Help! I'm losin it Powermatic

Re: Help! I'm losin it Powermatic

Gary in Zirconia,NC

>The reset on the inverter has always restarted mine. The support at Powermatic have been great even replacing parts after my warrenty was expired.

Re: Help! I'm losin it Powermatic

David Galloway

>I have a similar history with Powermatic being great on customer service. I do what you have tried. Leave it unplugged for a while.

I know how frustrating this can be. Hang in there!

David

Re: Help! I'm losin it Powermatic

ken chase

>David:

It finally restarted. It took a long time. Could that suggest a problem with the inverter?

Is it all right to punch the reset or start buttons on the inverter?

The tech didn't seem to know.

Thanks

Ken

Re: Help! I'm losin it Powermatic

JL

>It is not a problem with the inverter - it has a "brain" that is slow to reset. It is supposed to be a safety feature on Jet and Powermatics. BTW - unplug them during thunderstorms.

Re: Help! I'm losin it Powermatic

Ron in Drums PA

>I have inverters on other equipment. On some it takes about 10 minutes before you can reset them and if you hit the button to soon you have to wait another 10 minutes.

Re: Help! I'm losin it Powermatic

jeff jilg

>Better yet, put an inline wall switch on your 220 line. I turn the power off to the lathe at the end of each day. The inverter will draw some minimal power even with the lathe turned off. So this kills 2 birds with one switch - saves a small amount of wasted power, and protects from thunderstorms.

Re: Help! I'm losin it Powermatic

John K Jordan

>My Jet 1642 will reset from the "dead" state after about 5 seconds powered off without touching the reset button in the back. Threw me for a loop the first time - I thought I'd wiped out the electronics somehow.

This has happened to me just twice with a huge honkin' brain-damaged catch each time. If it happened regularly with normal "itty-bitty" catches or agressive roughing I might wonder if something was wrong with the electronics.

JKJ in East TN

Re: Help! I'm losin it Powermatic

Jerry-Huntsville, AL

>For protection from thunderstprms the wall switch should be double pole double throw and connected to power on/off both hot lines. Otherwise lightening could still get to the electronics.

Jerry

If you're bored...

Peter Teubel

>...you can take a peek at the inverter manual. I have a Delta (inverter, not lathe) on my big lathe and I have programmed my specific preferences. One of them is a 5 second pause after overlead before the reset switch will reset the unit (shortest delay possible). These modern inverters are highly programmable and one can really tweak them to suit one's needs/wants.

Re: If you're bored...

John Lucas

>Peter

I've programmed 2 of them but Powermatic doesn't give you a manual. I've thought about looking to see who makes this one and ordering a manual from them. It probably voids the warranty however. The one I worked on the other day had over 40 programmable features.

Follow up Re: Help! I'm losin it Powermatic

ken chase

>The inverter came back on after awhile and the

people at Powermatic as sending a new one just in case there is something wrong with it. I guess even though they don't have a lot of answers they are sure standing behind the product and this pleases me to no end. Thought you all should know.

Thanks

Ken

Re: Help! I'm losin it Powermatic

jeff jilg

>Thanks Jerry, a good point which I forgot to mention in my post.

Re: Help! I'm losin it Powermatic

Dave Shombert

>Ken - Sounds like the problem is solved, at least for the time being. Good. One thing you might consider if you run into the same frustrations with Powermatic again: call the dealer you bought the machine from and get HIM to call them. Depends on where you bought it, of course, but big dealers often have the clout and/or inside knowledge to get answers. I haven't had any problems with my General, but I did have some questions about various things. The dealer was VERY helpful and called the factory on my behalf a couple of times, and was always able to get the info I needed quickly.

Dave Shombert

Elkins, WV

Re: I thought double throw had 2 "on" positions.

Al Crandall --NE of Indy--

>You want double pole to break both hot lines, but you only need an "off" and an "on" positon which is, I believe, a single throw. I just installed a box with a switch in the cord between the plug and the vfd. It's nice to be able to plug the lathe in without seeing sparks at the prongs on the plug.

Re: If you're bored... *LINK*

Peter Teubel

>The last Powermatic I saw had a Delta bland inverter. If so, check out the link below. With a little hacking, you can even control/program it via computer.


Delta Electronics

It's a feature of the inverter

Dominic Greco in Richboro PA

>

You wrote:

"It finally restarted. It took a long time. Could that suggest a problem with the inverter?

Is it all right to punch the reset or start buttons on the inverter? The tech didn't seem to know."

That long time between starts is a feature of the inverter. Would you rather that the lathe try to start back up when in a jammed condition and blow out the motor?

From your description of the scenario that resulted in the jam, it sounds as if you might be taking too big of a "bite" with the gouge. Or it may have something to do with the cutting edge. Have you checked to see if he gouge you're using is sharp? One of the most dangerous tools in any woodworker's arsenal is a dull one.

As others have suggested, I would most heartily recommend reading the manual that came with the lathe, as well as the manual for the inverter. Having such a source at hand will help you to speedily resolve problems such as the one you encountered without having to resort to waiting for an answer here.

I'm sort of amazed that Powermatic didn't include a manual for the inverter along with the lathe. Jet supplied a thick manual for the inverter that came with my Jet JWL-1642.

Re: Help! I'm losin it Powermatic

Joel Hunnicutt

>Powermatic has given me the best customer service of any tool company bar none. I think sometimes we are too quick to get on the board and rail at a company just because they a little longer than we think to find an answer.

Ken, if you stopped the lathe as a result of hitting a knot, you might want to take a look at what you are turning. That 2 hp motor will power through most anything. I'm frankly surprised that the blank didn't get ripped off the lathe if the catch was that bad.

Re: If you're bored...

Mike Schwing from Md.

>It does void the warranty. However if your lathe is out of warranty period - nothing much to lose. You'll need a password in order to do access the controller. The Powermatic guys would not give it to me when I asked. (peeved me off, too, who owns my lathe me or them?) I wanted to reprogram the electronic braking to a shorter stop period.

Re: If you're bored...

Joel Hunnicutt

>Mike, be careful making the braking time too short. I had to do the programming when I changed my nova to variable a few years ago. I had it so short that the inertia wanted to unsecrw the chuck. That was fun!

Not cool...

Peter Teubel

>Password protected settings?! Definitly not cool. That alone would be a sales blocker for me. I'm sure if you contact Delta electronics, they would let you know how to reset it (or it would be in the manual).