VFD will not power up

[uffabrew]

Our ShopBot VFD will no longer power up. We last used it this Friday to cut out Guitar bodies, but today (Saturday) when I came in to cut out the guitar necks the VFD would not power/light up. I have tried all the basic things several times. Such as turning the control box switch off and back on, turning the engage key off and on again, resetting all the E-Stops, checking the breakers, making sure the power is plugged in, but can't get the VFD to power up. I can position the spindle anywhere on the table and even run "phantom" cuts of the guitar bodies and necks from our ShopBot files but can't figure out what is wrong. The machine in brand new and we have only being using it for the last 6 weeks.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Best Regards,

Eddie Ufford
Hanford High School
Richland, WA

[Brady Watson]

You may have a bad set of contactors in the control box. Your machine may or may not still be under warranty. Please call ShopBot on Monday.

-B

[kubotaman]

Brady is correct as to the contacts being stuck. Mine did the same thing when it was new. Open the control box and they look similiar to a set of breakers. My machine is an Alpha and they are located on the upper top of the control box. Be sure electric is off. If the electric is on you should hear a click when you turn the box on. If it doesn't or is muffled then they may be stuck. Anyways turn off the electric to the box, open it up and located the contacts. They are as large as a regular breaker. If you look closely at the top of them you will see that you can be physically reset by pushing lightly on the inside part that slides in them. Hope this helps. This is common and mine never stick anymore after some use.