I have a problem with a Poolewood lathe VSD

[donwatson]

Hi,
We were given a Poolewood lathe at our local Men's Shed and the donor said it was working ok. We have tried everything to get it running but, so far, no go. Is there a site where we could find some information on how to get this machine to run. It was donated by the son of the chap who owned it and the old man has sadly died and we don't know what to do. It looks rather old and we haven't seen the serial numbers or anything yet.
Can anyone suggest how we can start to get this machine up and running ??
take care and stay safe
Don W

 

[SVB]

Maybe a photo / model number would help offering some suggestions.

 

[donwatson]

Thanks for the reply. I have no pics as yet as I just had a look on Friday past. Unfortunately no one at the shed has any idea of how this setup works and are completely in the dark. It is a Poolewood Euro 1500 and that is as much information as I have, I will go down this week and try and find serial numbers etc. I only know that the machine was made by Silverline and they are now defunct. They went bust after the split from Poolewood but Poolewood only stuck a badge on the lathe they did not make them. I have an email sent to Poolewood asking for help and an email to IMO asking for help as I think their Jaguar VXS inverter was originally used with this model. I will wait and see what the mail brings. I have had a look on You Tube and found a great number of videos on setting up lathes with an electronic control and it all looks good but I really need a simple explanation of the complete system and how it is supposed to work. The 'control box' looks as if it is made form a tin box and looks very amateurish and the boxes I see on utube seem to be very professional (with a very professional price tag.
Does any know if the conroller can be reburbished ??

 

[donwatson]

Have managed a couple of pics and would like to know if anyone can help with this.
Can I say we don't know what we are doing as it looks as if we need to plug the lathe into the 13 amp wall socket and then run the lathe from the controller. Is this correct ??
How/where can I get an Operators Manual. Any help please.

 

[Ttrees]

Hello
I can't help with finding your lathe, but question that your VSD is...
Yes a variable speed drive, I get that, but whether it's a single phase or three phase that it is running.
I've seen a few new (Rikon?) bandsaws which has this feature, but couldn't get proper a look at the motor to see if it was a three phase or single phase motor.

If it is a special VFD varaible frequency drive/inverter with some blocked of parameters
(the important motor commands blocked off relating to speed settings within the RPM i.e safe range of the motor speed) so the average consumer can plug and play, and not mistakenly program it wrong..

I would guess this might be the case, but have never seen nor glossed over these, and I ain't too knowledgeable about these.
I'd still guess that these have large capacitors which can give a lethal voltage with stored juice long after being unplugged from the wall, like half an hour.

If it's a regular VFD/inverter, then you'd better do some studying of Bob's induction motor document
so you can make sure the parameters are correct so the motor doesn't let the magic smoke out.

Can we see the motor nameplate to see whether it's a single phase or three phase motor, to find out more,
There doesn't seem to be a start or run capacitor on the side of the motor, like you would normally find on a single phase induction motor. (from your pics so far we can't see)
Have you looked for the junction box bolted to the side, sometimes the capacitor will fit inside.

I would guess the speed control dial pot (potentiometer) could be an on button in itself.
It won't go if you've the pot set at 0 hz or RPM whichever the dial reads.

I doubt you can program these, but if you can, it might explain why it won't run.
Can we see what the display says.
If all fails then go looking for @Myfordman or find him at "the other place"

@mods...do we still need to keep up this farce with not naming names, its a bit childish
and horrible, tis only another wee forum.

Hope that helps somehow

Tom

 

[Duncan A]

Your lathe motor is 3-phase, powered by an inverter that converts 1-phase to 3-phase.
Your pictures show the control box but they don't show the inverter. The digital part of the control box is from the inverter (designed to be detachable) but the rest of the inverter will be elsewhere. From the detachable part that is visible, I am pretty sure it is a Eurotherm 650 Series 650, now under a new name:
SSD / Eurotherm 650 Series Inverters - ACD&D Limited
- Find it and give it a visual inspection for any obvious problems, such as detached wires.
Follow the mains lead; it should go to the inverter. From the inverter, there will be a control lead to the control box inverter and a power lead to the motor.
You don't give any information about symptoms so please excuse me if the following is stating the obvious:
- Check the fuse in the mains plug.
- Do not touch the four buttons in the centre of the control box.
- Turn speed control to minimum position.
- Switch on supply. Do you hear the inverter fan run?
Does the display on the control bow light up and show "000"?
- Press GREEN button, then turn speed control clockwise. Is there any response from the motor?
- Try operating the Fwd / Reverse switch, the rocker switch on top of the control box. Anything happen?
- Check back along the leads for an emergency stop button. Some machines had, one, some didn't. If you find one and it's locked in, release it by pulling or twisting.
- Try pressing the RED button on the control box, and then the GREEN button - this may act a s a reset, depending upon the inverter settings.
Duncan

