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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Maryvale, Queensland
    Posts
    2,338

    Default My Chinese CNC Saga (continued)

    For those who've followed my posts in the Chinese Machine thread, I thought I should start a new thread to stop clogging up that one.

    A quick recap for those who don't know. I purchase a "Walter 6545" from eBay on 3rd August, as well as separately purchasing a pendant and a rotational axis from the same supplier. The pendant came Hong Kong Post, and arrived a week later (a record for me from Hong Kong) and the rest was sent by UPS and arrived August 19th, in 2 large packages.

    Upon opening the boxes, I found several problems.

    1. Table bent in one corner, and the angle piece for the cable slide bent on the other side.
    2. Plastic housing around the motor shafts split in 2
    3. Power cable for the controller not supplied with Australian plug, which I asked and checked before purchasing
    4. Spindle connector for controller box has incompatible plug
    5. No power cable for water pump supplied - pump has 2 bare connectors, and a plug for the controller is included, but has half of the clamp section missing

    So, this is what's happened since then.

    1. Supplier contacted about damage, reply is "talk to the post office". Now UPS policy is for the supplier to lodge damage claims, but I contacted UPS and told them the supplier was not being helpful. Since then I've emailed back & forth to UPS about 10 times, sent about 20 photos, explanations of what's happened and package dimensions. Final result yesterday was that they've lodged the claim for me, and will notify the supplier of the outcome

    2. Regarding the missing parts etc, I've sent multiple emails to the supplier with little feedback. The first box I opened was the controller box, which had just the plugs for the 3 axes connectors, the spindle connector and the water pump connector, but then on unwrapping all the other bits, I find they all (except the water pump) have connectors on already, even though they're not all correct. So the question is, is the expectation for me to undo and re-solder all the bits that don't match? Certainly was no mention of having to rewire anything in the eBay listing. Anyway, when I saw half of the pump connector missing, that was my first email and they said they'd send a replacement, but I haven't seen it yet.

    Once I got further into the unwrapping process, I found the other problems. The water pump having no cable is the biggest "missing" bit, as I can't even try to run anything until I get that sorted. I'm still not sure if I should just buy 2 pieces of normal wired and solder the connectors to the plug, or whether I need to build to any specifications, or direction for the hookup.

    When I tried to connect the spindle cable, it happily fit on the spindle end, but the plug that goes into the back of the connector, while being 4-pin, in no other way matches the socket. Now I do have a matching connector in that spares bag that came with the controller, but that would require pulling off the existing plug (and I had a look, there's only 3 wires inside, not 4, so one pin is not wired) and rewiring to the new one. Not that hard, but not something I'm an expert at either, especially if the ordering of the pins is important, which I imagine it is)

    And lastly, the non-australian plug, I guess is simply solved by getting one of those multi-country adaptors. But I've used those before, and the resulting connection is usually quite loose and wobbly, and having wobbly power points in a dusty, drippy, messy shop environment is not something that makes me comfortable. The pain for me on this one is the principal that i asked before purchase if it was ready for Australian power connection.

    So, I await the outcome of the UPS damage claim and a response on "fixing" the connection problems from the supplier. How long I wait now before I lodge a paypal claim for a "not what I ordered" and "poor packaging" complaint is the question. You only have 45 days from purchase to lodge one, so I think I'll give them a couple days more and see what happens.

    In the meantime, it's annoying I'm still waiting to even power the thing up and see if it works, but at least I'm getting plenty of time to study everything and figure out what to do with it when it is all finally up and going

    Russell.
    Pen Affair Craft Supplies - Cheapest Pearl Ex & Pemo Polymer Clay in Australia
    http://craftsupplies.penaffair.com

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Maryvale, Queensland
    Posts
    2,338

    Default

    Ahh well, despite repeated emails asking for an update, I've heard nothing.

    So unfortunately I've not had to lodge a Paypal dispute. We'll see if that prompts a reply from them or not.

    Russell.
    Pen Affair Craft Supplies - Cheapest Pearl Ex & Pemo Polymer Clay in Australia
    http://craftsupplies.penaffair.com

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    988

    Default

    Hopefully you come to an agreement for compensation or well thats what I'd be pushing for, no way would you want to ship it back as it'll cost a fortune and then some to send it with insurance/tracking as per paypals policy.

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Maryvale, Queensland
    Posts
    2,338

    Default

    Yeah, I hope so too. I'm really getting behind in my plans to start making stuff now. I've been through all the Aspire tutorials and have some stuff ready, I just need a working machine.

    I also built a table to hold my bucket of water for the pump at the right height beside the machine. I noticed the tubing supplied for the pump is very soft, and I have one end inserted into the top of the spindle, and it's folded over and kinked itself just from sitting there. Do I need stiffer tubing, or once water is pumping through, this won't be a problem? i'd hate for it to kink and lose the flow while the spindle is running, and burn out the motor.

    Russell.
    Pen Affair Craft Supplies - Cheapest Pearl Ex & Pemo Polymer Clay in Australia
    http://craftsupplies.penaffair.com

  6. #5
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Perth WA
    Posts
    3,784

    Default

    Russell,
    You will have to sort out the kink. The pressure most likely won't be enough to fix it and in any case not a good practise to start with a kink. Try rotating the hose in the fitting or re-routing the hose and see if that fixes it.
    Beverage tube from the big green wharehouse is fine but you might have to drill out the nut on the fitting to slide over the tube as it is thicker walled.
    I think you have been very generous to the seller by not initiating a dispute before now.
    Hopefully you will be up and running soon.
    Cheers,
    Rod

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    649

    Default

    It is frustrating not having to been able to power it up yet, but the issues you have can be easily resolved if you have to fix them all yourself.

