Had a lot of fun yesterday with my RPC

[alloy]

Yesterday morning I was running my lathe trying to get a multi start thread worked out. I broke a $43 insert so back to the drawing board to try and reprogram in to fix that.

I played with it and went back out to the shop and turned the RPC on and got the loud buzzng sound that makes you sick to your stomach thinking what happened? Worked fine this morning.

So out came the multi meter checking voltages, connections, the motor and all I had was power on L1 and L2 (the 220v through lines from my shop) but nothing on L3.
Also emailed Jim Dawson about a contactor that I thought was the problem. It's discontinued so wanted to replace it with one that would handle more amps.

I called the guy that I bought the panel from and he said to take the contacter apart and clean the contacts and then I found this.

Apparently the wires were shoved in too far and they were tightened down on the insulation and not the bare wire. And they were in so far that they kept the contactor from seating and were only making contact on the very end of the wire.

Told the guy about it and he said that's not supposed to happen. Well no sh*t.

So now I'm back up and running.

Ok, rant over. I'm better now..............well mostly................maybe not.

 

[matthewsx]

Glad it was easy, but just makes you wonder....

John

 

[Superburban]

Sucks when people mess up the simple things, then do not take responsibility. I guess the good side is you did not buy the parts before you found the real problem.

 

[MrWhoopee]

Looks like the kind of thing you do when you really want to screw with someone's head. You know, a dead fish under toolbox drawer, ball bearings in the gas tank or hidden inside a fender.

Glad it was a simple fix. No harm done.

 

[markba633csi]

Looks like you'll be needing to replace that contactor soon- that right-side contact appears pretty burned up
-Mark

 

[alloy]

It's burned became it wasn't seated correctly. If you look at the pic you can see it's not setting flat and the end of one wire is all that's making contact.

I've found one for $136 plus shipping. Kinda "burns" me I have to replace it on my nickle.

I did get a "Thanks for bringing that to my attention" from the guy.

I think that's the only "thanks" I'll get out of this.

Home | Croman Converters

3 phase rotary converters

www.cromanconverters.com

 

[talvare]

I don't know what brand contactor that is, but most name brand stuff you can buy replacement contacts for. May be worth checking.

Ted

 

[alloy]

It's a Siemans 42EF15AG.

Best I could find one was $135 plus shipping.

Kind of expensive to fix someone else's screw up.

There are other contractors listed at much less with a slightly different part number, but I don't know what the difference is in them.

 

[Flyinfool]

If you paid someone to build that panel then I would not just wait to see what he may offer, I would expect him to supply a new contactor or a set of replacement points if available. I would also look at every single connection in the panel for other similar issues.

 

[pontiac428]

Better go through everything now...