[digits]

I was drilling away last night when suddenly my mill and everything on the same power strip tripped out - something has forced my RCD to shut off the power!

On further investigation, it seems to be the X1 When I reset the RCD, everything is fine until I wind the speed-dial back to zero to restart the motor. At that point the RCD trips out again.

I have had my X-1 apart and I can't see any liquid or metal dust in the control unit, but I have measured a 9.86k resistance between earth and live in the controller. This seems suspiciously like 10k ohms, which sounds like a likely value for the speed-control pot. Has anyone else had their speed potentiometer develop a short?

I think I am going to try replacing the pot once I can get the part - the pot is £3/$6 but the control board is £75/$150 here, or $89 from littlemachine shop. Very tedious, as I was just on the last few parts for my new machine!

[Oldmanandhistoy]

This thread would have been better off in the “general electronic discussions forum”. I don’t know if a moderator will move it for you or you may need to repost in that forum for a solution.

John

[digits]

This thread would have been better off in the “general electronic discussions forum”. I don’t know if a moderator will move it for you or you may need to repost in that forum for a solution.

John

I suppose you're right - but I was really interested in whether anyone else has had problems with the X1's electronics.

After further investigation, it seems that my motor has the 10K ohm short to ground - so I opened it up to find carbon dust caking everything, including all the insulation between the live and neutral terminals and the earthed case! So a quick clean later and everything checks out fine on the multimeter - the 'motor short' really was carbon dust, that I guess would have been harmlessly incinerated had I not been using an RCD.

Anyway, I put it all back together, reset the RCD, turned it on, and 'pop' - it now blows fuses,

So, perhaps I really have cooked my controller board

I guess I'm going to have to test my motor with a 12v car-battery, and if it's good, wire up my new machine's DC motor controller to it. If my motor's toast too, I don't know what I'll do - it'd almost be cheaper to buy another X-1 than a motor and controller board

[Oldmanandhistoy]

Digits before you go buying a new board have a search in the bench top mills forum. I know some one here has used a cheap alternative. Could have been for an X2 but might work for you. If I find it again I will post a link here or you can let me know if you come across it first.

Good luck,
John

[hoss2006]

Hey digits,
i had a problem with my x2 controller and replaced it for $30 from surplus center.
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showth...t=30385&page=4
post #48 has the links.
they have cheap dc motors too if you need one.
I have a little better explanation here.
http://www.hossmachine.com/projects_...ircuit%20board

[Oldmanandhistoy]

lol was just going to post a link and post#

John

[zwdeal]

I hope mine does not do this. Though I bought extended warraty from HF, I have modified it too much to qualify for that. Electrical stuff is expensive to replace.

Mine does have issue with the orange light coming on now and then when starting the motor.

[digits]

Cheers for the links guys - I need a 240v one though, but I do have a $50 ebay 2HP controller that I was saving for my new machine, and as I managed to get a nasty looking metal box for it this afternoon, I will have a go at wiring it up to my X1's motor.

I am annoyed that my controller seems to have failed, but having all that electronics in the hot, humid envrionment of a full flood enclosure always seemed to be a bad idea to me! This way, I'll have all my high-voltage electronics on the dry side!

I will let you know what happens next - knowing my luck, my motor is going to eat my new controller board

[digits]

Well, after a bit of manual drilling, wiring and finger-crossing, I managed to wire up my $50 eBay DC motor controller to my X-3 motor:



And it works!

The pot adjusts the speed, and the switch shuts down the drive current, allowing the motor to spin down gradually. One nice thing is that the speed doesn't have to be set to zero to restart - it just spins back up to the speed set by the pot at an acceleration rate controlled by another pot on the controller board.

All I have to do now is see if it'll work with my X-1's motor - I'll have to play with the current limit first though - I don't want to fry the motor if it's not already dead!

[pastera]

For issues with Sieg controllers contact Jim Rabbidwolf at www.unclerabid.com

Aaron

[digits]

For issues with Sieg controllers contact Jim Rabbidwolf at www.unclerabid.com

Aaron

Thanks - though I'm not sure it is my controller board any more!

I checked my X1 motor with a multi meter - everything looked good, so I hooked it up to my eBay controller and bang! The RCD tripped out, but only after the 3A mains fuse on the controller had popped! That little motor just absorbed more than 1HP

So now, I guess I should try my X3 motor on the X1 controller to see if it is infact still working. I can get a new X1 motor for £50/$100 but I'm tempted to see if I can work out a way of fitting the X3 motor instead. It might just eat the X1's gear box though, perhaps I should just spend the £50 on a new motor...

[Oldmanandhistoy]

Thanks - though I'm not sure it is my controller board any more!

I checked my X1 motor with a multi meter - everything looked good, so I hooked it up to my eBay controller and bang! The RCD tripped out, but only after the 3A mains fuse on the controller had popped! That little motor just absorbed more than 1HP

So now, I guess I should try my X3 motor on the X1 controller to see if it is infact still working. I can get a new X1 motor for £50/$100 but I'm tempted to see if I can work out a way of fitting the X3 motor instead. It might just eat the X1's gear box though, perhaps I should just spend the £50 on a new motor...

Hmmm a 600w motor on that little mill; I think I would spend the £50. Things are rarely simple.
What are your plans for the X1 once you have your new mill up if you don’t mind me asking?

John

[digits]

Hmmm a 600w motor on that little mill; I think I would spend the £50. Things are rarely simple.
What are your plans for the X1 once you have your new mill up if you don’t mind me asking?

John

Right now, I'd be tempted to use the new machine to cut it in half

If you do a search, I believe some people have run 1.5HP motors on X1's with good effect and if I had a working mill at my disposal, I would knock up a new motor cog and motor bracket and just fit it!

Realistically though, £50 is not even a tank of petrol these days, and every day my X1 lies broken is another my new mill project slips. Still, I've finally wired up that eBay controller after 6 months!

Cheers and good night!

[Oldmanandhistoy]

[digits]

I read the previous version of that, John I guess we were both a bit tired and grumpy, sorry!

Anyway, just ordered a new X-1 motor - with a bit of luck I should have it in time for the weekend.

I still need to test my X-1's control board - I hope it does actually still work, as it would be nice to be able to reassemble it all neatly. I don't really know what will happen to my X-1 if my new machine works as expected. Ideally I'd keep it, but I really don't have the space.

[digits]

Well, after a bit of a trouble with the delivery address, I got my new X-1 motor and fitted it this morning. I am pleased to say that my mill's up and running again after a week of lying silent.

Fortunately the control board seems fine, but the new motor is louder than I remember the old one being. Perhaps I just need to wait for the brushes to wear down a bit.