Can anyone assist me in diagnosing my Eagnas Electric tension head please? I got this from the eagnas/maxline US site to upgrade my Flex 720 drop weight machine: http://www.eagnasinc.com/maxgen1/h20led.html The switch in the front operated the wheel. Flipping it to the "I" will tighten the string, and "II" loosens the the wheel after the string has been clamped. I got his unit in 2013, and have maybe used it on around 25 to 30 badminton rackets. I only use it to string my families badminton rackets. 2 days ago, I turned it on to string a racket, but now the wheel does not turn on the "I" position. And the only time it will turn on the "II" position is if I press on the button in front. So, that indicates that the motor is still working right? Is there a reset on this that I can try out? I contacted Maxline, but all the said was just to send back the unit and they will repair it. Not info on what the cost would be. I was hoping they could at least give me some other tips on diagnosing it further.
I got an email back, and they said that the problem is the power controller board. Does this sound right based on my description?
I think I know what the problem is: Eagnas. Seriously, I'd strongly recommend installing back your drop weight and string for your friends until you have the money to buy a real machine.
Does your machine have a little hole on the left side, near the front about an inch or so above the bottom? There is an allen bolt there, I think 2.5mm. The bolt presses on a microswitch. If the microswitch is pressed or stuck down for some reason, it won't pull forward. You can check if the microswitch is able to click by actually lifting the gripper assembly - I usually grab hold of the gripper, then lift it and try to turn anticlockwise. It should move upwards and you can hear the microswitch clicking. It helps if you have the tension turned down as you are forcing it against a spring. If it doesn't move, or there is no click, you can try turning that allen bolt anticlockwise, to move it away from the switch. The other thing is that the switch with the II O I - there are six wires on it, if one of those has come off, it won't pull either.
Also, if you adjust that allen bolt, remember how many turns you moved it. Turning anticlockwise, increases the tension that the machine will pull to with respect to the display. This allows for more spring travel - and may then require calibration.
Thanks John. But I had basically sent it over to the California Maxline office for their tech to look at. They had called me Monday to confirm that there was something wrong. So I forgot the specifics, but the part was $10, and the labor was $45. But after paying for shipping both ways, it cost around $150US for everything. Oh well.......
Ok - I do some repairs for these Eagnas tension heads - got two Hawk 126e led ones in the other day. One had a microswitch not activating at all, so when I tried it out, it broke my string and nearly destroyed my electronic calibrator. It just needed adjusting the microswitch and a calibration check and adjustment. The other one was working way out of calibration, when set to 25lbs, pulls at 20lbs, but when set to 60lbs, pulls at 70lbs. These models use a spring as the tension adjustment. There is a potentiometer, where the wiper contact moves when adjusting the spring tension, then the microswitch will trip when the pulling tension exceeds the spring tension. It is not really very linear, but it could be tuned to be near linear for either badminton or tennis but not both. With either, it is best to use a tension calibrator and measure the pulled tension from time to time, so that you get an idea of the real tension. I use a spreadsheet for my calibrations, so can read off what setting I would need to get a particular tension. Essentially a motorized crank is what it is. That is why the newer tension heads with a load cell for tension measurement is much more reliable and more precise. For the $10 part, it is probably a switch. The labour is reasonable since these units are a pain to open up. I also have a Combo 3800 I am currently working on, with what appears to be an ADC failure - the replacement ADC arrived yesterday, just haven't had time to replace it until this other Hawk is done.
No problem. By the way, that Combo 3800 I mentioned - I replaced the ADC and that fixed it. It was way out of calibration, so after adjusting the calibration trimpots, it came really good - the best I have seen for Eagnas, and also because it has a load cell to measure tension. Of course, it doesn't compare to my Wise in terms of smoothness of operation, but it was pulling very well. By the way, with your machine, the I switch is to go forward, and the II switch is to go backwards until the home position. The little button will continue moving it backwards. That main switch is mainly to reverse the motor wiring. A pity that you are in Canada - if you were in Australia, I would have been able to help you. Anyway, I have to pack this Combo 3800 up and get it ready to send back to a happy stringer.
Guitar Pic, I had exactly the same problem with my Eagnas electronic tension head.... This is what I had to do to fix the problem..... There are two bolts located underneath the electronic tension head. Undo these two bolts and then you will find that the whole electronic tension unit comes free. Remove it and throw it in the bin, then buy a Wise 2086 and bolt it in place of the old Eagnas electronic tension head. Fixed the problem up real good and have not had a problem in over 12 months... LOL