AW1416VS Lathe high pitched whine

[al3ph]

Hi all, Just got my first lathe, good fun, and managed to make a rather shonky egg cup, it harder than it looks

One thing I`ve noticed is a loud high pitched whine being produced, is this normal ? Or has axminster sent me a lemon, it appeared as if the lathe had been used before as one of the handles had been attached and the plastic bag with the bits in had been opened, (previous return?).

The whine seems to be related to speed and its louder at lower speeds and disappears at much higher ones (to high to hear ?).

Also the Headstock wheel seems to move up and down a small amount when turning (not centered properly ?).

Otherwise it appears to operate fine, but it`s a bit annoying having to wear ear defenders all the time.

cheers!

 

[woodyturner]

Sounds like you have got a bad one contact Axminster and they will sort it out for you there after care service is very good

 

[CHJ]

.....One thing I`ve noticed is a loud high pitched whine being produced, is this normal ? .

I have no personal experience of that lathe but that does not sound normal, I personally would have expected a machine of that size and power to have been at the quiet end of a sewing machine noise spectrum.

Can you determine where the noise is being generated; headstock, inverter, motor ?

I should certainly communicate with Axminster in the first instance before you subject the machine to much further use.

 

[al3ph]

Yeah I`ve emailed them, I`ll have a closer look tonight, i.e. disconnect the belt and see if it`s the motor or headstock.

Bit annoying as I strongly suspect they`ve sent me a previous return.

Could be the headstock handle is rubbing or something, either that or a bad bearing.

 

[Richard@Axminster]

Good afternoon all,

I have this in hand, Your email has been received and I have replied!

Regards,

Richard.

 

[al3ph]

Heh cheers, just replied.

Good afternoon all,

I have this in hand, Your email has been received and I have replied!

Regards,

Richard.

 

[al3ph]

Going for a replacement, interestingly enough my brief research seemed to imply the problem is VFD motor whine, the inverter uses PWM to control the speed of the motor, this can cause it to "sing" at lower speeds, just like electric trains when starting off, this disappears as the speed increases (the frequency exceeds what you can hear).

The inverter has a parameter which can be used to ajust the PWM carrier frequency, this varies from 2Khz to 10Khz the higher values usually cause the whine to increase in frequency out of hearing range, but it does cause additional motor heating and loss of power.

I`ve no idea what value axminster set this to by default, it`s possible it's at the lower range (better for motor, not so great for user).

So I`ve either got a misconfigured inverter or a dodgy motor.

Lets hope the replacement is silent so I can get some turning done

 

[dickm]

If all else fails, just be thankful you are still young enough to HEAR a high-pitched whine

 

[al3ph]

Got the replacement today, bugger it's the same.. VFD whine.. Guess I'll just have to investigate the VFD manual..

I can only imagine they are all like this, it's not like I've got pristine hearing or anything

 

[Neil Farrer]

I've got one of these and it's a great lathe. And it's really quiet! Yes, the inverter does make a bit of a whine but nothing that would make life difficult. Its quieter than the AWVSL pen lathe and a record that started life as a dml24 before various transformations that I've got. The noisiest lathe I have is an old clarke which to be honest would better serve life as a fishing weight but is doing a reasonably good job as a mop motor at the moment.

Sorry to hear that your 1416 is a noisy one (or two). Haven't they got one in sittingbourne they could flash up as a demo to see if what you are experiencing is within tolerance?

 

[al3ph]

I suspect this kind of thing is a bit subjective, I assumed I'd just hear the whooshing of the motor, but you get the high pitched constant tone as well, it's not as noticeable when running the motor at close to top speed, worst case I can investigate bumping the carrier frequency up a notch and see if that helps.

Would seem unlikely that both are faulty, and from reading around the noise is not unusual with these inverter/motors.

The whine is coming from the motor not the inverter, (which also do this apparently but much quieter).

I've got one of these and it's a great lathe. And it's really quiet! Yes, the inverter does make a bit of a whine but nothing that would make life difficult. Its quieter than the AWVSL pen lathe and a record that started life as a dml24 before various transformations that I've got. The noisiest lathe I have is an old clarke which to be honest would better serve life as a fishing weight but is doing a reasonably good job as a mop motor at the moment.

Sorry to hear that your 1416 is a noisy one (or two). Haven't they got one in sittingbourne they could flash up as a demo to see if what you are experiencing is within tolerance?

 

[Noggsy]

It's not SWMBO on at you for spending so much time in your shed when the grass needs cutting is it? I've heard a similar high-pitched whine and it doesn't matter whether the lathe is turned on or not...

 

[Grahamshed]

 

[claudi]

good lathe but in Italy it is almost unreachable I apologize for my English

 

[al3ph]

Yep aside from the noise it seems pretty good, though I've not had the chance to put it through it paces (my first lathe as well), the speed control is very good, and definitely worth having, a bit on the pricey side but should last me, might get the extension at some point when I progress to doing chairs etc.