[oc-knives]

Hello Everyone,

I am new here and to Hurco but have been machining for 20+ years. I have a small shop at my home where I make knives. I just bought an old KM-3P but I have a problem with it. Everything seems to work ok except starting the spindle. When you start the spindle manually or automatically (programmed) it sounds like it is drawing a lot of electricity. You can hear it from the cabinet on the side that the power hooks to. The CRT,s dim and then the machine locks up and nothing works except for the E-stop. I then have to shut down the machine and restart it. The guy that hooked it up is not familiar with Hurco and said the schematics did not match the machine. Could a wire that was reversed cause this problem? Any help would be great.

Thanks
Mark
www.ocmk.net

[bloke]

Are all three phases on the incoming AC OK?

[oc-knives]

My service guy said they were ok but I use a rotary phase converter because I don’t have 3 phase power. He said something about it is not true 3 phase. My Bridgeport mill has been running off it for years and has not had a problem.

Thanks

[JoeFin]

Adjust to the lowest speed for starting.

At the end of your program just insert the speed reduction or do it manually. My Rotary converter gets legs any time I try to start the spindle over 2K rpm. So I start at 500 rpm and ramp up from there

Every thing is wired correctly wire size and all according to the manual, but its just a lot of current draw when the spindle is all wound up

[DonnieET]

Did the guy that wired it up get the two true legs feeding the electrics. I don't know about the KM-3P I have a SM-1 two legs feed the servo and electronics if the False legs get tied to the transformers you could have that kind of problem.

[Frenchman]

Mark:
Is the brake releasing? The brakes could be dragging.
If you put it into high gear range does the spindle rotate by hand or is it bound up?

[trubleshtr]

Voltage imbalance from the RPC?

[JoeFin]

Voltage imbalance from the RPC?

Maybe - perhaps the Control Power Transformer is using the "Manufactured Leg" from the RPC and when he starts the spindle it drops below the threshold voltage for the controler.

Either way from what he has told us he is experiencing a voltage drop problem that is causing the controler to drop out

[oc-knives]

I think we have the spindle problem fixed. He had a 2 wires reversed but we cant tell for sure yet because now we have a “servo fault on Y” alarm. The “Z” and “X” recalibrate but the “Y” won’t. Any idea what the problem might be.

Thanks Again
Mark

[JoeFin]

Is it "Servo Fault" or "Over Travel" ?

Yes - I've had to remove covers and hand turn them off the E-Stop micro switch before and probably will again - it happens.

Most controlers employ a Dual Micro-Switch adjusted to trip just slightly apart. Maybe .100" apart. The First micro-switch signals the controller the software limits have been reached. The second micro-swicth works like an E-Stop.

So yes - if you run it in fast enough it blows past the first switch and trips off the software E-stop

If not which Servo Drive Cards do you have

[oc-knives]

It says "Servo fault on Y".
I think i will try taking off the cover and screwing the "Y" axis away from its home. It is already all the way to the back.

Thanks

[bloke]

If you have V8.00 or above software, you can move the calibrate position to the front. The rubber mat cover behind the table can swell over time and cause servo faults or motion errors. To change the cal point, reset the master, when it comes back up, press "enter 100 enter" before doing anything else. When the next page comes up, select X right Y front for the cal position. Press the exit key ONCE then type "enter 999 enter".

[Mr. LocoMartin]

Hello Guys,
I picked up a lame KM-3P with very low hours. I use to work for the shop that had it and they aren't very bright and way too cheap to have a service guy spend time trying to diagnose its' problems. So they donated it to high school but the school could not get the funding approved to repair it. So now I have it and it has been setting so long that the batteries for the memory are dead. There is also some other issues with the pendant unit. I have had the repair man out and he feels that for about 3k to 4k all should be up and running.
I would like to get an opinion from the other Hurco guys out there. Would I be "better money spent" looking into replacing the entire controller unit and drives with an updated system or just go ahead and fix what's wrong with it now and see how much it "nickle and dimes" me later on down the road.
Personally, I'm leaning toward a new system. So if that's the case, who's system would you recommend and more importantly, why ? Who would you stay far away from and why ?
Thanks guys.
I do appreciate your time, effort and insight.
Martin
www.212steam.blogspot.com

[JoeFin]

You didn’t say which control system you had in your Hurco.

Mine was upgraded to a Dynapath 50 11yrs ago and it runs great. Repeatability, precision, I’m very happy with it.

Controllers can run 8 - 10K, not counting drives and motors, but you don't have to replace them to upgrade the control. Some manufactures have "Trade-in Programs" which reduce the cost slightly.