Power feed for Bridgeport, any experience with China import

[John HestenesParticipant @johnhestenes28008]

I have bought a Bridgeport turret mill with a non-working X-axis power feed. I have alread tried som fault finding, and found an article on the net about building a DC motor control circuit. But my electrical skills are close to non existent, hence think about buying a complete unit from China. There are numerous units on Alibaba.com that all look the same, but I assume they are mostly copies of the same design and that there can be great quality differences.

I would really appreciate any experience with buying machine tools directly from China, and comments on quality as well as assurance that I just send money and get nothing in return

[John HestenesParticipant @johnhestenes28008]

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

The main benefit of buying in the UK is you get customer support, access to spares and a guarantee that's worth something… these beasties can be difficult to fit correctly.

Neil

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

…and you may be taking a risk with the electrical safety, even if it has a CE mark on it.

Very slightly better to buy from ebay.co.uk rather than direct from China because by law they are supposed to meet the (legal) UK safety requirements but that's not certain even so.

And Aliexpress.com is usually better for one-off sales – it's the sort of retail arm of Alibaba.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

They are all 110v so you need the power pack that goes with them. And there are two basic types, without checking one is 200 ? something and the other more powerful one for the knee is 300? something.

This then subdivides into a 200 ? for the X [ long axis ] and a 200? for the Y, [short axis ]

Same unit but different fitting kit although its easy to get the X axis to fit the Y, not the other way round as the special end bracket is needed.

[John HestenesParticipant @johnhestenes28008]

Just wish to post an update for the benefit of anybody else contemplating buying direct from China.

Bought an X-axis powerfeed for the Bridgeport from RRP Supply on Aliexpress fro 299 USD. Same unit appears to be on sale on ebay and various vendors for around 280 GBP. I live in Norway, hence shipping cost from the UK would easily have been the same amount, and any warranty issue would have been a lot of hassle.

Lots of communication before they confirmed that a 220V unit was on the way. Quick delivery by DHL. The unit arrived as expected with a 220 V Schuko european contact. Plugged in and it worked 10 seconds, then a little flash and smoke. Turned out they had shipped a 110V unit with a 220V power cord. They were quick to respond and sent a new electronics board (still 110V) I requested a 30 USD refund to cover a 220-110V transformer but they refunded 80 USD. So all in all, not hassle free but worked in the end.

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Is it a Bridgeport power feed currently fitted or the common aftermarket type? If a Bridgeport 6 / 8F unit is fitted I believe the standard aftermarket unit kit supplied in the box doesn't work and you need a different adapter to mate with the shorter feedscrew.

If you have got a Bridgeport unit and the drive controller has died best bet is to get the unit repaired. Cost will probably be around £100-£150 from a repair specialist such as **LINK**. In my view the Bridgeport unit is a far better device than the aftermarket ones. Especially if you periodically replace the control lever springs to keep the nice snap action.

Clive.

[John HestenesParticipant @johnhestenes28008]

There was a nonworking BP feed on the machine. I actually started by purchasing a new Minarc DC controller, but don't know whether the motor was damaged or the board, as my electrical diagnostic skills are virtually non-existent. So I went for the simpler solution, buying a new complete unit. It is true that I had to make a new adapter shaft, but this was done in a couple of hours on the lathe.

You are probably right that the BP feed is superior, I expect that the plastic gears in the new unit may fail at some point in time, but I am a hobbyist and the amount of use the mill will see is probably less than 1% of what would happen in industry

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

If you take the bottom cover off the Chinese power feed there should be a spare large plastic gear stored inside the cover.

[john fletcher 1Participant @johnfletcher1]

The Bridgeport milling machine has an 110 volt shunt wound DC electric motor. Have you tested the motor ? not a difficult job with a site transformer and a full wave rectifier. The circuit board is repairable,a company in York area fixes them for around £110. I have a circuit diagram and a list of all the components which are on the large printed circuit board, if you can locate some one who knows about electronics they could test it for you. The technology is not modern, full of un marked chips, so you do stand a chance. If you would like copy of the circuit diagram send me a PM with your address. John

[Chris Evans 6Participant @chrisevans6]

I to am tempted with a 240 volt unit. I have got my Bridgeport unit to run after help from this board, however it does not run very well. The motor was full of oil due to a failed seal and no amount of cleaning seems to improve things. There is also questionable wiring from a previous owner, I am not sure if the wiring circuit is correct as some wires had been cut and just twisted together.

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