[stagen]

Thanks Bob for replying and for that nice little program. Got it saved to do all 3 at the same time.

Small update. While I got my garage insulated and wired up to be usable in the coming cold days I didn’t touch the mill for a week or two. Go to start it up, press reset, and all 3 axis tried to runaway again. WTH. So I took the computer out, cleaned all the board contacts with a pencil eraser, unsoldered the old CMOS battery, checked for any noticeably bad wires, and put it back together.

Start up, reset, all 3 try to run again. Frustrating.

Replace 2 limit switches on the Y axis, and got all the packed in chips vacuumed out from under all the way covers. I had also noticed that when the runaway occurred, the axis were usually parked somewhere along the midpoint of their travels when the machine was turned on. So I wheeled them all by hand to their home switches and tried again. Reset, honed, sweet.

Still paranoid about runaways reoccurring, I would send it home before switching off, and haven’t had a problem since.

I also had a problem running a toolchange. The M06 macro program would send Z to +.0100 which would trip the positive software limit I have set to .000. After some searching I found the program and it’s path in the A:\ drive. Did I mention I’m new to DOS as well? I couldn’t figure out how to edit the file. EDIT was a bad command, I got TYPE to show me the whole text file. Then while searching online to figure out drive paths to get my floppy drive working again (didn’t reset the CMOS data) I came across a post that said you could edit files through the CNC program by using F4(any) and entering its full path. So typed A:\TC\P1-6.ATC and voila, I was able to edit the macro to z0 during the head up phase.

Theres a lot of helpful posts out there that address things not mentioned in the “Centurion V” manual I downloaded from Milltronics, but they’re scattered and take a lot of searching for. But I’m slowly figuring this thing out. Hopefully I’ll be making chips in a couple days.

[sportybob]

Hi Stagen, Axis runaways are usually caused by one of two problems.
1. missing 5vdc to the encoder(s) / bad encoder.
2. missing tach voltage from the motor to the drive card.

as you are getting all 3 axis running away. 1. check the 5VD at the axis connectors, Pins #7 is ground / o volt pin 8 is the +5vd.
2. pull the connector from the drive, long one with the blue wires, clean the pins and reinstall. might not be making good contact.

Leaving the table on the home switch can cause the switch to get sticky and cause problems. after sending back home jog the axis back from the switch a little bit.

Let me know the results of your checks.

sportybob

[allen mullis]

One of the first things I would do on any DC machine that has been sitting for an extended period and is running away is to pull all three axis motors and clean the tach feedback commutator with a pencil eraser and blow out any carbon residue with clean dry air. You mentioned the axis movement sounding rough, on the DC machines, 75% of the time this indicates sporadic tach feedback voltage going to the drive causing it to lose its mind. For example, if the drive sees no feedback, it will run away as it tries to maintain position because it doesn't know the motor is turning without that feedback. Many people have mistaken this issue for bad thrust bearings or ball screws. It is the first thing to check and the cheapest.

Thanks Bob for replying and for that nice little program. Got it saved to do all 3 at the same time.

Small update. While I got my garage insulated and wired up to be usable in the coming cold days I didn’t touch the mill for a week or two. Go to start it up, press reset, and all 3 axis tried to runaway again. WTH. So I took the computer out, cleaned all the board contacts with a pencil eraser, unsoldered the old CMOS battery, checked for any noticeably bad wires, and put it back together.

Start up, reset, all 3 try to run again. Frustrating.

Replace 2 limit switches on the Y axis, and got all the packed in chips vacuumed out from under all the way covers. I had also noticed that when the runaway occurred, the axis were usually parked somewhere along the midpoint of their travels when the machine was turned on. So I wheeled them all by hand to their home switches and tried again. Reset, honed, sweet.

Still paranoid about runaways reoccurring, I would send it home before switching off, and haven’t had a problem since.

I also had a problem running a toolchange. The M06 macro program would send Z to +.0100 which would trip the positive software limit I have set to .000. After some searching I found the program and it’s path in the A:\ drive. Did I mention I’m new to DOS as well? I couldn’t figure out how to edit the file. EDIT was a bad command, I got TYPE to show me the whole text file. Then while searching online to figure out drive paths to get my floppy drive working again (didn’t reset the CMOS data) I came across a post that said you could edit files through the CNC program by using F4(any) and entering its full path. So typed A:\TC\P1-6.ATC and voila, I was able to edit the macro to z0 during the head up phase.

Theres a lot of helpful posts out there that address things not mentioned in the “Centurion V” manual I downloaded from Milltronics, but they’re scattered and take a lot of searching for. But I’m slowly figuring this thing out. Hopefully I’ll be making chips in a couple days.