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LT40 feed problem

Started by uler3161, March 29, 2014, 09:12:05 PM

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uler3161

The guy we sold my dads mill to had his feed completely stop in the middle of a cut. Won't go forward or reverse. It's an '88 LT40. I went over there today and tried a bunch of things, but I'm stumped. I was hoping to get some other ideas.

Some testing I did:

1. Connected motor directly to the battery. Motor turned, though it was making a little more noise than I thought it should.
2. Checked for voltage across black and red wires going to the drum switch when the feed is off. Result was around 10 or 11 volts.
3. Checked for voltage across black and red wires going to the drum switch when the feed is in reverse. Result was around 1 volt.
4. Tried a different drum switch. No effect.
5. Disconnected yellow wire going from drum switch to circuit board. No effect.
6. Found one of the wires to the motor was about halfway cut off. Trimmed wire and put on new terminal. No effect.

So I don't think it's the drum switch since I tried a different one. I don't think it's the motor because I could make it run. I don't think it's the circuit board because I was testing in reverse, which I don't think goes through the circuit board (though I could be wrong). And by disconnecting the yellow wire, I would think the circuit board should also be bypassed by doing that, though I didn't disconnect the brown wire.

As for what caused this, we think we know. The older woodmizers unfortunately have one of the motor posts too close to the top rail. The feed is on a hinge and has a 3 step pulley for changing gear ratio. We probably cut close to a million feet and 99.9% was on the fastest pulley step. I think we probably wore the pulley out enough that the belt sat down in it too far. Then I think the new owner pushed down on the motor a little and the motor post hit the rail. He may not have noticed it and the thing may have been shorted for a little while. We moved the (fairly new) belt over to the middle gear ratio and there was a lot more space between the motor post and rail.

So what am I missing here?
1989 LT40HD, WoodMaster 718

Dan

Coast Steve

Hey Dan, The first thing I would do is call Woodmizer and explain it to them.

The guys in Salmon Arm , BC are very helpful if your having troubles with a local dealer there.

I do know 3 guys here on the Coast with the Woodmizer LT40 too, (I'll ask them if I can track one of them down)

Steve

uler3161

Quote from: Coast Steve on March 29, 2014, 09:42:07 PM
Hey Dan, The first thing I would do is call Woodmizer and explain it to them.

The guys in Salmon Arm , BC are very helpful if your having troubles with a local dealer there.

I do know 3 guys here on the Coast with the Woodmizer LT40 too, (I'll ask them if I can track one of them down)

Steve

Thanks Steve. I think that's eventually what the guy will have to do. We were just hoping to get a better idea what was going on before contacting WM. He isn't as good at testing electrical. I thought I was pretty good, but I'm stumped (and a little embarrassed). I can only guess there's a short somewhere and I don't see it. He was hoping to figure out the problem instead of having to pay WM to send someone this far. It's probably a full day trip from the nearest WM facility.

My LT40 is just one year newer, so I thought we'd be able to compare, but apparently not. It's not wired the same. Or should I say the drum switch doesn't operate the same. On his mill, putting it in reverse puts power to the green wire going to the motor AND to the yellow wire going to the circuit board. My mill doesn't put power to the yellow wire. I'm not sure if that's a problem, but the feed has been working like that for years. It had a circuit board replaced 10 years ago or so and it was a different board than original, but I don't remember WM telling us we would have to change the drum switch.
1989 LT40HD, WoodMaster 718

Dan

Darrel

I've had 12 volt issues like this before, and I have found out that trying to chase down the source of the problem is almost always a waste of time, because when you find the short you are going to have to re-wire it anyway. So don't even try to figure it out, just start with all new wiring and problem solved.  Use your judgement on such things as solenoids and the like.  Wire is cheap, time is not. JUST MY 2 cents worth.
1992 LT40HD

If I don't pick myself up by my own bootstraps, nobody else will.

Coast Steve

That may be a decent idea Darryl,

It's not that complicated for an electrician but a call to WM is the way to go.

It really must be a simple system when you get into it, but if the new owner doesn't do electrical than that's not great either.

No luck contacting my guy.


Copy and paste your e-mail posting and you could E-mail it to WM
Then you can get their advice on the matter.

It's in their best interest to help out mill owners, and good customer service sells machines.

The new owner may be in luck if there is a common issue with the wiring WM knows about.

You just never know.

uler3161

Thanks Steve. I'm already in contact with Marty Parsons. He's going to send me a schematic.

There were some areas where the wire insulation was melted. I'm wondering if that could be the problem. I didn't see any bare wire grounding out anywhere though. But it almost has to be something I can't see.
1989 LT40HD, WoodMaster 718

Dan

Coast Steve

You just watch it'll be something really small and easy.

backwoods sawyer

if you have melted wire casings it is not a bad idea to change out those wires as they can have inturnal damadge.
Backwoods Custom Milling Inc.
100% portable. . Oregons largest portable sawmill service, serving all of Oregon, from our Backwoods to yours..sawing since 1991

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