Denford Software & Machines

Hello from Ian in Australia,

Seems you guys only hear from me when I've got a problem. Once again the router motor is not being turned on, started doing this on Friday. Machined one car successfully, just started a second car when the power in the whole building dropped out. Whether an issued with the machine caused the circuit breaker to jump out or it was some other item of machinery that shares the same circuit, I don't know. Though it is suspicious that the power outage occurred just as the router was moving away from the home position to the point where (ordinarily) the router would turn on.

What I have done so far;

1] shut down and complete reboot - no success

2] independently powered the router (thanks to REA's modification, I can unplug the power lead and use an extension lead to connect the router directly to a power point) and YES the router motor works fine.

3] checked that the E-stop switch seems to be operating correctly. Apparently it is, but have not yet eliminated possible dust inside it as yet.

What I plan to do next (tomorrow's job)

1] take off the side cover (couldn't find the allen key set, will have to bring some in from home) and watch to see if the motor relay drops in when the machining plan runs.

2] vacuum E-stop switch

3] check fuses (question, ARE there fuses? What type and rating?)

After that I'm open to suggestions as to what to look for next. Will get back to you tomorrow afternoon/evening with results.

regards

Ian C.
Menai High


PS

Have back through last years posts and found all that info you sent me when we had a similar problem them. Will work through that and let you know how I get on.

Ian it will probably be a fuse that has blown

Bradders,

yes it is a blown fuse, labelled as FS1, which, from the diag. that you just sent me is a slow blow type. Any ideas as to why?

regards
Ian

Ian,

I cannot explain that, the Router was not under any loading at the time, so it may have been a power surge in your mains supply

What type of motor do you have is it the Porter Cable? or is the machine a PRO?

If it is the Porter Cable type I would check the motor brushes. As they wear down you will get a build up of dust on the motor comutator. This could have caused a flash over and blown the fuse.

When you have the motor brushes removed it would be qworth giving the com a blow with an airline or vacuum it out a bit.

The router is a Porter and we have had issues with the brushes in the past. In fact that was one of the first things that I looked at. Didn't think though to blast some air through to blow out the carbon dust. It's going to have to wait a couple of days as tomorrow is our regional F1 comp. and I won't be at school. Also have to get out and buy some new fuses. Will let you know how things work out.

regards
Ian

Hi Guys,

sorry for not getting back to you earlier, has been a very hectic two weeks. Out of a staff of 5, 3 have been out with the HSC practical marking, keeping the place running has been a bit of a nightmare. Still have finally managed to get some new fuses and will be into school this weekend to try it all out. Fingers crossed, hope it goes well. Will let you know.

regards
Ian

Yet more delays, but have finally got a replacement fuse into the the machine. Every thing seems to be running fine, will keep in touch.

regards
Ian

Ian,

I'm glad you are back up and running

Hi Guys,

just to touch bases again, have now had the router running pretty much full time for 2 days without missing a beat. Have no idea why the fuse blew or why the power in the building dropped out. Time will tell I guess.

Until next time

Ian