stripping Trouble if your Tooling is not kept in Excellent Condition, with proper Die Clearances, Etc. The Fast Press Speed also leads to Rapid Clutch & Brake Wear, Splin-Hub Wear, Flywheel Bearing Wear, and Stress on the Crankshaft.
Stress on your Crankshaft
Kind of Looks like This.
Crankshafts Always Break at the
Inside of the Brake Splin Hub.
Strippit used Many Different Versions of Crankshafts, and
is Usually Confused about Which Version you should have in Your Machine, and they Probably will Not have one anyway.
It is Expensive & a Lot of Work to Replace with a New Crankshaft.
We have Successfully REPAIRED several Broken Crankshafts. It is also Expensive & a Lot of Work.
One of the Best Ways, as well as being Cheap & Easy
(You Do Like Cheap & Easy, Don't You?),
is to Slow-Down the Press Drive Speed, and Therefore the Punching Speed.
We do this by simply changing the
Press-Drive Motors Shive (Pulley).
The size we use Slows the Up & Down Punching Speed about 10%,
and you will Not even notice it!
But it Greatly Reduced Stress and Wear on
All the Press-Drives Components, and helps cure many Tool & Punching Problems like
"Slow-Strip", Stuck-Punches, & Slug Pop-Up.
Most Original Shives were 6.0" Across Diameter,
but Strippit did use some other Odd Sizes.
We Recommend Doing This To All
FC1000/3 Machines and To All
FC1250/30/1500 Machines
With 33-Station Turrets!
We can Provide the Proper Shive for your
Strippit Machine!
We have
Many Other Recommendations
on how to Improve your Press Drives Reliability
on our WEB-PAGE
COMMON STRIPPIT MACINE PROBLEMS
Please "Click-On"
The Button to the Right to go there.
Strippit Repair Parts & Strippit Repair Service
Machine Technologies Co.
Phone 704-233-5229
Above is Select Stainless Co's FC1000/3 Machine, in Downtown Waxhaw, NC. Their Machine was wired for 460 VAC, but their Power was about 486 Volts AC, Too High!
On this Machine, the Prior Owner had Fitted a Large 120 VAC Control Transformer (on the Back of Control) to also run their Slug-Conveyor. This left us lots of room next to the Big Servo Transformer to Mount the 3 small Buck-Transformers shown on the Right.
NOTE! It is Not Necessary to Reduce the Voltage for the Whole Machine, so we decided to reduce it to Just the Servo Transformer. We used 3 Sola Hevi-Duty Model E500D .5KVA 240/480VAC to 24VAC Transformers to do this, they only cost $74.00 each.
Before Transformers;
AC Voltage to Servo Transformer 486, Servo DC Buss Voltage 170, Too-High!
After Buck-Transformers was Added;
AC Voltage to Servo Transformer 449, Servo DC Buss Voltage 154, Just Right!
3 --- Check Control AC Voltage.
In the Servo Cabinet, 2 of the 3 Power-Phases are Picked-Off for the Control Step-Down Transformer to Generate the 120 Volts AC that Powers the CNC Control.
I Like this Voltage to be 115 to 125 Volts AC.
If it is Higher or Lower, have a Technician Adjust the Transformer Taps to Fix it!
It is Very Important that the Control Voltage be Correct, or this could cause
all sorts of Various Intermittent Control Failures!
PRESS DRIVE PROBLEMS
Strippit FC1000/3 Turret Punch-Press Machines with the HECC80/3 Type Controls are Popular
as they are Extremely Fast, Accurate, Very Easy to Operate, and Easy to Move & Install.
Around 250 of these Machines with the HECC80 Control were made in the years 1981 to 1986.
After 1986 Strippit went to Fanuc Controls & Servo Drives, and continued to make more of these fine Machines with GN6 Fanuc Controls & Drives. Machine Technologies Speciality is the HECC80 Control Machines, and Mainly Deals with the HECC80 Controlled Machines Only.
