Jet 1642 motor & inverter

[Lloyd Richardson]

I have a Jet 1642 that I purchased in 2003. It worked fine until 3 days ago when a thunder storm came through my area. Afterwards my cable TV box was burned out. Today I went down into my shop to turn and my lathe will not work. The speed shows "0" and the motor does not turn on. I looked at the inverter and it had no display. I hit the reset button but nothing happened. I then pressed the run button on the inverter and nothing happened. I unplugged the wall plug and tried to reset again after a minute. When I plugged it back into the wall socket the "0" showed on the lathe, but the lathe would not run.

Is there a way to check if the inverter is bad or if the motor is bad or both? I'm not good with electronics, but I am passable. Has anyone else had a problem with the inverter on the 1642?

[Matt Day]

Calling Jet tech support would be my first route. Good luck.

[Lloyd Richardson]

Calling Jet tech support would be my first route. Good luck.
I will give that a try. Thanks for the info

[Dwight Rutherford]

After you check with Jet help desk and they tell you the VFD is fried. They will also tell you a new inverter (VFD) will cost $640.00. Before you spring for this, there are some less expensive options. PM me.

[David C. Roseman]

After you check with Jet help desk and they tell you the VFD is fried. They will also tell you a new inverter (VFD) will cost $640.00. Before you spring for this, there are some less expensive options. PM me.

Yup, isn't that the truth! The mark-up on the Delta Electronics VFDs as replacement parts by the equipment vendors that use them is quite large (not unexpectedly). But they can be bought directly from Delta-authorized dealers for much less.

For quite awhile, Jet/PM has used the Delta VFD-S series AC motor drives on the Jet 1642EVS and PM 3520B. If that's what's on Lloyd's 2003 1642, the inverter for his lathe is likely still available, new, from Galco or Wolf Automation for around $290. Lloyd would still need to program the parameter changes that Jet made from the Delta factory defaults. I'm assuming that Galco or Wolf would ship the drive with the on-board digital keypad unlocked, which is the way Delta ships to its customers. That would allow programming the parameters without the need for a laptop, telecommunications interface and the Delta VFDSoft software (although the software can be downloaded free from Delta's website, and an genuine Delta t-com interface is now available for about $75). The easiest way to program is with the software, but I'm pretty sure it can be done with just the keypad.

Dwight, sounds like you may be able to help him with the programming. My VFDs are Delta VFD-M series.

[David C. Roseman]

Lloyd, I just realize you posted in General Woodworking and Power Tools. You'd probably get more replies in the Turners' Forum, as there are many, many 1642 owners there.

[Brad Adams]

Contact your insurance company. Your homeowners insurance should cover lightning damage.

[CPeter James]

Get an Automation Direct VFD and just install it and program it the way you want it to go. As easy as pie. It is just

CPeter

[Lloyd Richardson]

Thanks, I just checked and the homwowners policy deductible is higher than the cost of the inverter. lr

[Lloyd Richardson]

Get an Automation Direct VFD and just install it and program it the way you want it to go. As easy as pie. It is just

CPeter

Thanks for the info. I have gotten a lot of help from the Forum. Much appreciated. lr

[John K Jordan]

The inverter on one of my 1642s, purchased about 15 years ago, gradually gave up the ghost. It was flaky for a while and finally quit completely, dead, no display, no response. I spent a while with meters and oscilloscope (and no circuit diagram, of course) and finally gave up. I purchased a non-Delta inverter for just over $100, and installed and programmed it with some hints from Harvey Meyer. Works fine. The wiring was not difficult but it will probably be different from the Delta so you may have to figure out what needs to drive what. I had to run an extra wire from the lathe headstock to the invertor that I bought. Also, the one I got was not sealed as well against dust as the Delta so it needed a simple enclosure built.

I also changed my method of operation and use a switch to disconnect the lathes from the power when not in use.

Assuming this is the 110v version: If you buy an invertor note that although Jet says it is 1.5hp they are running it a closer to 1 hp. I set my parameters the same way in case Jet had discovered they had to downgrade the HP rating to keep from burning something up.

JKJ

[Jamie Straw]

A little late now, but will pass along anyway. Please consider a surge protector if you have an expensive electronics-laden lathe. I learned my lesson with a shop pellet stove, when the control board burned out after a power outage. The part was no longer available, so I had myself a very bulky boat anchor. The current pellet stove is on a surge suppressor. Regardless, if a storm is forecast, even it gets unplugged. The new Comet lathe will get the same treatment.

[Lloyd Richardson]

Thanks for the thought. I did have it on a surge protector, but enough came through to zap the inverter, but not set off the surge protector. I will now unplug every time I finish turning. After reading a bit, I found the inverters are very susceptible to spikes of any sort... Again, thanks for the info

[Lloyd Richardson]

I have a Jet 1642 that I purchased in 2003. It worked fine until 3 days ago when a thunder storm came through my area. Afterwards my cable TV box was burned out. Today I went down into my shop to turn and my lathe will not work. The speed shows "0" and the motor does not turn on. I looked at the inverter and it had no display. I hit the reset button but nothing happened. I then pressed the run button on the inverter and nothing happened. I unplugged the wall plug and tried to reset again after a minute. When I plugged it back into the wall socket the "0" showed on the lathe, but the lathe would not run.

Is there a way to check if the inverter is bad or if the motor is bad or both? I'm not good with electronics, but I am passable. Has anyone else had a problem with the inverter on the 1642?


I want to give a special "THANK YOU" to Dwight Rutherford for helping me via long distance with getting my machine running again. I purchased a used inverter that was the same as the one on the 1642, however, it was locked. No one knew the code to unlock it. I ended up going through the 1000 codes one-by-one until I found the unlock code. Then reprogrammed it to the 1642 settings and now my lathe works fine. Thanks to all in the forum who helped me with ideas. Lloyd

[Larry Copas]

It seems on most lathes equipped with a VFD the switch on the lathe only stops the rotation and does nothing to open the power leads. I know on my General after hitting the stop button I hear the fan in the VFD continue to run for about 10 seconds.

To actually open the power leads I installed a simple fused disconnect. Since I knew I would forget to shut it down at the end of a session I installed a green LED to attract my attention. I got four of the LED's on eBay for $5 with free shipping. BTW my lathe is 230V so I bought 230V LED's to kiss.

339132

[John K Jordan]

... I installed a green LED to attract my attention.


That's a good idea. I use 110v switches with pilot lights in places for reminders (such as the switch in the shop which controls the light in the attic!), but I haven't seen double pole switches with pilot lights.

JKJ