[wbleeker]

I have been doing a drilling job on my series 2 its actually the first time I have done more than one job at a time. I had twenty pieces of 1/2 square with three through holes on two sides and twenty with two though holes on each side. I used the Newfangled wizard to write the code and just edited the different dimensions for the X, as the holes were in the centre the Y was .25. My first problem arose because I trusted that the Y was indeed at .25, the readout said it was!After wrecking the first few I measured the offset and moved the table .031 to get the holes on centre, I didn't move the Y axis for the rest of the job.
The next issue was at the end of the job when the X axis was rapid traversing to X0 Z1 there would be a noise and the DRO would keep going but the table was stopped, the DRo returned to zero but the table wasn't there, rezeroing the X fixed this until next time this happened about every twelve pieces and then this morning it happened mid program and drilled a hole in the wrong spot.
This morning when I started the machine up the Z axis started a dive towards the table on its own! i had to hit the stop button.
As far as diagnosing the fault this is what I have done, checked all the wires on the drivers etc to make sure there are no loose connections, soldered the stepper connections as they were twisted and crimped. My first thought on the X Axis was the coupling slipping, i checked it straight away and put marks on both sides it is not slipping.I had a message yesterday that said Driver Watchdog Triggered? I only have the PCNC program on the controller
Any ideas anyone?
Will

[rowbare]

Have you checked your gibs? Perhaps they need adjustment. See the latest version of the PCNC manual. It has a section on how to do it.

bob

[tbaker2500]

My first suspicion would be the parallel port data. Make sure that the connections are clean and seated properly on both ends, and the ribbon cable inside the electrical box is the same. Make sure the cable from the computer to the machine isn't close to any other noisy cable.
Tormach sells a ferrite core filter to put on the ribbon cable inside the electrical cabinet. When I did that, a lot of these weird problems went away.
I'm not saying this is your problem, it's just the first place I'd start.

[wbleeker]

Thanks for the replies, I will check all that today, tbaker, is there anything special about the Ferrite for the ribbon cable, rather than wait for it to be shipped I would prefer to get one locally.
Will

[tbaker2500]

Nothing special about it. If you can get one locally, all the better.
Since there already is a connector on the cable, you can try and find a "split core", which lets you put it on. I didn't have one, so I took a smaller core I had, clipped the connector off, wrapped it a few times, and put a new connector on. It solved most of my wonky comm errors. The main one I was having was randomly the reset button in Mach3 would trip. "External E-stop request". But I had the Driver Watchdog Triggered also.

[GJeff]

Could you sandwich the ribbon between two of these?
Amico 5 Pcs Chokes Radio Antennas Ferrite Flat Rods Bars 55x13x5mm: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

[bevinp]

Will,
I would wait for the Tormach product. Their ferrite filter is tuned for the specific data frequency on the cable. Any ferrite core will not do the job properly and in fact may cause more/new/different problems.
Also, perhaps the Series II Manual has some info on trouble shooting this type of problem. Then ask Tormach for help.
Good luck,
Bevin

[tereroche4]

And practice before you put the actual chip on.

[wbleeker]

Okay, i did email Tormach last week and had no reply,HOWEVER I think this was due to a problem with my email, I re- emailed this morning and Rory replied, I also have been talking to Ian Nichols the Australian dealer and couldn't be happier with the responses.
Now the guts of it
I have followed the instructions and re-adjusted the gibs- all of them- I feel that two of them were tight.
I do have the Auto oiler and want to check that oil is getting through all the fittings- does anyone know if there is a way to run this at will to check flow?

i have ordered the genuine Tormach ferrite suppressor, but will try the local one while I am waiting
Rory also suggested i reinstall the operating system software as occasionally there are problems with Mach 3

I only realised after I emailed Rory that we have a fairly large transmitter tower within a kilometre of here that may be causing problems.
Also just to clarify for anyone that may be reading this- in no way do I blame Tormach for any problems that I have with my machine or my interpretation of
their instructions, I am a very satisfied customer! Problems happen and everyone should work together to solve them.
Also Ian from Machine Tool Solutions in Sydney has offered to come and assist in solving the problem- what more could you ask for!
Will

[tbaker2500]

Good news!

For checking the oiler, what I do is feel each mating surface and make sure there is a film of oil on it. I had a Z-axis way oil point clog up, and it was pretty obvious it wasn't getting oil. It felt sticky rather than slick.

[bobeson]

Another thing to check is the tightness of your axis motor couplings. I found that my couplings (X+Z) were loose and causing problems not long after getting my machine, and also once subsequently. You'll also need to make sure that your ball screw mount bearings are adjusted properly now and then.

