Nova DVR xp owners

[Ray Bell]

Not sure what is going on with this lathe, but it frustrating at time. Sometimes with the slightest of of catches, it will switch off, and I will get a "low voltage" message. Other time it does not shut down with a catch, and the motor seems to "spin" up. Anybody else have this problem?

Thanks,
Ray

[Ray Bell]

So nobody has had problems like this?

[Alan Trout]

Ray you may have a board issue with the low voltage warning. I would recommend calling Tim Geist at 304-295-8166. He is a great guy to deal with. Best time to reach him is early in the AM. I have called him at 7:00AM Eastern time and that has been the best time to reach him. You can also program the catches for soft, normal, or hard. Just look in your manual.

The DVR is unique in it just uses as much power as it needs to maintain RPM so as you apply more pressure to the cut it will apply more power. If you let off quickly such as a catch it will give the impression of speeding up for a second. It works well but is weird if you have never experienced this before.

Good Luck

Alan

[Ray Bell]

Thank you Alan. I will give him a call EARLY Monday morning.

[Keith Harrell]

I had the exact same problem with my new Nova about six months ago and Tim sent me another motherboard. The was the last I saw of this problem thanks goodness. I tried a number settings and none had any affect. I'm still running it on 120v and some people recommend switching it to 220v but it runs great on 120v.
No more problems after that. Give Tim a call on monday.

[Steve Vaughan]

Yep, ditto on calling Tim. Really nice guy, and the times I've talked to him, very interested in whatever your issue/concern is.

[Ray Bell]

Keith/Steve, thank you, I will try Tim Monday morning. Keith, do you also have a board on the backside of the cover plate? I have seen a picture of this. Mine does not.

[Alan Trout]

Ray,

yours is an older style like mine. I have had no issues with mine. Mine is wired for 220V. Going on 3 years and has been great. Whatever your issue is I am sure Time will get it taken care of for you.

Alan

[Bernie Weishapl]

I have had mine now for about 5 yrs running 120 V and have not had any problems. Knock on Wood.

[Ray Bell]

Well the secret to getting a hold of Tim is call early. I called him at 4:30 Pacific time, and he answered the phone on the first ring. He was very helpful, and thinks it is the capacitor- what's with capacitors, and tools. Be it induction motors, or electronic mother boards, capacitors are often the weak link.

He also told me that upgrading to 220V often solves this problem, so I will package up the board, and cover plate and get them off to him today. Hopefully this will solve this problem.

[Keith Harrell]

My Nova has a board on the cover plate. Tim advised me it's to reduce RF noise to other devices. Radio and whatever. Tim had me wire it out of the circuit and it still didn't help until I replaced the motor board. I was pissed off I will say after buying a new tool and having to replace the MB but that is very old news now and really like the Nova XP. I just replace the motor in my 5 year old Rikon bandsaw so as the saying goes "S*(& happens).
The Nova XP should only stop if you really stick it and in that one case I did it paused as a safety feature and resumed in less than a second. You should not be getting the error message and a stop.
Ps the mothboard is very easy to replace except lifting the motor housing as you did when you unpacked it.

[Ray Bell]

Thanks Keith, I didn't think it was right for the lathe to completely shut down, display that low voltage message, and then have to restart the lathe after every little catch. Seems not to be uncommon though. I agree, these problems could happen to any machines, and at least it sounds like Tim knows how to correct it. I am still not completely down on this lathe. It is still a very smooth running, compact machine, with plenty of power, and I have confidence that it will get fixed. Do I wish I had bought the PM, time will tell. Actually at the time I couldn't. I did not have 220v, and didn't anticipate getting it, but that changed soon after buying the Nova.

[Paul Douglass]

It seems to me if Nova has a known problem they should notify owners and fix it with out question. Are they a part of the Toyota company? It is only going to hurt them in the long run. And you shouldn't have to get up at 5 or 6 am to get help. Ok, my rant is done. And yes I own a Nova lathe, so I can rant. (I don't own the DVR).

Glad you got your help Ray.

[Ray Bell]

Thanks Paul, I got it all sent off this morning, so Probably 6-7 days there, ?? days repair, 6-7 days back. I will be down for awhile. That's ok, I need to finish those rocking horses for the grand kids anyway.