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Trouble shooting ironworker motor

Rocketdc

Aluminum
Joined
May 24, 2020
I've got a Geka ironworker that was making additional screeching sounds on top of the typical hum when the motor is powered on. I opened the mechanical cabinet below and the hydraulic oil reservoir looks normal, the gauges both read zero while the machine was idling and when I cycled it through a cut (have no idea what they should read, I never checked before). I only cycled the machine one time before the motor voluntarily shut off. The button lights are still illuminated on the panel, just get no response when I push the button that turns on the motor.

Any ideas what I should be looking for/testing? I contacted the local distributor a week ago when this first happened and still no response from them.
 
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I have never seen a ironworker with a hydraulic motor.
Maybe an old mechanical unit with a retrofitted drive ?
 
When troubleshooting a hydraulic system, never trust the sight glass on the hydraulic reservoir. Always verify with a dip stick.
 
I just checked the electrical cabinet and found the motor starter was tripped. Why, I have no idea, but it's still making a different sound than I'm accustomed to hearing. I suspect it will trip that starter again until I figure out what's causing the squealing...tbd
 
Squealing with respect to a simple hydraulic system makes me think of the pump being deadheaded (oil flow having no where to go). The oil is then bypassed through the pressure relief valve. This would be expected to cause the motor starter to trip out after a period of time. You haven't given us much to go on, so I'll guess its a simple open center system, and one of the valves hasn't returned to center. Or for some reason one of the functions is being held at the end of stroke.
 
Squealing with respect to a simple hydraulic system makes me think of the pump being deadheaded (oil flow having no where to go). The oil is then bypassed through the pressure relief valve. This would be expected to cause the motor starter to trip out after a period of time. You haven't given us much to go on, so I'll guess its a simple open center system, and one of the valves hasn't returned to center. Or for some reason one of the functions is being held at the end of stroke.
Thanks, that's a helpful bit of info, gives me something to dig into. Wish I could provide more helpful descriptions.

I'm not really educated or savvy about these mechanical systems, even relatively basic ones. This is the first time I had any issues with the ironworker. Even though they're pretty simple, it's going to take me a minute to familiarize myself with what's going on under the hood.
 
I contacted Comeq last Friday when the machine went out, still waiting to hear back from them. I found a few parts diagrams, mostly electrical, if I can't locate the right ones I'll reach out to Comeq again.
 
first off, where is the noise coming from?
get either a screwdriver and put your ear to it or a stethoscope and test different areas. find the location. could be hydraulic or simple as bearings going out on it. or plugged filters or pumps blowing up, plugged valves etc list goes on.
 
To follow up in case someone else runs into this problem...it was a faulty limit switch on the punch cylinder.

When the ram retracted fully and engaged the upper limit switch it wasn't shutting off the motor so it was overheating and tripping the motor starter in the electrical cabinet. The odd noise must have been the hydraulics squealing as it was trying to push the ram and there was no place for it to go since it was already fully seated in the uppermost position.
 
I've got a Geka ironworker that was making additional screeching sounds on top of the typical hum when the motor is powered on. I opened the mechanical cabinet below and the hydraulic oil reservoir looks normal, the gauges both read zero while the machine was idling and when I cycled it through a cut (have no idea what they should read, I never checked before). I only cycled the machine one time before the motor voluntarily shut off. The button lights are still illuminated on the panel, just get no response when I push the button that turns on the motor.

Any ideas what I should be looking for/testing? I contacted the local distributor a week ago when this first happened and still no response from them.
Motor starter has an overload reset button try that 1st then break out the meter and check power and start circuit
 








 
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