    The advantages of having built your own to start with, makes it very easy to rectify any issues with purchased machines.

    Post pics and we will all see if we can get you up and running.

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Maryvale, Queensland
    Posts
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    Default

    So they've finally decided to respond, and offered me US$300 if I'll fix it myself. The only thing I haven't heard back though is what the outcome of UPS's claim investigation is. I haven't responded yet.

    Russell.
    Pen Affair Craft Supplies - Cheapest Pearl Ex & Pemo Polymer Clay in Australia
    http://craftsupplies.penaffair.com

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Oxley, Brisbane
    Age
    79
    Posts
    3,041

    Default

    Hi Russell

    It sounds like quite a generous offer to me. The hardest thing for you to fix would be the table itself, the other bits appear to be of little consequence and easily worked around.

    Assuming that the pump is 240 volt, then the pump cable is just any old appliance cable cut off and attached to the pump. Again, assuming 240 volts, it doesn't matter which way round the connections go as they are alternating.

    Power cable as above.

    It will be good experience for you and will lead to a greater understanding of your machine.

    Bob Willson

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Maryvale, Queensland
    Posts
    2,338

    Default

    My concern was going to be, if I start fixing it myself, what does that mean for the warranty, but then upon looking at the original listing again, they only offer one month on the electricals, and it's been 6 weeks since i ordered and the thing hasn't even powered up yet, so I guess I might as well just forget anything warranty related.

    I haven't been game to modify anything until the problems are sorted. Once that's done, I'll gladly take some advice on fixing the problems, and will post specific questions one at a time that I hope you can all help with.

    Thanks everyone for your support so far.

    Russell.
    Pen Affair Craft Supplies - Cheapest Pearl Ex & Pemo Polymer Clay in Australia
    http://craftsupplies.penaffair.com

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Maryvale, Queensland
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    Default

    Ok well I'm finally done with the supplier. Even though they said there'd be no warranty if i fixed it myself, I took their offer as I figure that should cover what I need to finally get the thing working.

    So, here's the specifics of my issues that I'd appreciate some advice on.

    1. The Water pump hookup.

    As you can see in the pictures, the pump has 2 bare connectors, and the supplied connector, which goes into the back of the controller, has 2 connectors as well (funny about that!). The plugs for the controller have small numbers on the plastic body. I assume it's important I wire up the pump correctly? Or doesn't it matter. One of the connectors on the pump has a + symbol stamped next to it. I also still need to get wire to make the connection. I'm not sure cutting up a normal power cable is the best option? Isn't it too big? I have some actual electrician cable left over from when my BIL who wired up the shed for me. There's several types, including a yellow/green pair I think.







    2. The Spindle controller rewire

    The connector on the left is already cabled to the connector attached to the spindle. The connector on the right is the proper one that fits into the plug on the controller box. Even though the controller and plugs have 4 holes (which you can see the controller connection above), I took the brown connector apart, and only 3 wires are wired up. Once again, I think there are numbers against each connector, and I assume it's important I get them wired correctly?




    CNC Spindle Connector

    3. While I'm here, I'll throw in a picture of how the water tubing plugged into the spindle looks, and any further suggestions that already made above on that about using it. I have yet to take it to the hardware and try to find something more robust that will fit.


    CNC Water Tubing

    Thanks for any advice.
    Russell.
    Pen Affair Craft Supplies - Cheapest Pearl Ex & Pemo Polymer Clay in Australia
    http://craftsupplies.penaffair.com

  12. #11
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Perth WA
    Posts
    3,784

    Default

    Do you have a VFD for the spindle? - that connector coming out the back of the controller box worries me if that is supposed to be your spindle connection.
    Cheers,
    Rod

  13. #12
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Maryvale, Queensland
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by rodm View Post
    Do you have a VFD for the spindle? - that connector coming out the back of the controller box worries me if that is supposed to be your spindle connection.
    The controller is supposed to have a built-in VFD that is software controlled.
    Pen Affair Craft Supplies - Cheapest Pearl Ex & Pemo Polymer Clay in Australia
    http://craftsupplies.penaffair.com

  14. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
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    Default

    Most pumps would just run backwards if you wire it wrong, I'm assuming its just a 24VDC pump, also some don't like to run dry.

    You can easily pop the top off your controller box and see which is your positive and negative pin.



    For the kinking tube, maybe put a spring over it to stop it from kinking? Bunnings have a range of long springs that might work.

  15. #14
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Perth WA
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    Default

    Looks like they have cobbled stuff together that doesn't match.

    This is my take and I do hope I am wrong.
    Their machines used to have a converted servo motor for a spindle and it looks like this is the controller they have supplied to you. That spindle requires a VFD to operate - a VFD converts single phase to three phase. See attached photo and look for one of these - if you find one relax but if not open the control box and look for one in there.
    You are looking for a VFD 170 by 125 base by 160 high - that is why i don't think it is in the control box they supplied you.
    I hope I am wrong.
    Cheers,
    Rod

  16. #15
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Maryvale, Queensland
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    Default

    No I don't have one of those. The listing description on eBay says the control box has

    1. 4 axis Drivers
    2. Embedded VFD Inverter
    3. Water pump power

    I'll have to wait till the morning if I need to open the actual box, but it's certainly not large enough to have that whole assembly inside.

    Russell
    Pen Affair Craft Supplies - Cheapest Pearl Ex & Pemo Polymer Clay in Australia
    http://craftsupplies.penaffair.com

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