My I take this opportunity to introduce myself, my background is more in the machinist area, my electrical knowledge is limited, and pray this community welcomes newbies. I read that no pictures are to be attached, is there a preferred way to share pics? How should I approach this?
The project is a power supply (Precise PVSV1) to a high speed spindle that needs repair. I have no schematic, but I have a 2nd power supply (PS) that is identical & works properly. When I 1st power-up this PS it ran the spindle for a few parts, now it will not power up. Does not trip breakers on the back, but you can hear a clicking inside the cabinet.
Many thanks in advance, all suggestions are warmly welcomed.
This is the link to pictures://s.imgur.com/min/embed.js” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”><blockquote class=”imgur-embed-pub” lang=”en” data-id=”a/ScpAMgG” data-context=”false” ><a href=” removed link “></a></blockquote><blockquote class=”imgur-embed-pub” lang=”en” data-id=”a/ScpAMgG” data-context=”false” ><a href=” removed link “></a></blockquote>
At the end of the pics are the last 2, describing an adjustable slotted component, inside pic & outside pic. Not shore what this does, I have not moved it.
Many thanks!!
Many thanks to all who help to keep this community possible! I have read some excellent posts from people who have a lot more experience than I have. I am wanting to learn what I can about repairing my power supply.
@novice01 Hi, and welcome. Try reposting the link since it did not work the first time and it might work now. Tip: try accessing the link you’ve posted yourself but from a different browser you’ve used to copy paste it from. That way, you can verify if it works or not.
Ovi4, many thanks. I used the “open link in new tab” option, the link, looks good. What is the best way to move forward with this repair project?
This is the link to pics: https://imgur.com/a/ScpAMgGhttps://imgur.com/a/ScpAMgG
Many, many thanks.
@novice01 well, I see that this is in fact an old design of a frequency controller to drive an electric motor. So, not your average run of the mill power supply I was thinking of. And to be honest, for you as a newbie (as you claim to be) I’m not sure is the right thing for you to experiment with. But ignoring what I just said I.m gonna go on and say the following:
Well…without a schematic diagram would be pretty hard to troubleshoot such things but since the components used are pretty basic (as far as I can see from the pictures this should be easier to repair than some more modern equivalent equipment you can find these days that will be almost always digital and stuffed with all sorts of hard to find (to impossible) IC’s and/or preprogrammed microcontrollers etc etc. One way to approach it is to try to reverse engineer the thing and draw your own schematic er…but that means you gonna have no choice but to dismantle it to all bits and pieces so to properly have a look at every wire and trace on every PCB, and this could end up being a very time consimming process expecially in this situation because you are having to deal with multiple PCB’s that are all interconnected. The best way is to try to find a schematic somewhere (or a service manual) even if you have to pay for it. Another way is to try to test some components (in situ) such as : is there any output on the transformers? Are fuses intact ? then test all transistors (especially the 4 big power transistors) then the big black (BF249C) transistors., then all blue electrolitic capacitors, then the 4 white ceramic beefy 680 Ohms resistors followed by all big round beefy resistors too. The defect could even be a loose plug in connector, or a cracked soldered joint on the PCB or a dead and/or intermitent or dirty Potentiometer on the front panel. On the main (Biggest PCB) board there are 4 opto-coupler IC’s (CNY-17-2) they can go wrong too. but considering that they are not soldered but rather just pluged in to theyr socket (DIP-6 package) You can swap them out with new ones (if you have some around) In fact it could be anything. and these are just a few ways to kind of (blindly repair thing without a schematic. But keep in mind that the best approapch is to have a proper schematic at hand. Good luck.
@ovi4 thank you so much. I can appreciate all that newbie implies, praying the bad component will not be too difficult to figure out.
Is there any benefit to having a working power supply (P/S) that I can attach a motor to each P/S and use a volt meter to see where the power stops? I am aware of things like multi-layered traces on the printed circuit board, that need to be studied & searched for, but please understand, I don’t know what I don’t know yet. In my mind, from viewing some YouTube videos, P/S have an isolated side built in. Is there some suggested videos or other suggested reading? Naturally, this is a propriety P/S so no schematic diagram available.
I am not a complete newbie, my testing equipment is very elementary, volt meter, soldering equipment, a DC Regulated Power Supply (Lavolia # BPS-305) & a Rigol model PVP3150 with Passive Probe (2019 scope). What additional tools should I be looking for to help with this project?
My plan is to study the components as per @ovi4 has suggested below, check for continuity, without the P/S powered up. Review YouTube to see what components can be checked with ohm meter with & without power.