Like All Machines, New And Used, they had some problems.
The most common problems were with the Servo Drive, and with the Bubble Memory Board.
I have a Separate Web-Page on the Bubble Memory Board
Please Go There for Its Problems & Fixes!
We have Learned Much about these Problems over the Years, and I will share some of our solutions.
But it's up to YOU to Implement These Solutions.
I Don't Want To Hear The
"Well, It's Run OK like that for Years"
Excuse for Not Doing Them!
If You Don't Do Them, Do Not Complain To Me when I Tell You The Costs to Repair!
FC1000/3 SERVO DRIVES
Breaking your Crankshaft is one of those "Bad Things" that you should try Very Hard to Avoid!!!
10 --- Tighten All Connections!
Turn off AC Power, and have a Good Technician Pull-Up-A-Chair, and go through the Whole
Servo Cabinet, and Firmly Tighten Ever Single Nut and Screw in the Cabinet! Then, Go to the
Other Side of Machine, and Tighten Every Screw in the Control Cabinet! Over time, the
Temperature Changes and Vibration will loosen-up Connections which will then start Arcing.
Pay extra attention to the Servo-Rectifier and Filter-Capacitors in the Servo Power Supply
section of the Servo-Drive, as I often see a lot of Arking and Burnt-up Parts there.
A Very Common Problem on a Rectifier Assembly on a Model 3A Servo.
There are 3 Rectifiers with 2 Large and 3 Small Buss-Bars Connecting them to AC Inputs and the DC Outputs.
Over time, the Screw Connections get Loose, then start Arcing and Burn-Up Rectifiers and Buss-Bars.
We had to replace 1 Rectifier and make 4 New Buss-Bars to Repair this Assembly. Keep Screws Tight!
We have Other Recommendations
on how to Improve your Servo Drive Reliability
on our WEB-PAGE
SERVO DRIVES
Please "Click-On"
The Button to the Right to go there.
We Recommend using our Exchanged Feedback Packages that are Easy to Swap.
But, For our Out-Of-Country Customers where Exchanging the Complete Feedback Package with Us is Impractical, We also Offer just the "Bare Resolver".
Machine Technologies Sells this
#17546-100 "Bare Resolver" for $520.00,
while Strippit Sells the Same Resolver for
about $1500.00! Another "No-Brainer" I'd Say!
2 --- Check that the Regen Circuit is Functioning Correctly!
When a Servo-Motor Decelerates, it becomes a DC-Generator with all the Axis Momentum being Converted into DC Power that Backfeed's into the Servo Drives Power Supply.
This causes the Power Supply Voltage to Rise, and if it gets Too-High,
it can Blow-Out the Servo Drive Modules and Boards, Just like in Discussion #1 above!
The Regen Circuit Senses this Hi-Voltage, and at about 182VDC, it Turns-On,
and Dumps this Excess Power into Load-Resistors until the Voltage Falls to about 178 VDC.
Unfortunately, this is Not-Easy to Check, and I Do Not know of any other Technicians besides myself that can do this. I have several different Test Procedures for these Circuits. One I use is to Monitor the DC Servo Power Supply, and Catching & Seeing this Regen Turning On & Off, with my Digital Tektronix Oscilloscope, on a Strippit FC1000/3 Machine when making 30 Inch Y-Axis Moves.
FC1000/3's below #066 usually have the "3" Servo Drive that does Not work well,
and uses the PSRG3 Regen Board and SCR's that are Very Hard to Test and Repair.
FC1000/3's above #066 have the Improved "3A" Drive that works well, and I have a Very Good
Test-Station here in my Electronics Lab to Test and Set-Up the PSRG5 Regen Board.
There are Too Many Variables to discuss here, but the Regen Board should be Checked to see that it Turns On & Off at Proper Voltages, and that All Fuses are Good, and that Regen Load Resistors are Not Burned or Melted!
To Recap,
Do All The Recommended Procedures
To Reduce Expensive Machine & Control & Servo Drive Failures!