 

[Ttrees]

To add a little bit of my post, I should have mentioned the pot might need to be clicked on, like the volume is the on button on an old radio.
And as Duncan confirmed, the VFD/inverter could also be programmed to only accept to run with possible external switchgear.
Maybe find the serial code or model and go over the parameters, surely it's downloadable.

Tom

 

[Happy amateur]

DONWATSON

Paul Howard woodturner has experience with this model lathe.
He is always willing to help. 01621 815654 07966 188559 [email protected]
www.paulhowardwoodturner.co.uk
One possibility is that the control panel has become full of dust and may need cleaning out.
Also something to remember with this excellent lathe (I have one) is the direct drive has no through hole.
Always use a thread protector to eject any MT drive. In my opinion as good as any lathe on the market under £3000

Fred

 

[BEE13]

I'm not sure I agree with Fred about the quality. I had one and got very fed up with the agricultural nature of the construction. On the plus side, it has a very good electronic control, plenty of power and a swivelling headstock. On the downside, the tailstock clamps are adjustable but, on mine, either moved easily but slipped under load or stuck fast needing all my strength to move it. Also, when turning some very fine pointy things, I found the accuracy wasn't good enough - the points went around in a circle. It was the lathe not the chuck. I now have a Jet 1642 and its a dream in comparison, like moving from driving a tractor to luxury car.

I have the original Poolewood manual and the Eurotherm manual as pdfs if the OP or anyone else wants them. PM me.

Brian

 

[Blister]

I owned a Euro 2000 and it had a big control box ( Inverter ) with a lead connected to the smaller hand control unit , Looks like your may be missing the inverter box

 

[Mark Hancock]

That looks like a later model of the Euro 1500. Isn't the inverter within the legs? Just follow the cable from the mobile control box.

 

[Bruce]

I'm not sure I agree with Fred about the quality. I had one and got very fed up with the agricultural nature of the construction. On the plus side, it has a very good electronic control, plenty of power and a swivelling headstock. On the downside, the tailstock clamps are adjustable but, on mine, either moved easily but slipped under load or stuck fast needing all my strength to move it. Also, when turning some very fine pointy things, I found the accuracy wasn't good enough - the points went around in a circle. It was the lathe not the chuck. I now have a Jet 1642 and its a dream in comparison, like moving from driving a tractor to luxury car.

I have the original Poolewood manual and the Eurotherm manual as pdfs if the OP or anyone else wants them. PM me.

Brian

Hi Brian,
I have just seen this and wondered if you might have a picture of the outboard turning set up as I have a Euro1000 but not the outboard tool rest, so I was going to fabricate something but would like to see the original design if possible
Hoping that you can help, ATB Bruce

 

[BEE13]

Hi Bruce

I don't have the lathe any more but, yes I do have photos. I'll look them out & get back to you.

 

[LawrenceofPA]

I'm not sure I agree with Fred about the quality. I had one and got very fed up with the agricultural nature of the construction. On the plus side, it has a very good electronic control, plenty of power and a swivelling headstock. On the downside, the tailstock clamps are adjustable but, on mine, either moved easily but slipped under load or stuck fast needing all my strength to move it. Also, when turning some very fine pointy things, I found the accuracy wasn't good enough - the points went around in a circle. It was the lathe not the chuck. I now have a Jet 1642 and its a dream in comparison, like moving from driving a tractor to luxury car.

I have the original Poolewood manual and the Eurotherm manual as pdfs if the OP or anyone else wants them. PM me.

Brian

I have a Euro 2000 with the solid shaft. Do you still have a copy of the manual?