Delta lathe problems

Re: Delta lathe problems

John Veerkamp, Western Mo

>Sounds to me that you may have a serious voltage fluctuation in the power supply. The other possibility that comes to mind is bad ground. Either problem can cause problems in the speed controller eletronics on this lathe. Get a meter and measure the voltage for 15 to 30 minute period of time. If the fluctuation is more than + or - 5 volts your lathe might not run properly.

John

Re: Delta lathe problems

Ken Riedel

>I had the same problem, twice; lathe was only 3 month old! the problem was it the on off switch. Talked to an engineer? At delta they wanted the old switch to examine but they never sent a mailer to send it back. It must be a larger problem than me knows of.

Baldor controller problems

Dominic Greco in Richboro, PA

>Hate to be the bearer of bad news OB but it's probably the controller.

Delta has had their fair share of documented problems with the Baldor controllers they chose to use on their large lathes. I have actually spoken with a Delta Rep, and the owner of a woodworking store near me about the (4) or so headstocks (rather than tear out the controller, they replace the entire headstock)they had to replace for the exact same reasons. One fed up former Delta lathe owner finally gave up after (2) replacements and asked for his money back. He then ordered a 2Hp Jet and has been quite happy with it.

I would suggest that your friend contact Delta directly and see if they can do something for him. If this is a reoccurring problem, they will have his name on record.

Good luck.

See ya round,

Dominic

Re: Delta lathe problems

Fog Tanner

>I have had the Delta for about two years and have had similar problems. I found that the controller is sensitive to dust buildup. Mine will fault everytime I use it until I get the shop vac and vacum the controller. It works fine until the next buildup. I say buildup, but you can't see a thick layer of dust. It apparently is a small amount over a lan on the PC board or between two or more componants. I have thought about adding a fan to blow air from the left to the right through the controller for this problem. You can't seal the box up or you'll fry the unit. I have also read elsewhere, that someone moved the controller off to the left, using a metal plate as a mounting "tab" bolting it where the controller was.

Delta had sent me the resistor for faulting problems in my old controller. This was to solve the problem of faults during coring bowls. Later they came up with a controller change and sent me a new one (I had to return the old one). This was a reprogramming of the controller and still did not address the dust problem. So, I still have to vacum the controller periodicly. The new controller also does not have the resistor, and I left it out when I swapped out the units.

That has been the only problem I have had with my machine. I looked at the Jet and they have the controller out of the way, but the motor is located too close to the plane of the chuck and in the wrong place. Its also in the way of my dust collector. So, I ordered a Vicmarc VL300, which has the motor under the headstock and the controller under the bed, both in a steel cabinet and away from the dust and out of the way.