***Resolved*** NEW PM-1440HVT-2 Lathe (PM fixed it)

[tim81]

UNBELIEVABLE! It works!! It was the stupid VFD!!

THANK YOU GUYS!!! You all helped me out a ton!! This is the video I'm sending back to PM.

Can you share the procedure please

 

[matthewsx]

Cool, as a long time IT person I can feel their pain.

Sometimes the hardest part of troubleshooting is getting the person you're trying to help to do the thing you want them to do.

Not putting anything on you, VFD parameter setting is a PITA and not at all intuitive. Sounds like it was compounded by them referencing a different unit than you have.

Bottom line, PM is still a stand up supplier and I'll bet if this didn't fix it they would have come up with a solution sooner rather than later.

Great to see so many members here chiming in to help as well and keep this from escalating to a place nobody wants to see it go.

Cheers,

John

 

[paynerd]

The factory might be on to something, VFDs can induce torsional vibrations into the drivetrain. Changing the parameters can reduce torque ripple if it’s caused by the VFD. The motor can also have issues that cause torque pulses that could be exciting the natural frequency of the belts. Does the vibration go away at higher speeds, or does it stay bad after going through that speed range?

Changing the tension on the belts will change the natural frequency, think of tuning a piano, so by increasing the tension, the natural frequency will increase. If there is a frequency in the gear train that is exciting the belt natural frequency, increasing the tension might move that enough that is is no longer excited, or it might just change the speed at which it happens. Since it doesn’t happen when in neutral, it could be the gear mesh frequency of the gears on the spindle is causing this. Have you tried both the high and low ranges to see if this happens? I don’t recall seeing that in this thread.

VFDs usually have a setting for skipping a frequency due to natural frequency problems. That will prevent you from running at that frequency, and will accelerate quickly though it to minimize the vibrations. If you can’t find what is exciting the vibration, you might be able to operate around that frequency and avoid the problem.

where were you about 24 hours ago? hahaha Looks like you were right.

 

[tim81]

So if you want a trouble free lathe I should stick to gears as VFD is not that wonderful after all, or at least not that good. 12 speed manual transmission on a lathe

 

[paynerd]

Cool, as a long time IT person I can feel their pain.

Sometimes the hardest part of troubleshooting is getting the person you're trying to help to do the thing you want them to do.

Not putting anything on you, VFD parameter setting is a PITA and not at all intuitive. Sounds like it was compounded by them referencing a different unit than you have.

Bottom line, PM is still a stand up supplier and I'll bet if this didn't fix it they would have come up with a solution sooner rather than later.

Great to see so many members here chiming in to help as well and keep this from escalating to a place nobody wants to see it go.

Cheers,

John

I completely agree. A person in my shoes that is experiencing this for the first time, not fully knowing the company I'm dealing with, its hard to believe things will work out like they should. I can say now with this experience I am 100% pleased with the help I got. This last email had detailed instructions and a video on how to do it. I couldn't have asked for more (other than a working machine at delivery haha). I definitely feel comfortable about my warranty in the future with these guys.

 

[paynerd]

Can you share the procedure please

Steps: With the machine power on (Be careful not to touch anything electrical, obviously)
I am going to call the selection wheel just the wheel to shorten things up below:
1. Press MODE
2. Turn the wheel until you get to the setting that says F7--
3. Press the center of the wheel
4. Turn the wheel until you get to setting F739
5. Press the wheel
6. Turn the wheel until you get to 168
7. Press the wheel
8. Turn the wheel until you get down to 700
9. Press the wheel
10. Turn the wheel until you get to 0
11. Press the wheel
12. Press the Mode button
13. Turn the wheel until you get to setting uL
14. Press the wheel, and make sure this says 60.0 - If not, please change this to 60.0 and press the wheel
15. Press the Mode Button
16. Turn the wheel until you get to setting uLu
17. Press the wheel. Make sure this says 220 (Or 240 if your voltage is pretty high, if so its good to change this to 240)
18. Press the wheel
19. Turn the wheel until you get to setting F4--
20. Press the wheel
21. Turn the wheel until you get to setting 405
22. Press the wheel. Verify this says 3.70 If not, change to 3.70
23. Press the wheel
24. Turn the wheel to setting 415
25. Press the wheel. Verify that this shows 13.70 If not, change it to 13.70
26. Press the wheel
27. Turn the wheel to setting 417
28. Press the wheel
29. Verify that this shows 1715. If not, change this to 1715
30. Press the wheel
31. Press MODE 4 times to exit

