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  1. #16
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    As somebody said, check the emergency stop switch. you need to rotate it a full 45 degrees clockwise and it will pop out. this photo shows how far out it should come.
    20180824_161817.jpg

    it was quite a while ago but I'm sure mine came with the brake interlock adjusted so it always stayed off and mine wouldn't start either. Unplug the mains. Push up the lever as shown here. It should already be pushed on so you should not hear it click. If you hear it click, then that is your problem. Press the brake and that lever will drop and the switch should click off. If you have a helper you could operate the brake and listen to the switch click on and off.
    20180824_162123.jpg
    Above my hand you can see the cover interlock switch. If you are bad and want to override the interlock because you get fed up taking the cover on and off to change thread gears, just unbolt the male lever from the cover and stick it into the interlock like I did here.

    There is an interlock switch inside the box for the chuck guard here. That box just unbolts with a couple of allen bolts. There is live mains going through the switch so best to unplug everything and test the switch with a meter once you have the box off.
    20180824_162211.jpg

    This is inside the breaker box. obviously you've checked the three breakers top left.
    20180824_162725.jpg
    If you are qualified to work on live mains, and power up with cover off, the right hand contactor should be operated, ie the centre should be in, if all your interlocks are set to run. If any interlock is locking, then that RH contactor will be in the relaxed position.
    If you are not sure, here is a close up of the right hand contactor and its centre is pulled in, compare it to the one left of it which is not actuated.
    20180824_163109.jpg
    Regardless of interlock positions (the cover, the brake, the chuck guard) the motor will turn one way if a qualified person was to manually push in the left hand contactor and will turn the other way if the 2nd left contactor is operated. A qualified person would not push both in at once.
    Note that if you ever use the brake to stop the machine while the motor is on, it will break the power to the motor and this will remain broken until you set the fwd, rev lever back to off position. I think this must be the job of the contactor 3rd from the left. it should be out if all is good.

    It might be good practice for you to see how much of a bugger it is to change the belts, to take them off so you can test all the interlocks with less risk to fingers, because then only the motor would turn, not the lathe. Remember sometimes its worth giving things a good thump. In fact, my lathe has a dodgy contactor and every 6 months i'll try to start the motor and it will just sit and hum loudly. If you make it go the other way, usually it will then work the right way again, so I've never bothered to replace it. however I was in the middle of doing a thread and had no space to run the lathe in reverse. I was cursing thinking I'll need to open up the box and give the contactors a poke, but I resorted to my old engineering training and just thumped the breaker box and it all came good.

    If the cover ever fell off the back of your breaker box, remember there are two capacitors on the motor that are brought back into the box and they hold 250V for hours so don't poke anything with something that matters. My bolts holding on the cover were very loose after vibrating for a few years so its quite possible for the cover to fall off.

  2. #17
    jatt's Avatar
    jatt is offline Always within 10 paces from nearest stubby holder
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    Thanks for everyone's time and assist. For interests sake, l unscrewed belt cover and took off its interlock plate. Manually inserted into the actual switch as suggested. Got power. now to work the rest of the unit out. First lathe so lots to figure out and learn

  3. #18
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    Just when you thought its all a goer, motor starts overheating (sounded a bit like something wasn't meshing properly in headstock) and stops. Switched off and checked -- feels like gears are meshing fine. Engaged a different gear and turned chuck-- feels fine and turning freely. Put Motor in between gears and turned motor by hand, feels free enough without any obvious bearing noise. Only a slight smell of paint when had a whiff of motor.

    ..... hmm another call to H&F. Only got to about 13 deg here today, so if it cant handle that....

    Let it cool down, restarted. Same noise again, so stopped it. A quick look inside wiring cabinet didn't reveal anything unusual.

    Doesn't seem to be an isolated case wrt to their motors from reading up some prior forum members experiences. Why am I getting the impression I should be starting my research into the purchase of a better one for the job???

    If it wasn't brand new would look at modifying splashback as it doesn't (in my humble opinion) allow enough ventilation through the vents at rear of motor. Also recon some small vent holes cut into front like a Bosch alternator to allow airflow to pass through wouldnt go astray either. Should be enough clearance around front bearing retainer for a few well placed holes.

