Denford Software & Machines

Hi,

The Vaccum pump power switch seems to have gone faulty (2002 Pro NS V5 with the USB baldor), the lamp toggles on/off but the pump stays powered up after the timer clicks when the machine has been switched on, I can't turn the pump off. I have metered the switch and it looks like it is closed on the pump connection regardless of the switch position.

Are these available (RS or Farnell) ?

Thanks

The pump will not switch off while you are in Auto mode.

Can you go in to Jog mode & try it?

It IS a faulty switch, I have metered it, it switches the light on and off as required BUT the pump turns on as soon as the power is turned on to the MR and the time delay has passed. The contacts on the VP stay closed with the switch in either position.
I was aware of the VP staying on if in automode but I've not even got to the point of sending a file to machine yet.
I suspect it, as with the rest of the machine is packed full of balsa dust as the school seemed to have used it for the F1 in schools but not really carried out proper cleaning/maintainance. I had to clear the dust out of the micro switches so I could at least get it to home, then discovered the X travel binds and looses steps as it gets closer to the opposite end. It looks to have every orafice packed in balsa dust (that includes the control board section as no filter fitted!.
So as soon as I have managed to shake this pesky temperature I'll be getting it all cleaned up and hope that the X travel issue is just down to the dust.

Ignore my last post....

OK it is NOT a faulty switch (wouldn't be the simple things for me would it!). When I tested the switch I measured a connection that didn't change with the button pressed or not, this told me it was a switch fault. However having now disconnected the switch from the board and tested again the switch meters perfectly.
Now with the Switch disconnected at the board (pin1 or 4 depending if you board count or connector count, Din1 according to the Nextmove ST installation manual) and the machine powered up The VPR is still getting energised as soon as the timer finishes.
With the machine powered up and metering from the 24v PSV 0v line to Din1 I get 0v
Looking at the info in the manual I should see this as 5v as it is tied high to the 5v rail via a 10k resistor,
If I remove the output from the board to the relay then it doesn't fire up.

Took a break,

I have now traced the fault all the way to the U19, dead short pin 3 to 7 so the input has gone faulty 2 options.
1. Replace the chip,
2. is it possible to change which pins Mint looks to for the VP on/off info? I could just use another input as the rest of U19 seems to be ok.

Really frustrating for a 'little use' school machine in 'working order' to have so many issues now but I have enjoyed tracing this fault back, took me back to my days in electronics prior to becoming a teacher!

Pete

Replaced U19, I can now turn off the vacuum pump!!! really pleased something is going right. It's been a few years since I had to work on surface mount stuff, realised how much age has caught up with my sight, I resorted to a magnifying glass/light to get the job done!

Pete