Greg Pack
Wash Weenie
Guys, just gonna give another heads up. We had the cold snap come in a few days ago and both my wizards and one location began misbehaving. They were having issues with stopping short on the pass back to the front. As a result the boom would not go down, and the unit would march further back towards the rear of the track. one unit stopped before it got home and went OOS.
I opened up the side panel and both the home prox and lower boom prox were ON even though there was no target. I replaced them, but the problem persisted. A wheel count test checked out OK. I then changed the parameters on the VFD to make the wheel count test at fast speed. That's when the switches began to reveal their problems. Apparently they were not cutting off long enough for the PLC to catch it, and the gantry was losing it's position on the track. I had to replace prox switches on both auto on the count wheel, and the problems went away.
This is not the first time I have had to replace Turck prox switches because they don't work properly in sub freezing weather. They will turn on or not turn off quickly enough when the target is removed. As a result I've seen some weird issues on the wizards. You can heat them up and they work normally again. My guess is water is intruding in them causing issues in the cold.
Also, I make it standard now that If I have a gremlin possibly related to count issues related to change the parameters on the VFD and do a track test at higher speed. It is easy to change, only takes three minutes and will help pinpoint issues.
Anyway, four prox switches, one oscillating motor, one reciever eye, one four way valve a seal kit for the presoak pump and I'm backing making money
- just in time for a rainy weekend.
I opened up the side panel and both the home prox and lower boom prox were ON even though there was no target. I replaced them, but the problem persisted. A wheel count test checked out OK. I then changed the parameters on the VFD to make the wheel count test at fast speed. That's when the switches began to reveal their problems. Apparently they were not cutting off long enough for the PLC to catch it, and the gantry was losing it's position on the track. I had to replace prox switches on both auto on the count wheel, and the problems went away.
This is not the first time I have had to replace Turck prox switches because they don't work properly in sub freezing weather. They will turn on or not turn off quickly enough when the target is removed. As a result I've seen some weird issues on the wizards. You can heat them up and they work normally again. My guess is water is intruding in them causing issues in the cold.
Also, I make it standard now that If I have a gremlin possibly related to count issues related to change the parameters on the VFD and do a track test at higher speed. It is easy to change, only takes three minutes and will help pinpoint issues.
Anyway, four prox switches, one oscillating motor, one reciever eye, one four way valve a seal kit for the presoak pump and I'm backing making money
- just in time for a rainy weekend. 
