# PM3520 Lathe VFD problem.



## barry richardson (May 27, 2019)

Was working in my shop yesterday when the power went out for a few minutes. After it came back on I went to use the lathe, and it was dead. No display on the VFD at all. I had been using it just a few minutes before the power went off. I checked and it has power up to the terminals inside the unit (Delta S1) I have done some searching on the web, havent found any troubleshooting on this model. The manual is very dense and technical but in the trouble shooting flow chart is says to do this; Check if non-fuse breaker and magnetic contactor are ON  Any one know how to do this, or where they are located? it doesnt explain. I am hoping it is fixable, as a replacement VFD is over $700. If any powermatic owners out there have experienced anything similar and could share it I would be very grateful...

Reactions: Informative 1


----------



## CWS (May 27, 2019)

barry richardson said:


> Was working in my shop yesterday when the power went out for a few minutes. After it came back on I went to use the lathe, and it was dead. No display on the VFD at all. I had been using it just a few minutes before the power went off. I checked and it has power up to the terminals inside the unit (Delta S1) I have done some searching on the web, havent found any troubleshooting on this model. The manual is very dense and technical but in the trouble shooting flow chart is says to do this; Check if non-fuse breaker and magnetic contactor are ON  Any one know how to do this, or where they are located? it doesnt explain. I am hoping it is fixable, as a replacement VFD is over $700. If any powermatic owners out there have experienced anything similar and could share it I would be very grateful...


I haven't been on muster monster site for a while but they be something on there. They have alot of information on that site.


barry richardson said:


> Was working in my shop yesterday when the power went out for a few minutes. After it came back on I went to use the lathe, and it was dead. No display on the VFD at all. I had been using it just a few minutes before the power went off. I checked and it has power up to the terminals inside the unit (Delta S1) I have done some searching on the web, havent found any troubleshooting on this model. The manual is very dense and technical but in the trouble shooting flow chart is says to do this; Check if non-fuse breaker and magnetic contactor are ON  Any one know how to do this, or where they are located? it doesnt explain. I am hoping it is fixable, as a replacement VFD is over $700. If any powermatic owners out there have experienced anything similar and could share it I would be very grateful...


http://www.woodcentral.com/woodwork...sbj/is-vfd-bad-or-the-control-circuitry-test/
may have information that will help.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


----------



## TimR (May 27, 2019)

As a 3520 owner, I’ve had power go off and when back on again, and turned on, nothing. 
Have you tried unplugging till the VFD fully powers off? But of a delay, 10-15 seconds or so. Then plug in and try.

Second, do you have a remote switch? Mine has had its contacts get dirty and I just take apart and clean them. Alternatively there are a second set of contacts you can quickly plug into and possibly be up and running.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


----------



## barry richardson (May 27, 2019)

TimR said:


> As a 3520 owner, I’ve had power go off and when back on again, and turned on, nothing.
> Have you tried unplugging till the VFD fully powers off? But of a delay, 10-15 seconds or so. Then plug in and try.
> 
> Second, do you have a remote switch? Mine has had its contacts get dirty and I just take apart and clean them. Alternatively there are a second set of contacts you can quickly plug into and possibly be up and running.


I left it unplugged over night, still nothing today, the VFD shows no signs of life, I do have a remote and I will check it, but the remote is after the unit so I dont think it will make a difference as far as the VFD powering up...


----------



## barry richardson (May 27, 2019)

CWS said:


> I haven't been on muster monster site for a while but they be something on there. They have alot of information on that site.
> 
> http://www.woodcentral.com/woodwork...sbj/is-vfd-bad-or-the-control-circuitry-test/
> may have information that will help.


Thanks for that idea to check the mustard monster site! I hadn;t thought of that


----------



## steve bellinger (May 27, 2019)

Barry if the VFD is the same one as my grizzly (delta) it does have a 5 amp fuse in it. Just take the back off and check the upper right hand side. Might not be the same but they are both made by delta so definitely worth a shot. Good luck man.


----------



## barry richardson (May 27, 2019)

steve bellinger said:


> Barry if the VFD is the same one as my grizzly (delta) it does have a 5 amp fuse in it. Just take the back off and check the upper right hand side. Might not be the same but they are both made by delta so definitely worth a shot. Good luck man.


Thanks Steve, a blown fuse is what it acts like, but I don't see an obvious on in mine, will investigate further...


----------



## TimR (May 27, 2019)

barry richardson said:


> I left it unplugged over night, still nothing today, the VFD shows no signs of life, I do have a remote and I will check it, but the remote is after the unit so I dont think it will make a difference as far as the VFD powering up...


My bad, didn’t read carefully enough. Blown fuse hopefully all it is.


