my lathe fried today!

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Daniel said:
Yeah I did.... eventually :) Still the smell issue tells me there is a problem with the brushes or at least brush contact. of course a smell is a bit broad since a cooked component on a circuit board will have an odor as well.
Being a HF lathe the Circuit board is highly suspect by the way. cheap components is one way they make the lathes cheaper.
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I'd be willing to bet money that it's the circuit board. It's a known HF issue. If he took the cover off the VS unplugged he'd probably see a spot where a capacitor had fried. Not sure about being able to replace it, as I don't know his electric skills. A tech would be just as expensive as buying the PSI VS kit.

I'm not sure, but i'd also guess it's the same speed controller they have for the metal lathes, which you can read about here http://littlemachineshop.com/Reference/DriveTroubleshooting.pdf

But if your at all uncomfortable don't mess with it, just buy the PSI kit.
 
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I was in HF a while back when another customer tried to return a compressor that died. He hadn't purchased the extended warranty but the store manager had him buy the warranty and gave him a new machine. Everyone walked away happy. Talk to the manager and see what he says. You have nothing to loose.
From my own experience, I've never had a problem with HF.
Dave
 
Justin, your guess that it would be the same board is probably dead on. But without verification of that I would not want to make a recommendation on it. if it was a capacitor you should be able to see it. if it was the MOSFET you will not. that is why I don't think there was a smell when my lathe went out. it does not burn up as much as it just stops working. I also do not recommend trying to replace a capacitor or diode etc unless you know what you are doing. the fumbling around trying to get a correct solder ususally means death for small components. they cannot handle the heat of being soldered for very long so you have to get the touch solder and back out thing down pretty well. the smaller the component the more important it is to be fast. Generally the fix for a bad circuit board is to replace the whole board and you never really know just what part of it went bad. I did the MOSFET thing on my lathe one beasue I do know how to solder electronic parts and two I had already been told that it would go. Basically a by product of hanging around the Yahoo mini lathe group. had a bunch of folks even offer to mail me the parts as they had spares hanging around for other members. it is a very common break down on the mini metal lathe.
 
ok, I just got home, i see this has been a hot topic:eek:
the brushes are gone, as when i tried to put them back in one cracked in half, very fragile.
yes it made a very distinct rancid smell, similar but worse than burning rubber.
im not going to take it apart any more on the off chance i can return it, and also if it was the circuit board or whatever than it would be like $100-$110 to fix when i bought the lathe for 110-$120. i simply find that rediculous.

now i think it is basically down to what lathe should I buy, as i do not think, having done a search, that I will be able to find the replacement brushed for such a cheap lathe, if that even is the problem.

id drive down to HF right now except we have a ton of snow coming down, the roads suck, and the nearest one is 45 min away:frown:
oh and i got my license yesterday:frown::frown::redface::)
 
Well, if the motor mount isn't too screwy and you don't mind giving up VS, there should be a shade-tree appliance repair guy somewhere near you who can come up with a motor that will fit, and just bypass the VS controls. Depending on what he has laying around, you might get more horsepower and a simpler VS setup out of the deal too.
 
well, i exchanged it today without a problem.very nice folks.
i brought it home to find it is junk.:mad:

the motor has no torque and when i touch a tool to the lathe any more than LIGHTLY it just plain out stops, but i can still hear something spinning???:confused:

then to the tailstock assembly....

the actual shaft the tailstock taper sits in is stuck in the assembly. had to whack it out of there and clean out the inside of the tailstock with a file before it would fit back in nicely, also the tailstock tightening screw on the top, which screws down snug against the shaft, is in there like somebody welded it there. just trying to move it i needed a wrench for leverage. that is of course until the soft steel bolt just TWISTED OFF! AS IN BROKE!
best of all this was the last they had at that store, it was the floor model.:at-wits-end:

i just wanted it to make a dozen or so pens, until I could afford a turncrafter pro vs midi lathe. I didn't even get a one:frown:
 
ZanderPommo said:
best of all this was the last they had at that store, it was the floor model.:at-wits-end:
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Never take the floor model. Every person that walks past it, has to mess with it whether they know anything about it or not. Things are going to get screwed up.
 
Man sorry to hear about your problems. Is there any adjustments for the drive belt? It it stops but sounds like something is still spinning I would think your drive belt is slipping.

Jamie
 
Is this the $120 lathe from HF? I have a Wilton lathe but it has the same specs and other then color looks like the same lathe. I just looked at mine and it looks like you can adjust the motor to take up slack in the drive belt. On mine there are 2 cap screws holding the motor to the lathe. There is one screw in the front and one in the rear. If you were looking at the back of the motor from the tailstock end, the screws are in the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions. The screw in the 9 o'clock position has a slotted mounting hole. Loosen up both screws and push the motor down to take up the slack. Hold the motor in place while you tighten up the screw that is in front(the one with the slotted mounting hole). Then tighten up the rear screw. Hopefully that will take up any slack that is in the drive belt and you will at least be able to use the lathe. As fas as the screw that broke off in the tail stock I would try a screw extractor. Hope some of this helps you get back to turning.

Jamie
 
thanks i'll take a look.
yep it is the 120 dollar lathe, and no i didn't have a choice to not take the floor model, it was all they had. i was just hoping it wouldn't be too messed up:frown:
 
that is exactly how it is set up, and i did what you said. im going out now to se if that fixed it and see if i can turn a cigar. update to follow.
thank you everyone, i may now be able to make some pens and buy a new lathe, thanks to this amazing site filled with people who love to help out their fellow man (or woman or in my case kid...):)
 
once again thank you all.
proof that it works enough to make money for a new lathe!
casted myself, i believe it is western diamondback rattler
SDC10323.jpg

the seam side
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