New Powermatic and "GHOST"

[Thomas Canfield]

After a lot of head scratching and reading others advise, I decided to make the mustard plunge and ordered the Powermatic 3520B. It arrived on a lift gate truck and was rolled into th garage. From there, I had to take it in pieces down 7 steps to my shop. I was able to get help and a 2 wheel truck with strap worked well. 2 stools with riser blocks were used to support the bed to attach the legs from the bottom, and then use the leveling feet to level out the frame before installing the headstock/motor. It all went fairly slick for a couple of old men and one middle age assistant to handle the bed and then the headstock/motor. Pre-planning and setting up for my "assistants" had us completing the assembly and spinning the lathe in less than 2 hours including the electrical and cleaning surfaces. (I did make a 8 mm hex for my socket set to speed up the installation also- allen wrenches not included with machine as others have said previously). It is quite a machine. Solid, quiet, and appears to be well machined. The variable speed motor is great. We added a remote switch on a cord to be used at the tailstock end, and then tried out the piece of spalted Hackberry in the picture for balance. GREAT. The picture does show the lathe, but also need to get shop organized.

76384

"Ghost"- Today while turning, increasing the speed from about 800 to 1100 rpm caused my Oneida Dust Collector to come on. I don't know what "Ghost" is there to cause the remote swith to activate the dust collector, but it did give me a eerie feeling. The Smart Switch remote was purcased from Oneida, but this was the first time it has ever started on its own. It might be that there was some other signal in the neighborhood, but it happed right when the speed was increased and that would seem to be the culprit. Any suggestions????????

Thanks.

[Alex Elias]

No idea about the ghost but congratulations on your new toy. Hope you have all kinds of fun/
Alex

[Bernie Weishapl]

Thomas congrats on the new lathe. Ghost? What ghost?:eek:

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Congrats Thomas! Don't know about the ghost thing but that's a gorgeous lathe! I assembled the twin to it today in my shop.

[Tim A. Mitchell]

Congrats on the lathe. Is there any repeatability to the DC turning on?

[Steve Schlumpf]

Congrats on your new lathe Thomas - she looks great! Looking forward to seeing some of your turnings real soon!

[Henry C. Gernhardt, III]

Thomas---

Congrats on getting the new toy up and running!

On the matter of the DC coming on:

As Tim asked, is it repeatable? Does the DC turn on when the lathe is between 800-1100RPM, then turn off when outside that range, or does the DC toggle on or off when the lathe is brought within that range?

Also, is the DC's remote switch wired or wireless?

Here's my thought: The lathe is radiating EMI (electromagnetic interference) from the speed controller. Radio frequency energy from the controller is leaking into the cabling for your lathe, resulting in said cabling acting like the antenna of a transmitting radio. This transmitted energy is then picked up by your DC remote (either in its cabling or in its guts), resulting in a spurious signal that's just right to tell the DC to turn itself on and/or off.

The quick solution to this is to install ferrite beads on the cables. Snap-on ferrite beads can be acquired at your local Radio Shack. I'd start with beads on the wire for the DC, wrapping five or six turns of cable around the beads both right next to the remote switch and right next to the DC itself. This should choke off the RF.

Hope it helps!

[JerHall]

I have had my Oneida turn on while I was away on a trip! Also the remote failed to work on occasion when one bank of my flourescent lights are on. Called about it and was told that can happen and "flitering" of the RF signal at the remote receiver was the answer. Never did it. After changing bulbs over time the problem seems to have gone away. But I guess you don't want to replace your new Mustard just to avoid this problem! I just power off my shop now while I am away. Not a bad idea anyway.

[Dan Forman]

Congrat's on your new lathe. A lot of these popping up lately. I had to get mine down in the basement too, not too bad with a lttle help, nice that they are not all one piece. Enjoy.

Dan

[Brian Weick]

Nice lathe Tom ~ enjoy the vortex ride! You may be getting interference from the variable frequency drive( if that model has this- not that familiar with the mustards) that is hitting the same frequency and causing the remote to be activated, just a thought?:)
Brian

[Thomas Canfield]

GHOST RETURNED. Tonight, the DC turned on again when the speed was increased up in the 1100 rpm range. I guess I need to play with it some and possibly change the wireless frequency or add some other blocking method. I had never had a problem with the DC turning on before, but now am having some concern about the remote picking up stray signals. Thanks for the heads up and suggestion for remedy.

The mustard does work extremely well. It is so smooth compared to the Jet 1236 it replaced, and the variable speed and power are awesome. The 18" bed extension provides parking space for the tailstock so it has not been a problem turning smaller bowls and plate size platter. I had ordered the cheapo angle drill from Klingpor when on sale and it really helps the sanding using 2" wave discs. Now to keep practicing, and find the GHOST.

[Henry C. Gernhardt, III]

Thomas---

Okay, so the DC remote is wireless? Change the frequency, definitely. Also see what you can do about putting ferrite beads on all cabling to and from your mustard.

You might also want to enlist the help of a local radio amateur in hunting down and eliminating your ghost.

Good luck!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Henry,

My PM3520B is located about 7' from where my Oneida DC is going to be located. I wonder if the RF could just be radiating from the inverter on the back of the lathe rather than down the wire?

I'm waiting for Oneida to get back to me but if I have a similar problem, I might try making an RF shield for the housing on the speed control.

[Thomas Canfield]

Ken,

My DC is about 7' from the inverter area also. Tonight the Ghost did not come out when I tried playing with the speed control changing from about 600 up to the 1200 max for the lower range where I have been operating. That seems to be a problem with electronic bugs that they are not always repeatable. I haven't pulled out the instructions from Oneida or made contact with them. Please post any reply you receive.

[Henry C. Gernhardt, III]

Ken---

Could be from either.

Sorry to keep harping on this RF thing, but Amateur Radio is yet another vortex I've found myself sucked into over the years... :)

Anyway---It wouldn't hurt to make an RF shield for the speed control housing. I know I had to make one for a monitor I used in my shack some time ago---the monitor was spitting out about 12dB worth of hash, and simply caging it with grounded aluminum window screening did the trick. I'm not familiar with the PM's speed control housing---is it metal or plastic?

[Dave Rudy]

Have you called Ghostbusters?