CNC Control Retrofit

Why would you want to retrofit? Be it an old machine that has outstanding tolerance and repeatability or a side project being started in the garage, a Centroid control retrofit can be a cost-effective and user-friendly method of getting a potentially scrap machine back to life. Some controls out there just don’t make sense to learn…

Demagnetization Checking of Okuma BL AC Servo Motors

One of the problems that can affect BL AC Servo Motors is demagnetization. There are a couple of checks you can do in your shop to see if the magnetization is good or not. To do this you will first have to uninstall your motor from your machine. Once uninstalled you should be able to…

OKUMA MIV Servo Drives

In Okuma’s Motion Control System there two parts that run the system. They are the DC power supply unit and the MIV inverter unit. Today we will be highlighting the MIV inverter unit specifically for Servo axis uses. MIV Servo drives are connected in series with the power supply and MIV Spindle drive using a…

Why You Should Send Your Motors To A Repair Shop

There are three different types of motors used in the industry today. These three types are General Purpose, Servo, and Spindle motors. Each of these types of motors is similar but also unique at the same time and that is why you would need to send your motor to a specialized repair shop. General Purpose…

Yaskawa Sigma V Servo Drives

We will be highlighting Sigma- V series drives from Yaskawa this month. The SGDV-Sigma-V is an AC servo pack capable of ranges anywhere from 30 W all the way up to 55 kW. It takes power input anywhere from 100-480 VAC. This series features upgraded tuning procedures to better adjust to the new system and…

How To Check Bearings and Bearing Housing in Electric Motors

When it comes to motor failures, bearing related incidences are the cause of nearly half of the failures. These types of problems are generally due to the bearing itself wearing down over time, leading to a rough rotation and extra friction which will pull the excess load, or the housing that the bearings sit in…

Yaskawa SGMAH AC Servo Motors

This month we will be spotlighting Yaskawa SGMAH Series AC servo motors. The SGMAH motors come with or without a gearbox. The one that we will be reviewing does not include a gearbox. This specific model is part of their Sigma II product line that also encompasses AC Servo Drives.  The typical SGMAH motor model…

Overvoltage Alarms

This month’s tech tip, we will be covering overvoltage (OV) which is a common alarm on many drives. The description for overvoltage is the DC bus voltage has exceeded the trip point. The trip point can be caused internally to the drive such as the input power, but it can also be caused externally for…

Servo Drives vs VFDs

What distinguishes a servo drive from a VFD, or vice versa? A servo drive, while similar to a VFD, controls a motor most commonly utilizing an internal permanent magnet (IPM) style of a rotor. This internal magnet design allows a smaller rotor to generate a large amount of magnetic flux, resulting in increased torque and…

Yaskawa CACR-SR_BE AC Servo Drives

Series Overview: We will be highlighting CACR-SR_BE drives this month. The CACR-SR_BE is an AC servo pack capable of ranges anywhere from .2 KW all the way up to 6 KW. It takes a 200V input.  This drive features a compact design with easy to understand wiring and an all-digital operator to adjust your parameters…

Troubleshooting Mitsubishi FR-SF Drive Power Supply

SF-PW Procedure This is to determine the cause of why the FR-SF drive is not powering up and showing no LED display.  Remove SF-CA control board from FR drive. Turn on power to drive. Locate the yellow/amber LED on the power supply. If LED is on, then the problem with power is with the control…

Motor Reworking – Telltale Signs

Motor Reworking – Telltale Signs Spindle motors and servo motors are generally more robust than their drive counter-part, which can be great news but could also lead to some pretty bad news. Due to the robustness of motors in comparison to the servo or spindle drive controlling them, a problem with the motor will generally…