As for the ferrite, I can say as an electronics design engineer that it's pretty much a crapshoot approach to solving signaling problems. It all depends on the source of the noise you're trying to filter; if there is some unique and known source created by the PCNC itself that is causing the problem, then the Tormach filter may be designed for it and thus likely superior. If you've got some other random electrical noise coupling that's causing you problems, then the best ferrite to use will be determined by the characteristics of the source. I would try whatever is available and see what happens, but don't spend too much money or effort, or even get your hopes up that a solution can be found with a ferrite at all. Generally speaking, you're in a crappy situation if you need to use ferrite chokes to permit your system to function properly. Most ferrites are used to limit carefully measured EMI emissions on external cables, and are only selected as needed to pass emission compliance; you would almost never notice a functional change in a properly designed system by removing cable ferrites.

[btu44]

I second about the motor coupling. I was loosing position on my Z axis. I tightend the coupler and I was still getting slippage.
After removing the coupler I could see that the coupler ID had a very rough finish and keyways are not used.
So smoothed all the couplers IDs with a sandpaper roll to knock down the high spots. I have not had a problem with holding position since.

IMO, I don't think it is missed steps. I have spent alot of testing maximum axis motor speed on my series 1 machine.
What I see happening is the steppers work fine till I hit the speed threshold (no cutting loads). Then the stepper gives it up and just buzzes with jerky movement or moves alittle and jerks around again. It's very repeatable within a few IPMs. Although I did get it to run at 200 IPM for about 5 seconds once.
What I'm getting at is the stepper doesn't miss a step here or there and is hard to notice. It makes quite abit of noise and is pretty easy to tell.

[philbur]

You mention diagnosis of THE fault however it seems from your description that you are describing 3 separate issues.

1) The y-axis repeatedly has the wrong offset. The issue is repeatable and consistent and 0.031 sounds suspiciously like the radius of a 5/8" diameter tool. How are you setting the tool offset.

2) The x-axis occasionally fails to move to the correct position during rapid movement and the motor makes a loud noise when doing so. This indicates that the motor isn't providing enough torque to overcome the frictional resistance, so it loses steps. This issue could be; low voltage or amps from the driver (I think), a faulty motor or, too much friction on the x-axis ways. Try switching motor and driver with the y-axis one at a time. Also try adjusting the x-axis gib and checking the oil supply (are the x axis ways oil wet)

3) The Z-axis drops during start-up. This is because the brake is not applied because you are turning on the machine before starting up MACH 3. Start-up in the correct sequence, adjusting the gib may also help.

Phil

PS: I don't see anything in your descriptions that would imply bad signals.

[wbleeker]

Thanks everyone for the replies, i am working through all the suggestions. Phil I have adjusted the gibs in accordance with the instructions, i don't know if the Y was repeatable,I needed to finish the job drilling holes in X so I manually adjusted the Y position to get the drill into the centre. I will hopefully have some time tomorrow to check this.
After adjusting the gibs I still get the problem in X, I have marked the coupling and motor/ballscrew to see if there is any slip- tomorrow I will try the Y axis motor on the X to see if there is any difference
I was using the MDI window today and had the same thing happen
I think you are right about the Z Phil I was probably a bit hasty to turn the machine on.
Will

[lauraingram8]

Good luck with that.

[wbleeker]

Ok, today my Tormach, Ferrite turned up it is a round one for the Serial cable- put it on and still have the X Axis issue. I think Y is fine now although I haven't yet put an indicator on it to check distance moved.
As for the X, I swapped the steppers motors around on X and Y and can still get the problem to happen, not every time I move the Axis only after a few movements.
So then I swapped drivers around, I used my A Axis one- Still getting the same problem on the X
What I did to test this was to program some G00 X and Y positive moves in the teach window and then copy and paste more lines in in the editor which gave me about five minutes of the X and Y running back and forward, with no chance of a tool getting smashed.
Tomorrows plan of attack is to reconnect all the driver to stepper connections, and then follow the input wires to the driver and check and redo if needed, i will run the machine between each operation to try and work out if I have solve the problem.
Will

[philbur]

Does the x-axis still make a noise when there is a loss of position. If so describe the noise, or better still post a short video/audio.

Phil

[phylchurch6]

I just purchased BobCad.

[wbleeker]

Does the x-axis still make a noise when there is a loss of position. If so describe the noise, or better still post a short video/audio.

Phil

Yes Phil it does still make a noise, i am having some problems with my son at the moment. As soon as I can I will make a video,
The noise is like a clunk and the table stops and there is a bit of whirring with no X movement but the DRO goes back to position?
Will

[shred]

Series 2 or 3?

I had mine do the 'clunk, then stop moving' thing not too long ago. Turned out there was a virus scan running in the background that I think did it. I've heard that poor video drivers can do the same thing.