Thread: Mercury Nova Mini Lathe

I'd be inclined to put it all back together, then plug it in and try it, as it was probably the blown fuse. Surprising the number of people who don't realise that there is a fuse in the system.
Kryn

Good luck trying to source any parts from Nova/Teknatool for the Mercury. Look for alternate solutions.

I have personally been down that road in 2010 for our Mercury purchased new locally about 12 years ago. Ours started exhibiting inconsistent speed then would die under any load. Nova couldn't give a damn about parts support and gave me instructions on how to change motor brushes even after I had clearly explained to them that the unit had already been inspected by a motor rewinder & that we had done the obvious & affordable things, like replace brushes, VS pot etc. They did however remind me in that email that "In order to continue improving our product and service" completing their customer satisfaction survey was important & valued. I did take the opportunity to "tell us what you think about our customer support." Bit of a sucker punch really. (Trend Timbers staff were very helpful however.)

You will find the board is the problem not the motor & they can't be economically repaired. Its far cheaper to purchase a new lathe. If you really like the lathe a motor transplant is an option.

Our solution was a generic after market 1/2 hp motor & EVS unit from SE QLD Woodworking Supplies. Not quite as good as the original 1/2 hp but it is very useable & it has survived since Dec 2010. The motor shaft will require machining to fit the lower pulley. The lower pulley does not have sufficient meat to permit machining the pulley rather than the motor shaft, unless you sacrifice the lowest speed position. Again not cheap, unless you have a mate or shop willing to do love jobs or swap for a couple of nice pens.

If the controller board is cactus, you can replace it with a generic KBIC-240 unit.

http://www.kbelectronics.com/DCSelectionGuide.pdf

Thanks for your help I was brave and set it up on the floor on some wood and turned it on NO BANG and the motor jumped in life and the speed control works as well A $2.00 fuse fixed the problem.
am going to shout it a new set of bearings in the head stock and might even change the colour.
this will be a handy little lathe for pens etc
I was thinking about making a new headstock spindle and changing the thread to a 30x3.5 to suit my other lathe but it looks like a lot of work for not much gain.

Cheers Bob

Hi Bob, that's great that you got it got it going for the cost of the fuse. Curiosity got the better of me, but how much did you pay for the lathe? Did it come with a chuck, the chuck would be a Nova Compac, using tommy bars.
Kryn

Originally Posted by KBs PensNmore

Hi Bob, that's great that you got it got it going for the cost of the fuse. Curiosity got the better of me, but how much did you pay for the lathe? Did it come with a chuck, the chuck would be a Nova Compac, using tommy bars.
Kryn

this is the finished nova mercury with the original motor on it, it seems a little underpowered but ok for small things , I also have a 1/2 hp motor with it but e electronic box is shot and has been messed around with.
thanks nearnexus for help on the electronics from kbelectronics but I just don't understand what I have to do have posted picture of the motor to see if anyone has any thoughts

Cheers B the B

Hi Bob, the circuit board in the top photo, looks very much like the board in my mini lathe, I got from Minitech in Qld. cost from memory about $190PC Board - FC250J. 230V

Product Number: C2-S182
Kryn