    Will get in first and say that even if you spend the $ on better gear, theres still no guarantee that you will get decent service, or even equipment without issues.

    Got a couple of pricey pieces of kit here at the shop that's testament to both of the above. Theres a whole story I could go into on both of the above mentioned, and one is actually Oz made.
    Frisky wife, happy life. ​Then I woke up. Oh well it was fun while it lasted.
    From an early age my father taught me to wear welding gloves . "Its not to protect your hands son, its to put out the fire when u set yourself alight".

  4. #19
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    Hi Jatt,

    I suspect that the motors used are of a poor quality ! There seems to be a number of threads on various forums about motor problems on similar machinery.

    Is yours a universal brush type motor or an induction one. If it has a speed control its probably a brush type, though the newer ones have BLDC (brushless DC) motors.
    Best Regards:
    Baron J.

  5. #20
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    The motor on mine is OK and still the original one from china and has done a lot of work for me. If the motor is overheating without producing tons of smoke and purple chips flying everywhere from your workpiece, then there is something wrong. I've never had my motor overheat and stop. I don't think there is a cut out? I'm not sure what to make of the noise you mention. If it was me, I'd remove the belts and see if its still there with only the motor running and the lathe disconnected. Have you checked there is not one belt on the low speed pulley and one belt on the high speed pulley? Both belts should be using the same gearing ie both on inner or both on outer grooves.
    When you say the motor stops, did you stall it while cutting? If this is just free running, definitely remove those belts to isolate the problem.
    I can't remember but I think there are two capacitors on the motor. On mine, they had simply wrapped the wires together and stuck them in a ceramic twist on thing. Only it was so badly done and the copper on one was hardly touching the other because it was so loosely twisted, the junction was getting hot and high resistance. I just twisted and soldered mine, screwed on the ceramic thing again and that fixed a problem. Mine wasn't starting, but fixing the capacitor connection fixed that. It might be there's a run C that needs the same treatment on yours. That might account for why you have no power (if this is happening on no load) - Forgot to say, Mine is just a single phase induction motor.

  6. #21
    jatt's Avatar
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    Breaker box in mine looks pretty similar to sossity, except there is a clip on box that that attaches to the motor forward and reverse. Plugs into where one would manually push the contactor in.

    One lead and one out -- inline I guess you would call it.

    Motor would have to be induction with 2 caps, one would assume. One for start, other run. Run cap sounds be a good place to look next.

    [QUOTE]When you say the motor stops, did you stall it while cutting? [QUOTE] -- Motor stalls regardless whether am cutting or not. With power off, put machine in between gears (idle). Turns freely and easily, without noises. Even when enguaged in a gear, everything feels free. Tried starting in a higher gear as the chuck turns really easy when manually turned with the power off --same deal.

    Gotta admit I havent pulled belts off yet, mainly cause of how esay it is to manually turn -- h*ell if it cant keep going with so little resistance!
    But will pull belts off and check wiring on cap & see where it leads me next.

    Being a little careful as its a new machine. Am down the way of H&F this week, so will pop in. So glad its on account with my local. Gives one a good chance to test run machine and hopefully find all the gremlins before parting with the dosh. It may get crated & returned yet!!! -- for good.
    Frisky wife, happy life. ​Then I woke up. Oh well it was fun while it lasted.
    From an early age my father taught me to wear welding gloves . "Its not to protect your hands son, its to put out the fire when u set yourself alight".

  7. #22
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    I agree if it turns easily with your hands turning the motor pulley, then the motor is not stopping due to working too hard. The noise you mention is a worry though, do you mean you hear a noise in the headstock that sounds like gears not meshing, or do you mean the electric motor is making that noise? Is it intermittent?

    The clip on box must be an auxiliary relay that just gives you more switching contacts that operate as the same time as the main contactor, that's very common. If you only have three contactors and one has an Aux contactor on top, then you've basically got the same as me. If you have four main contactors then it may be you have an additional safety cut-out somewhere instead. Perhaps they have a thermal switch on the motor. You say it overheats and then stops and wont start again until it has cooled. Sounds like it has a self resetting thermal cut out which mine doesn't have at all..

