Warco wm240v

[Nic BertelsenParticipant @nicbertelsen16379]

Hi, ive got a wm240v which I nipped up yesterday when parting off work. Motor stopped and now won't restart. When I turn on the rpm screen flashes 1469rpm then 0 rpm and stays on 0. There is no motor movement. Any ideas? TIA

[Nic BertelsenParticipant @nicbertelsen16379]

problem

[AlanWParticipant @alanw96569]

Hi Nic

Check the fuses on the control panel. You may have got away lightly but, if not, it could be the control board gone phutt. These variable speed dc lathes are not very forgiving of stall conditions; you need to be very quick on the stop button. They are very easy to stall anyway, despite the alleged 1hp motor. I added an intermediate pulley pair to my 240 to increase low-speed torque and avoid just this kind of problem.

Alan

[Nic BertelsenParticipant @nicbertelsen16379]

Hi, i checked the fuse in rear of machine and it was fine, are there others I haven't found yet?

Mines not too bad for stalling as the previous owner installed a bigger motor onto lathe to combat this, I was just not concentrating as much as I should have been grrr.

Nic

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

They are very easy to stall anyway, despite the alleged 1hp motor.

Specification says 1.1kW. So Warco also quotes input power and not the real output power?  I am surprised – well, perhaps not.

Edited By not done it yet on 20/09/2020 18:22:37

[AlanWParticipant @alanw96569]

Mine has two fuses, one on the front panel and one on the back.

[AlanWParticipant @alanw96569]

NDIY

I can only speak as I find. When I needed the torque at low revs turning a large diameter, it just wasn't there. My old Hobbymat with 300W ac motor would have coped easily where the 240 stalled.

Nic

If the motor has been changed (presumably up-rated) what other mods may have been done to the electrics?

Alan

[Sam Longley 1Participant @samlongley1]

Mine stalls several times a session. Gutless thing. Less power than my old Drummond M type. takes several presses of the stop/start button to get it going even if it has not had a stall. If I forget to press the stop button after a stall or after i have pressed the start button & it has not started,  it sometimes starts whilst i am doing a set up, which has caught me unawares a couple of times with my hand on the chuck.

 

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 20/09/2020 21:30:03

[Ian RolfeParticipant @ianrolfe39690]

I know this is an old thread. But did you ever solve this. My WM240 has just done exactly the same after drilling a large hole in aluminium at low speed. Cleared through the hole OK. Turned it off now wont restart. But RPM indicator comes on in the same way you describe. Any clues of how to diagnose would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

Have you checked the fuses?

Isn’t there some check you can do with a lightbulb to diagnose certain conditions with these machines?

[Ian RolfeParticipant @ianrolfe39690]

I am going to check the fuse as it’s the simplest thing to rule out. But I need to clear things so I can pull the machine out to get to it. However I doubt it is the fuse as looking on the wireing diagram it comes before the start/stop switch. The start switch does still latch in when there is power to the machine so power is obviously getting to the switch.

When I opened up the front control panel cover there was a distinct smell of ‘burned electronics’. So I fear something has blown on the control board.  Will investigate further with a multimeter when I can create the space to get to it!

[Ian Rolfe]

On Ian Rolfe Said:

…

When I opened up the front control panel cover there was a distinct smell of ‘burned electronics’. So I fear something has blown on the control board.  Will investigate further with a multimeter when I can create the space to get to it!

I hate the smell of magic smoke!   Almost for sure part of the control board has fried, probably the power FETs.

When you get inside please post some photos.  Also any information about the type of motor fitted: probably DC brushed with a PWM controller, but make sure.

Although I have the gear, diagnosing and fixing electronic faults annoys me, reason unknown.   So I’d probably have a quick look, and, unless the fault was obvious and simple, I’d replace the board.   That’s the worst case.  Maybe what to do if you don’t have a soldering iron etc.

Good news, others on the forum are good at mending electronics, so lets see what they make of the photos.

Commiserations,

Dave

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

Just like to comment here that this issue doesn’t appear to be present in my 9+ -year-old WM250V.

The comments that the torque is not what it might be are certainly correct when I compare the thing with industrial lathes I used from the 1970s onward.

What it means to me is that when I get a parting- or tailstock-tapping jam, the lathe stalls and, if I can’t release the jam in a few seconds, I’ll press the stop button and then unjam it.

But most of the time, especially when parting, I’ll just retract the crossslide and the lathe will immediately resume running. There’ll be a few bumps before the parting blade bites in again. There’s never been smoke, smell, or failure to restart promptly from a motor stall.

Compared with the Myford I used to have, this has saved me quite a few broken tools and galled workpieces.

As far as I’m concerned, it’s not a bug, it’s a feature.

🙂

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

I made a cross drilling jig way back in 1993 now someone spotted it in my worshop the other day and thought he would like to make one but dont seem to be able to find any drawings, can anyone help? its the version that uses a angle type plate bolted to the crosslide with a vee at centre height and clamping arrangements.

[Ian RolfeParticipant @ianrolfe39690]

Just wanted to update on this. Managed to pull the lathe out today and checked fuse. As I thought it is fine. Pulled the control board out. Visual inspection didn’t show any sign of anything burned. So proceeded to check input and output with a multimeter. Input 240V. So good. Output 13V – 100V depending on position of speed knob so probably ok. So that leaves the problem with the motor. Fiddling with it I took one of the brushes out. Noticed the face of the brush had worn at a slight angle. Couldn’t remember which way round though, when I put it back in. So may have gone back the opposite way round. Lathe now runs. A bit stuttery at slow speed which it had actually started to do a while back. So will get some new brushes before putting everything back and that’s hopefully sorted it. Few think I’ve got off lightly.

[Ian RolfeParticipant @ianrolfe39690]

Just put new brushes in. All working perfectly now. The spring on one of the brushes had compressed to about half its original length. Definitely worth checking Belford worrying about more serious issues.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Glad that it was a simple and cheap fix for the problem.

Howard

[mgnbukParticipant @mgnbuk]

The spring on one of the brushes had compressed to about half its original length.

Permanat compression of the brush spring can be caused by overheating tempering the spring. Overheating of the spring is caused by loose brush caps – the brush cap should hold the plate connected to the braid that runs to the graphite section firmly to the end of the brush holder so the current path is though the braid. When the cap is loose there is a current path through the spring, which heats up & looses temper.

Brushed DC motors are not maintenace free – the brushes should be removed regularly to ensure that they are clean, free moving in the brush holder, of sufficlent length to reach the next inspection & that the springs retain tension. On replacement, the brush caps should be adequately tightened to ensure a firm connection between the brass connection cap on the brush & the brush holder.

Regular maintenance of DC servomotors was something I didn’t miss when they were largely replaced by brusheless versions !

Nigel B.

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

Nigel beat me to it with the advice about brushes and springs, arcing will soon destroy the commutator and armature, heat will wreck the brush holders and their mountings. Once the Com is torn up the new brushes may not last long and the motor U/S. Noel.

[Ian RolfeParticipant @ianrolfe39690]

Thankfully it looks like it just stopped working before any real damage was done. Doesn’t look like there’s any heat damage to brush holders. I have no intention of dismantling the motor so can’t check commutator or armature. But lathe seems to be working better with more power than it had been so assume all is ok. It only gets very light usage so should only need to check brushes about every 5 years. But it is a warning that preventative maintenance is needed.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Had similar on my 280 after a couple of years. The replacements are still going strong after 13years.

[Ian RolfeParticipant @ianrolfe39690]

That’s pretty much what mine looked like.

[Author]

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