Hi,

I recently aquired a Bridgeport Iteract 1 Mk2 with TNC 2500 control and am running the machine through a Phase converter (3 HP) + Step-Up transformer (15KVA). The machine is powered for 460 Volts.

Description of problems:

1. The Joysticks do not work in manual mode, yet the handweel moves all axis just fine. (I am willing to live this as long as I can run the program fine which I haven't been able to test yet)
2. The machine runs for 15-30 minutes and then stops with an error "Spindle Moter Thermostat"

I am new to CNC machines but have heard that these machines are very power sensitive. So I ran a test on the power output from the transformer and I get the following voltages:

H1 - H2 = 445 Volts
H2 - H3 = 467 Volts
H1 - H3 = 467 Volts

I spoke with the technician at Gentec Motors (Transformer company) and they told me that my phase converter is not balanced for a CNC machine. They recommend that I upgrade my 3 HP phase converter to a 10 HP minimum converter.

Can someone please provide any help or suggestion to what I should do. I just bought a $800 transformer and would not like to spend another $800 for a new converter unless I really need to. Also, I don't even know if a new phase converter will fix the problem.

Thanks,

Pali

I thought the interact 1 Mk 2 had a seven HP motor. That would make your phase converter a bit undersized. Check to see if I am correct.

There are two joysticks typically on a interact. One for the z and one for the X & Y. Both have two modes. A slow feed and rapid. The Z typically will only go down slow but will go up fast. Mave you tried it with thw spindle on? Otherwise you need to start tracing wires for continuity. You can also address the I/O table in the TNC to see if the control is seeing the inputs. This will narrow it down to thw wiring, joystick or I/O.
I have seen a spindle motor thermal alarm if the phasing was reversed and the fan was fighting the natural chimney of the motor. the fan should be blowing up, not down.

I suggest you contact a good electrician.

George

the joysticks do die, are you pushing the button in the middle?

can you hear a relay click when pushing them?

George:

I connected the phase converter and the transformer myself so there is a good chance that I have mixed the phases. I have 4 wires coming out of the machine, brown, orange, yellow, green which I now know are for L1, L2, L3, and groud respectively. I will check the wiring for the phase converter and the transformer to make sure that correct phase is going to the correct wire. Hopefully this will fix some of my issues. When you say the fan should be blowing up and not into the chimney, do you mean the small motor that fires up when the machine is started? This is the motor that is connected to machine right behind the spindle motor when facing the machine.

I also ended up buying a 20 HP phase converter to be on the safe side. I hope that it will be sufficient for my purpose. As you mentioned, the machine has a 7 HP motor.

I owe you a drink if you are ever in the Maryland-DC area.

Gus:

I have tried all combinations, except with spindle on as George mentioned, and no I do not hear a relay click when I push the button. Could this also be result of a reversed phase?

Thanks to both of you for the information.

Pali

Try reversing L1 and L2

Ok,

This is really starting to scare me now. I have tried reversing the phase so that the fan blows up - into the spindle motor and I still get the spindle thermostat problem. This is after a new 20HP phase converter.

New findings:

The thermostat switch kicks off (error on control) even if the spindle never turned on. This leads me to believe that spindle motor is getting power even when spindle is not turning.

Does anyone know of a good bridgeport technichian who can help me troubleshoot this in Maryland.

Thanks,

Pali

Does anyone know what the issue may be? Could it be a bad spindle motor / spindle drive? There is a smell that comes from the spindle before the overheat sensor goes off.

I desperately need help on this and would greatly appreciate any information.

Best,

Pali