LT40 Woodmizer problem

[Georgia Antique Flooring]

Any help would be appreciated.  I am having problems getting the hydraulics to work.  I know you have to have the saw head all the way to the rear stops.  It seems that the interlock there is not working.  Is there a quick fix??
Thanks

[pnyberg]

Of course you should call Wood-Mizer on Monday, but my guess is that you're not getting power to the the electric motor that powers your hydraulic pump.  The three most likely points of failure that I can think of are 1) the positive contact of the the 'button' on the head to the contact strip on the rail, 2) the ground connection at the head on the bottom of the rail, and 3) a bad solinoid in your hyrdaulics box.

--Peter

[Bibbyman]

Does the hydraulics work on any of the levers or only when a lever is pulled up but not down or down and not up? 

The reason I ask, on the valve body there is a rod with small rocker arms that when a lever is pulled, it turns the rod.  The rod then activates a small micro-switch.  Sometimes the rocker levers get out of adjustment and won’t activate the little micro-switch.  The micro-switch kicks on the solenoid(s) to switch on power to the pumps.   

In addition to  pnyberg’s comments,  I’ve had the brushes wear out on the motor(s) and then you have nothing. 

Do you have a standard HD mill or a Super?  With a Super, you can have one motor or solenoid go out and still have half power,  but on a standard mill, you’ll have nothing.

How many hours are on the mill?  I've had to replace the brushes in the motor(s) on our mill at about 1,000 hours and then about 500 hours thereafter.

[sparks]

If your mill is older than 1999 then here are the things that you can check:
Is the fuse good?

Do you have voltage on the brass block that touches the strip? If no, you have a bad connection between the block and the fuse.

If you do have voltage on the block then do you have voltage on the strip? If yes, activate the hydraulics and see if it stays on the strip. If the voltage goes away or you do not have voltage on the strip, you have a bad connection between the strip and the block.

Do you have voltage on one of the big terminals of the solenoid? If no, you have a bad connection where the cables connect to the strip. If the big terminal does have voltage then jump across the big terminals and see if the motor runs. If the motr runs you have a bad solenoid or a bad micro-switch. Ground the terminal on the solenoid where the micro-switch connects and if the motor runs it is a bad switch if the motor does not run it is a bad solenoid.

If you mill is 1999 or newer check the solenoid in the fuse box first and then do these steps.

Hope this helps