[extent]

I did not tram the head (the 3040 construction makes this almost impossible anyway...)

Tramming the gantry is half difficult, tramming the head is dead easy.

Getting the Z axis squared up along Y you just need to shim the base of the gantry. Just need to take a little care that you don't twist it, check with the head on both sides of the gantry to make sure that it's shimmed evenly.
Getting the Z axis squared up along X is harder, you have to take a lot of the Z axis apart to get to the bolts that hold the Z axis on, and they're on quite tight. That one I left alone
Tramming the spindle in Y is trivial, shim the spindle mount
Tramming the spindle in X is trickier, but not excessively difficult. Loosen all of the spindle mount bolts slightly and tap it to twist the mount. Carefully retighten the solid side of the mount to hold it in position once you have it.

With all of the bolts, you may have to drill the holes out slightly if the part you're moving is binding up and not moving far enough, especially the spindle mount. I had to file them quite a bit to allow the mount to twist enough to align straight. Also try flipping your spindle mount upside down if you're really far off, that got my machine a lot closer to trammed before doing any major adjustments. It only takes like an hour or two to do, and I was able to remove something like 60% of the factory misalignment.

[javanree]

My 3040 doesn't have a bolt-on motor mount : it's one big casting that holds the Z-axis bushings, Z-axis nut and the motor. So no way to align that in any direction. See the pictures at https://www.omiocnc.com/products/x4-...4-800-usb.html
So while I can tram the gantry to get the Z-axis perpendicular to the X- and Y-axes I can't be sure that a drill in the spindle will still be exactly perpendicular to both.

Since I almost exclusively do engraving and thin sheet work I decided not to put too much time in this, as the difference is negligible anyway.

[dharmic]

Do I just need an Ethernet breakout board to switch this thing over to Ethernet? USB connection keeps dropping off to both laptop and PC, if I don't do something soon I'm going end up having a melt down!

Machine just keeps stopping dead and flagging up "Is the XPod Inserted OK? It has ceased to Respond,..." in Mach 3. No chime from the PC or laptop to suggest it's lost connection so it must be the BOB.

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Depends on which ethernet controller you add. I went for the UC400-ETH which needed a 12V power supply and bob to be added. Fortunately, a good enough bob for these can be had from flEabay for about $5.

[Mmpie]

In the U.K. the cost between the 100 300 and 400 is negligible, so I'll just go for the 300 which looks the best bet? Does this replace the stepper drivers then? Or just the USB card in the black box?

I've one more thing to try first which I found tonight, but this looks like potentially a worthwhile upgrade regardless. Is it just speed and stability benefits or more?


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[dharmic]

Still gonna need a breakout to sit between the 100/300/400 and the stepper drivers.

The YongNuo USB board that comes with the black box combines the breakout and the USB interface in one board.

The 100/300/400 pretty much gives you one/five/two LPT ports at the end of an ethernet cable with some onboard timing stuff. You'll need to whack a breakout board between its digital IO and anything else to protect it against spikes and do the necessary level conversions. And you'll still need the stepper drivers.

[extent]

300 is the most recent board of the 3 with the most features. The 100 is only USB and has a lower max steprate, still more than the stock controller, but I wouldn't really consider it.

You'll also get a lot more I/O with a 300/400, so you can control relays directly for things like airblast if you like. the 300 also has a couple of analog inputs that you could use to put physical knobs on to control things like SRO/FRO which is quite neat. Aside from the probing working and the low speed control I also found I was able to bump my rapids up quite a bit without stalling. Was getting around 4k rapids on the stock control, and I'm set to 6k rapids now on the UC even after doubling the microstepping. I certainly recommend it.

[RCaffin]

Hi Mmpie

The USB is an excellent thing for cameras and mice and keyboards on very short leads.
In an industrial environment with high-powered switching devices hammering away, the USB is a bit of a disaster. Some points to consider:
The USB signalling levels are about 3.3 V; the ethernet levels are +-15 V.
The USB is direct-connected, while the ethernet is transformer-coupled. Think ground loops and RFI!
The USB does not feature error detection and recovery; the ethernet has these built deep into the protocol.

Warp9 started off with the USB SS, but after a lot of complaints (including mine) to Greg, the owner, he switched to the ESS.
I was getting a crash once per day sometimes with the USB, I have not had a crash with the ESS over the last year or so.

You might want to reconsider the XBox. I use the keyboard.

The UCCNC devices use the USB, but I believe they have layered full error-detection and recovery onto the basic protocol. Still direct-coupled and only 3.3 V though.

Cheers
Roger

[Mmpie]

Thanks for all the info. Seems pretty straight forward.