----------



## rocky1 (May 27, 2019)

Don't write the VFD off yet Barry. Google "VFD Repair" there in the Phoenix area, it appears there are several companies that work on them, but I would expect $100/hour and service call if they come out. If they can find schematics it shouldn't take a lot to find the problem and determine whether it's repairable. If it's like most, it should have a motherboard that does all the work and a second smaller control board that powers the VFD itself. The control board in most isn't typically real expensive; the motherboard can be ugly! If you know anyone that works in the water industry, they may know someone locally that works on the stuff, HVAC techs get into a lot of electronics and VFDs and may be able to check it out, local college may look at it or recommend a student to look at it, if you have connections there. 

Dependent upon how difficult it is to take off, it may be worth taking it off and delivering it to a local shop, but that makes it difficult to test it under load, (_I'd ask first_), or ship it back to the manufacturer for repair. Have worked that all three ways, (_in-house, delivered, and shipped_), and had success with each. (_Although the one I shipped the guy called and wanted to know if the extractor was jumping up and down off the ground, because they literally had to pick the drive up and drop it to duplicate the loose connection fail I was seeing_.) If you call tech support, or go to the mustard monster site, you're going to need a digital volt/ohm meter to test poles, pins, and wires. Have it laid out and ready if you call tech support, it typically boggles their mind when you tell them you have it and need to know what pins to check and what you should be looking for. 

Most VFD failures are a result of accumulative damage, every time the power surges, blinks, starts back up after an outage, it takes it's toll. (_The more remote you are, the uglier that gets, not as many connections to absorb the load when it starts back up._) There it will be difficult to see damage on the board. On a direct lightning strike, goodies are typically smoked up on the board. There will usually be obvious damage!

Reactions: Informative 1


----------



## woodtickgreg (May 27, 2019)

And if you do have to replace the vfd do not buy one for $700 You can get a top of the line unit for about $300 bucks for a 3 hp motor. They are coming down in price.

Reactions: Agree 2


----------



## Karl_TN (May 27, 2019)

Important tip: Unplug your VFD equipment when you're finish for the day or any time there's a storm in the area. Turning off your equipment (or flipping off the circuit breaker) may not be enough to prevent an electrical spike from coming in thru the ground connection.

Reactions: Like 1 | Useful 1


----------



## rocky1 (May 27, 2019)

And, before anyone says they have a lightning arrestor ahead of theirs, local lineman put that in perspective for me a long time ago. He said, "Oh they help, but that lightning bolt just jumped 5 - 10 miles across the sky, you really think that little bitty gap in that lighting arrestor is gonna stop it?"

Reactions: Agree 2 | Funny 3 | Useful 1


----------



## Mike1950 (May 27, 2019)

stupid ? but did you flip breaker- I had trouble with bandsaw a bit ago- breaker looked right but one leg of 220 was tripped. Could have saved lots of $%&&^%$## if I would have tried that first

Reactions: Agree 1


----------



## William Tanner (May 27, 2019)

Good point Karl. I’m in the habit of unplugging my PM at the end of each day. Piece of mind type of deal.


----------



## TimR (May 28, 2019)

William Tanner said:


> Good point Karl. I’m in the habit of unplugging my PM at the end of each day. Piece of mind type of deal.


I think we all need to practice that more. I’ve sometimes left mine plugged in for months when not used...not smart.

Reactions: Agree 2


----------



## barry richardson (May 28, 2019)

Thanks for all the suggestions guys


rocky1 said:


> Dependent upon how difficult it is to take off, it may be worth taking it off and delivering it to a local shop, but that makes it difficult to test it under load, (_I'd ask first_), or ship it back to the manufacturer for repair



I might end up doing that, I see a couple of businesses on line that say they specialize in Delta VFD repairs.



Most VFD failures are a result of accumulative damage said:


> The more remote you are, the uglier that gets, not as many connections to absorb the load when it starts back up.[/I])
> 
> We certainly have a lot of power outages where I live, and I rarely ever unplugged the lathe, oops.....sounds very likely
> 
> ...

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Herb G. (May 29, 2019)

Step 1-First Check the voltage at the receptacle & make sure it is within specs.
i.e.- a 220 V receptacle should be anywhere from 205-230 V. A 110 V plug should be anywhere from 105-125 V.
If that's ok, move to step 2.
Step 2- Make sure the lathe is fully plugged in, not just 1/2 way.
If that checks out, you should be good to go.
If not, see if there is a manual reset button & press it.

That's all I got because I don't own that lathe.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


----------



## Mlyle (Jun 1, 2019)

Is this a 3520B. Or 3520C
I did not notice if u mentioned this. 

Mike lyle


----------



## dennisp42 (Jun 1, 2019)

I had a similar problem while using mine. It stopped and I couldn't get it going again. I checked everything and couldn't find a problem. I called PM tech support and they took the time to speak to me. They told me to unplug it and let it sit for 10 min and try again. It worked. I see you left it unplugged overnight and that didn't help. What I'm getting at is to call Tech Support. they are helpful and can and will talk to you and help in any way.

Reactions: Like 1


----------