“Are fuses intact ? then test all transistors (especially the 4 big power transistors) then the big black (BF249C) transistors., then all blue electrolitic capacitors, then the 4 white ceramic beefy 680 Ohms resistors followed by all big round beefy resistors too.”
Many thanks for sharing your thoughts & just as important, if there is something I have not considered, please point it out.
@novice01 A more natural and intuitive way to troubleshoot any “apparatus” in the world of electronics is to start with the most basic thing one can do and that is a thorough visual inspection and by that I mean visual inspection to check for signs of burned blackened components, broken and/or corroded component legs (terminals) looking on the soldered side of the PCB for signs of broken/cracked soldering points and perhaps re-solder points that you are not sure of, check for proper electrical contact at the plug in connectors at the Optocouplers (IC style) sockets (in pictures) they look very black and very likely tarnished and I mean the IC pins as well as the socket contacts too. At the power transistors there is a wire attached to each collector (that is near one of the 2 screws) if that wire is attached via a plug in style (push in) connector that could be tarnished too due to the intens heat produced (over time) by those 4 big power transistors. Another very important aspect is the dust that sticks to all components and being a unit that is used in an industrial environment chances are that dust could be conductive (it might contain carbon particles etc) The whole unit needs to be firmly brushed of of the dust . Check the front panel potentiometer for continuity, and resistance value etc. And if you did not find anything obviously suspect then proceed to individual component testing and so on.
Ovi4 & Rs Electron, many thanks for your help! I believe my prayer has been answered, please look at the last pic (burnt wire) at the link in “Posted : 08/03/2025 7:48 am” you will see a rectangular pin & plug, with green lead & a red lead that has a rectangular plug but goes to a ROUND pin. The metal plug had lost all the strength to keep its shape. I searched through my scrap wire, found a wire with a small round socket to accept the round pin & soldered a short length of wire with the round socket attached, used shrink tube after the solder was cool. I was so excited to put it back together and try, that I did not take any pics of the repair.
This connection could not be seen without some disassembly, I used a small brush to clean the PSBs as I was figuring out how it was to come apart.
Ovi4, please look at the next to last pic “This is the other side of the black adjustable component” what is this adjustment about??
I have tested for a few hours running, but later this week will try to cut a new part to see if this was the issue.
Many thanks, Ovi4 for allowing me to post my project!! This is solved, I believe!
@novice01 well, So, you’ve made it work. You are in luck that wassn’t something major. 😜 It is a good practice to thoroughly serch for other possible loose connections like that as well as dry cracked soldering joints (on the pcb) soldered side as a good measure. It would save you a lot of trouble later on.
Well, I’m glad we could be of help. See ya around. 👍
Welcome, a little late to the party but great to hear you got it running again! There is no better feeling than stumbling into a problem and getting it fixed. My most recent project is a radio out of a truck which we believe got jump started incorrectly and sent a surge through the system. The ECM had to be replaced and it also took out the radio. I tried to fix it but it appears the mutifunction voltage regulator chip (5 and 8.5 volt supplies plus more I am guessing) took the hit. Was not able to find a data sheet or replacement part for it. There is a couple take off used parts but I am not that desperate (don’t trust them). Things don’t always turn out as smoothly as your case so be happy it did!
Radios + Tubes + Scopes + Cars= Nothing better!
There is a better way to post pictures so that they show up right here in your post. Here are the steps.
1. go to Imgur website and sign up for an account.
2. in the upper left click NEW POST to add photos.
3. Drop or search photo to add.
4. in the upper right corner of the photo you just added click on the 3 dots to drop down menu and click on Get Share Links.
5. another popup will show several choices to select, choose BBcode (Forums). This is the link you need to add to your post to show pictures.
6. before embedding the link into Carlson’s page look to the right of the photo on Imgur and make sure it says public and not Hidden.
7. Now you can embed the link into Carlson’s page, but it will show as just a link until you click post then is will turn into the picture.
8. DO NOT hit POST if you want to load more than one picture.
If you want to add multiple pictures you must repeat the process on Imgur for each picture you want to post and embed the link into your post on Carlson’s page. Keep repeating until you have embedded all the photo links. Once you have uploaded all your photos on IMgur and embedded all the links to Carlson’s page that is when you hit POST on Carson’s site. I know this is crazy to have to get all your pictures posted but there is no way to upload a group of photos all at once from Imgur without creating a separate link for each photo.
Unless someone has a better way this is how I do it. Good luck