Now to auto tune the motor:
This one first (I did not get a video of this part)
1. Press Mode
2. Turn the wheel to setting PT, Change setting PT to 2
3. Press the wheel.
4. Turn the wheel until you get to setting F4--
5. Press the wheel
6. Turn the wheel until you are at setting 400. Change this to 5.
7. Press the wheel
8. Press Mode 4 times to get out.
9. Go ahead and run the machine now like you normally would. The tune could take a split second of a few minutes. It will probably only take a second.

See if that made any difference in the noise.

Any questions or if you get lost just let me know.

 

[tim81]

I completely agree. A person in my shoes that is experiencing this for the first time, not fully knowing the company I'm dealing with, its hard to believe things will work out like they should. I can say now with this experience I am 100% pleased with the help I got. This last email had detailed instructions and a video on how to do it. I couldn't have asked for more (other than a working machine at delivery haha). I definitely feel comfortable about my warranty in the future with these guys.

I am happy for you and your investment, luckily it was not mechanical.

 

[tim81]

Steps: With the machine power on (Be careful not to touch anything electrical, obviously)
I am going to call the selection wheel just the wheel to shorten things up below:
1. Press MODE
2. Turn the wheel until you get to the setting that says F7--
3. Press the center of the wheel
4. Turn the wheel until you get to setting F739
5. Press the wheel
6. Turn the wheel until you get to 168
7. Press the wheel
8. Turn the wheel until you get down to 700
9. Press the wheel
10. Turn the wheel until you get to 0
11. Press the wheel
12. Press the Mode button
13. Turn the wheel until you get to setting uL
14. Press the wheel, and make sure this says 60.0 - If not, please change this to 60.0 and press the wheel
15. Press the Mode Button
16. Turn the wheel until you get to setting uLu
17. Press the wheel. Make sure this says 220 (Or 240 if your voltage is pretty high, if so its good to change this to 240)
18. Press the wheel
19. Turn the wheel until you get to setting F4--
20. Press the wheel
21. Turn the wheel until you get to setting 405
22. Press the wheel. Verify this says 3.70 If not, change to 3.70
23. Press the wheel
24. Turn the wheel to setting 415
25. Press the wheel. Verify that this shows 13.70 If not, change it to 13.70
26. Press the wheel
27. Turn the wheel to setting 417
28. Press the wheel
29. Verify that this shows 1715. If not, change this to 1715
30. Press the wheel
31. Press MODE 4 times to exit

Now to auto tune the motor:
This one first (I did not get a video of this part)
1. Press Mode
2. Turn the wheel to setting PT, Change setting PT to 2
3. Press the wheel.
4. Turn the wheel until you get to setting F4--
5. Press the wheel
6. Turn the wheel until you are at setting 400. Change this to 5.
7. Press the wheel
8. Press Mode 4 times to get out.
9. Go ahead and run the machine now like you normally would. The tune could take a split second of a few minutes. It will probably only take a second.

See if that made any difference in the noise.

Any questions or if you get lost just let me know.

Thanks a lot man

 

[Ischgl99]

where were you about 24 hours ago? hahaha Looks like you were right.

Running around like crazy while my wife is away lol. I’m glad to hear you got it fixed, but I am still surprised the play you showed in the gears is normal. Now, you get to finally enjoy your new lathe!

 

[paynerd]

I am happy for you and your investment, luckily it was not mechanical.

Ya I was in a state of depression when someone said earlier its not easy replacing the spindle or some of the other things that it could have been. Thanks for your help!