    I have a dodgy contactor in mine. Every few months I will start the motor and it will just sit and hum really loudly. It won't start though. it will be building up heat quite quickly but only a bored psychopath could leave a machine to suffer like that without taking pity and turning it off. I am struggling to think how your motor is overheating and stopping with no load without making a truly horrible noise.

    If I was you, I wouldn't do anything other than call out H&F. They will send out a technician who should be able to diagnose your fault probably in minutes. I think they would then repair it on site, and I doubt its a very difficult job. Could be as simple as replacing the motor. It should be easy for a professional company to diagnose a simple electrical fault and get it going so it doesn't cut out with no load.

    The lathe is good value, and its capable of doing some good work. Of course an expensive lathe won't give you nearly as many issues to resolve but once you have this one going, it will last.

  8. #23
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    Yeah I know this is a couple of years old.
    I know theres other folk out there with the same lathe as mine, so might prove helpful to someone. Just PM me and will dig up the fotos and any info I have.

    Its been a several months since I changed the sh**** house H&F motor out, now doing duties as a boat anchor!!

    Replacement is doing well.

    Happy turning everyone.

    jatt
    Frisky wife, happy life. ​Then I woke up. Oh well it was fun while it lasted.
    From an early age my father taught me to wear welding gloves . "Its not to protect your hands son, its to put out the fire when u set yourself alight".

  9. #24
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    and, just for another data point, I was loaned/gifted an AL336 this week, built 2008? It has had a busy life, but I think its motor is still the original one.


    Its original owner was sick of the noisy gears on the two highest speeds (1400 and 1800?), so swapped it for a slightly nicer Pacific lathe. I guess I might be stripping the headstock to investigate the noise

  10. #25
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    Hi,

    Use earplugs when machining. Mine dates to 2007 .

    I drained the oil and cleaned the sump and refilled it in 2008.

    It doesn't make a damn of difference. It rattles and clangs at higher speed.

    Grahame

  11. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by Grahame Collins View Post
    It doesn't make a damn of difference. It rattles and clangs at higher speed.
    Thanks Grahame, I have been concerned about mine ever since I got it. Everything appears to be OK, but it's just very noisy.

    How is your AL336 going with oil leaks?
    I have a permanent leak with oil collecting in the front under the bottom gear box, not sure which box is actually leaking.
    It looks like there is a lot of oil, but I can't see a real drop in oil level in either sight glass.

  12. #27
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    wrt oil levels -- I know I have to keep a close eye on the apron.
    Frisky wife, happy life. ​Then I woke up. Oh well it was fun while it lasted.
    From an early age my father taught me to wear welding gloves . "Its not to protect your hands son, its to put out the fire when u set yourself alight".

  13. #28
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    Default Oil leaks...

    One oil leak on the floor from the 3 weeks I have had it. Dropping off the motor, seems to be leak around gearbox input shaft:

    IMG_0705.jpgIMG_0706.jpgIMG_0707.jpgIMG_0708.jpg

  14. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Grahame Collins View Post
    Hi,

    Use earplugs when machining. Mine dates to 2007 .

    I drained the oil and cleaned the sump and refilled it in 2008.

    It doesn't make a damn of difference. It rattles and clangs at higher speed.

    Grahame
    the TAFE lathes I used all made horrendous noises at high speed , like above 1000rpm, these were Colchester knock offs and Le Blonds. Sort of like a jet engine at speed !

  15. #30
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    Default Repairing the brake on an AL336

    My "new" AL336 had a broken brake. Previous owner stomped hard on it and snapped the pins that hold the shoes in place:

    IMG_0018.jpg


    I'm sure, for a price, H&F could supply the parts, but I'm cheap and need to learn, so grabbed some 4140, and...


    1) Thread on the right pin is M10x1.0 which I don't have a tap for. A CNC machinist offered to make the pin. Apart from making a square bolt form instead of a hex one, it is tidy. I just undercut the thread, machined the circlip groove, and screwed it on.

    2) Found some flar bar, chopped. drilled out to the largest size I had (5/8), turned a pin to 16mm ish, machined a section down to 10mm with a locating groove (there is a grub screw), hacksaw some flats, mil them smooth, a few more little holes, M4 cap screw as a pin, and assemble:

    IMG_0019.jpgIMG_0020.jpg

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