1 --- Reduce DC Servo Drive Buss Voltage!
2 --- Make Sure Servo Drive Regen Circuit is Working!
3 --- Make Sure Control AC Voltage is Proper 115 to 125!
4 --- Reduce X & Y Axis Speed with a F2 in Run Program!
5 --- Service Servo Motors Regularly!
6 --- Inspect Axis Feedback Packages Yearly!
7 --- Add Air Condition to Servo Cabinet! And Check the Control Air Conditioner!
8 --- Send-In PWMC Boards to be Updated with New Capacitors!
9 --- Oil Guide Bars and Ballscrews!
10 --- Tighten All Connections in Servo & Controls Cabinets!
11 --- Install a Good 8 Foot Ground Rod!
12 --- Properly Install Machine & it's 2 Cabinets!
13 --- Check all Axis Slow-Down and Limit Switches!
14 --- Retune Axis Servo Drive "Gain" to Reduce Servo Drive Stress!
15 --- Make sure Servo Drive Fan is Working!
16 --- Change Press-Drive Motor Shive to Reduce Axis "Jam-Ups"!
17 --- Use Only Sharp & Properly Adjusted Tooling with Correct Die Clearances!
More Servo Motor Information
is on This New Web-Page
BRAND NEW
FC1000/3 Y-AXIS BALLSCREW
Brand-New in the Manufacture's Box!
This Ballscrew is Listed as
Strippit Part #104051-000 and as Part #104051-800,
depending on the Revision of your Parts Manual.
Strippit's Price is $4859.00, Our Price is Less!
And,
Don't forget the
#18948-000 End-Bearings, 4 Total are needed,
and
#16283-000 Bear-Hug Nuts, 2 are needed.
Our Price is Cheaper on these Parts also.
Above is another Strippit HECC80 Control FC1000/3 in Downtown Matthews NC.
Machine was wired for 460 VAC, but their Power was about 486 Volts AC, Too High!
NOTE! It is Not Necessary to Reduce the Voltage for the Whole Machine!
So we decided to reduce A.C. Voltage to Just the Servo Transformer.
We Mounted the 2 small Buck-Transformers, as shown, on the Back of Servo Cabinet.
We used 2 Acme Electric Co. Catalog #T-1-81065
.5KVA Buck/Boost 240/480 VAC to 24/48 VAC Transformers to do this.
(If this was a 230 Volt Factory Wired Machine, the Amperage requirement would Double, so we would use 2 -- 1.0 KVA Transformers instead of the 2 -- .5 KVA)
Acme has Much Online Information on Using & Wiring Buck/Boost Transformer in their Online Catalog at www.acmepowerdist.com Go Check it Out!
Before Transformers;
AC Voltage to Servo-Transformer 486, Servo DC Buss Voltage 170, Too-High!
After Buck-Transformers was Added;
AC Voltage to Servo-Transformer 439, Servo DC Buss Voltage 150, Perfect!
The above 3 Customer's have done Everything we told them to do to Increase Reliability,
as noted on this Web-Page, such as;
--- Servo Buck Transformers for Lower Servo DC Buss Voltage
--- Updated PWMC7 & 8 Servo Drive Boards
--- "Retuned" PWMC7 & 8 Boards for Less Gain & Servo Stress
--- Reduce X & Y Feedrate to F2000
--- Change Press-Drive Motor Pulley for Slower Punching
--- Installed Heavy-Duty Lifter Springs for Better Tool Stripping
--- Etc...
and they have close to ZERO Servo problems!
Luckily for Me, most Customers do Not do these Updates, so I still do a Brisk Repair Parts Business
with them and can keep ahead of my Wife's Spending. The Choice is Yours.
If I don't Answer the Phone, it's cause I'm Out.
Pretty Good Apartment Location,
Don't you think?
Hint, that's the Back of The Louvre on the Right,
The Seine River on the Left,
and some Old Tower in the Middle.
You should See It at Night.
