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Vader, sorry for not writing back in the last few days. The Machine is #1700 made 06/2010.
I have decided to go ahead and purchase the Tormach Machine Controller to help eliminate some of the issues I am having with my Series2. I have setup my Dell B110 according to the XP Optimization documents on tormachs website. I am somewhat computer oriented and was once CISCO net certified so I feel comfortable changing settings and timings. My "driver test" seems to be fine and it says "excellent" but I still have a small spike here and their. I'm still losing position but I'm not able to repeat the failure on command. At times I will also have issues with jogging around with the Shuttle Controller. For instance I will jog on an axis(Doesn't matter which axis) at about half speed (feed or speed also doesn't matter) and then I'll let the shuttle spring back to stop the jogging but it will not stop for a second or two or until I move the shuttle controller wheel back and forth. It's happened a few times where I'll be doing a Z move towards the part to manually zero my tool height and try to slow the Z movement but it continues to move for a second and if I'm too close to the part, well, crash.. Broken bit, wasted part, no bueno! After reading more and more posts online, I've noticed that I'm not alone. 98% of owners rave about your customer service and so far I have no complaints and am grateful to have you guys help me along. I have been having this issue since I've taken it out of the box but have always thought it was Gcode related. I've had others look at the program and tho at times complex, nobody sees anything wrong with it. So I started a list of things I've checked.
1) I have checked timing of pulses and ran driver test..
2) I have disabled everything within the system no needed to run.
3) I have installed a pci video card and disabled the onboard one.
4) I have stopped using my usb cord extensions and usb keyboard and mouse.
5) Switched over to a PS2 keyboard and mouse.
6) I have changed my Parallel Port Cable
7) Disabled my CDROM
8) I have disconnected the stepper motor coupler and manually rotated the ballscrews on every axis by hand to see if my gibs were too tight or a flaw in the screw.
9) Turned off my toolpath displays within mach3.
10 And tried a few other things...
Basically I understand that Tormach and Mach3 are in still in development but I feel I've spent an equal amount of time troubleshooting as cutting. I do understand that Windows is trying to do something that it actually dispises to do and was once thought to be impossible but hopefully purchasing your Computer Controller with a dedicated MachOS will eliminate some issues I'm having or at least be able to rule out this factor.
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CNC: Making incorrect parts and breaking stuff, faster and with greater precision.
oh man, I just skimmed through this thread and thank the metal working gods nothing like this happened to me with my 770!!! I've been contemplating on buying a 1100 down the line, but now with all these series 3 problems, I'll wait until all the bugs have been ironed out. (Or wait for the Tormach CNC Lathe! which ever comes first!)
Just want to throw this out there, I never had any problems with my 770. Only found one loose wire when it came out of the box, but since a careful look over at day one, never had any issues except for my own. Like why my parts were not coming out flat, turns out my cheap chinese vise was off at one corner by .010!!!! Now I use a kurt vise. I am still amazed what this 'little' cnc can do. Now I am making aircraft parts for the aerospace industry..
with your list of reasons you don't like the tormach, your plans of buying one were not scrapped. you were never going to buy one anyways. i don't know why you even pretended like you were going to.
while you are busy designing and building your own mill, i'll STILL be making chips using my several year old series one tormach. the couple times i have needed tech support from tormach, they were right there to help out. they did everything and more that i expect of a company.
Agreed,
That's why I bought the Tormach 1100 to begin with, their customer support and quality, which I still find to be top notch. I hate to see someone like the OP having troubles like this, but if I'm not mistaken, they did issue a refund, correct?
I knew when I got the mill I wouldn't have any onsite support, luckily, I haven't needed any. And I'm not saying I wouldn't be as vocal with my frustration as the OP has been here in this thread, but I did know what I was signing up for.
As far as all the other non Tormach owner chirping here and there, that's all it is, noise IMO.
andyc
We're new to all of this and not sure of anything. I quickly learned to live with this and didn't "page down" too close to my work. I only bring it up as a possible clue.
What I’m pretty sure of is that I have several (maybe un-related) problems. I do think MOST (but not all) of my problem went away when I turned off the tool path display.
I haven’t been running my mill for a while now and have only had one (1) half inch Z plunge with the tool path display turned off. Things have gotten much better, but I clearly still have a problem.
Since this video; [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2jPVu0o0EI&context=C38d35e6ADOEgsToPDskKn D-8XdzE-C9FM6sP3OAox]Brand new Tromach 1100 continues to fail - YouTube[/ame]
I have only had more two small Z plunges. I would think this was a Z problem but as the video shows I lost some Y steps as well.
Vader,
Sounds like you still have and use the Tormach mill. Did you decide to refuse the refund from Tormach or are you still trying to resolve the issue(s) with your mill? I hope that you get it worked out satisfactorily whatever that turns out to be.
Mike
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate!
They sent a mover yesterday to give them a quote on sending everything back. He called this morning to say accepted his bid and as soon as he had the money in hand he would come to get the mill and ALL of the accessories.
Tormach refunded my money before working out ANY details, and are now sending a mover to come and get it. Even after I told them I still thought Tormach was the best fit for my shop and ask for a replacement machine. I can’t believe the money they must be spending rather than replacing my machine.
I see a few other guys who experienced similar issues- maybe there is some sort of software or hardware glitch they can't find. They probably feel its better to bite the bullet rather than risk sending you a second machine with the same problem. At least you got your money back and won't have to pay shipping. You'll just have to chalk up the time and aggravation to experience and move on to another machine.