So these Ethernet controllers are more resistant to EMI? I have a feeling that could be causing a problem. I have recently made this box to house all my electrics, the lower half is powered by a corsair (not a cheap one) PC psu which is powering the fans, LED lighting, solenoid valves etc in the machine enclosure. The wires running from the devices inside the enclosure to the box are all shielded up to the PSU wiring harness itself. I used a terminal block and bunched all the +12v lines and ground lines together so everything is running off what's essentially a central 12v power hub and grounded at the same place.

I did this a couple of weeks ago though and it was perfectly ok until now.




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[javanree]

I'm also considering replacing the electronics on my X4-800 but am looking at a different route (as I'm using LinuxCNC now) ; has anybody here tried a Leadshine MX3660?

[A_Camera]

Hi Mmpie

The USB is an excellent thing for cameras and mice and keyboards on very short leads.
In an industrial environment with high-powered switching devices hammering away, the USB is a bit of a disaster. Some points to consider:
The USB signalling levels are about 3.3 V; the ethernet levels are +-15 V.
The USB is direct-connected, while the ethernet is transformer-coupled. Think ground loops and RFI!
The USB does not feature error detection and recovery; the ethernet has these built deep into the protocol.

Warp9 started off with the USB SS, but after a lot of complaints (including mine) to Greg, the owner, he switched to the ESS.
I was getting a crash once per day sometimes with the USB, I have not had a crash with the ESS over the last year or so.

You might want to reconsider the XBox. I use the keyboard.

The UCCNC devices use the USB, but I believe they have layered full error-detection and recovery onto the basic protocol. Still direct-coupled and only 3.3 V though.

Cheers
Roger

UCCNC has both USB and Etherned motion controllers. The UC100 and UC300USB are USB controllers, their UC400ETH and UC300ETH are Ethernet controllers. I had UC300USB initially but upgraded to UC300ETH about a half year ago and not regretted it for a minute. Excellent devices, but yes, Ethernet is better than USB.

[Mmpie]

The problem must be EMI and I'm guessing it's probably to do with the PC power supply. I took the black control box out of my box and it worked perfectly, strange because it's been a few weeks and this only happened yesterday. I still think I might make the switch to ethernet anyway as it seems an all round much better option and also try add some sort of EMI insulation into the lower half - I did try wrapping the walls in aluminium foil and earthing it but that only seemed to make the problem worse.. It's a shame if it doesn't work as that box was very practical and it means I will have to redo a load of perfectly to size wiring (bane of my life since buying this machine!!!) but hey ho.

You live and you learn.

[RCaffin]

A suggestion. Buy a handful of ferrite EMI suppressors from whoever (Mouser?, eg 807-BF1719 ) and clip them on every power lead at the SOURCE. This applies to the power cables into the motor driver as well as the outputs. Also put a couple on the output from the VFD/PS to the spindle.
A good test: a cheap analog radio. Try listening to it before and after you add the ferrites.

Cheers
Roger

[Kolyanchuk]

hi recently brought machine DAINICHI bx series fanuk 45 and its connection probemy emerged, namely flashing error servo, number and names no errors after disabling machine wants to execute commands in MDI and AUTO that be?
The second problem drum instruments after the power outage had omitted to advise that the X-axis with that?
and that oil is poured in the machine transmission?
Thank Da Lu

[dharmic]

hi recently brought machine DAINICHI bx series fanuk 45 and its connection probemy emerged, namely flashing error servo, number and names no errors after disabling machine wants to execute commands in MDI and AUTO that be?
The second problem drum instruments after the power outage had omitted to advise that the X-axis with that?
and that oil is poured in the machine transmission?
Thank Da Lu

Hi you might have more luck if you posted this in its own thread, in a forum that has something to do with your machine.

[zeeflyboy]

Just thought I'd share some more work I've done over the last few days on this machine... it really is quite a capable thing for the money, does a pretty decent job on alu.

Has anyone run into bearing issues of the spindle though? I think mine are on the way out, at certain RPMs and with heavier cutting I get some god-awful noises recently where before it was fine. Probably just going to replace with a 4 bearing spindle.... will be interesting to strip down the one that comes with the machine and see how many/what kind of bearings it has.

new coolant system, using sil-air compressor, solenoid valves, separate regulator for the coolant line to allow pressure to be kept lower, pool filter for container and an air gun for free-hand chip clearing:








And some machining (making new parts for my own bigger CNC design)

[Mmpie]

Everything you do zee is so beautifully neat and tidy. My work is a haphazard mess, you don't want to see my machine enclosure!

What's your bed made from?


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[zeeflyboy]

Hah thanks, the man cave is a tip at the moment though - need to sort it out!

Depends what you mean by bed.... The main tray is a sheet of acetal and some acrylic side walls, which I then machined a pocket into to give a level surface for the 10mm eco-cast tooling plate, that is my general use surface for vices/clamps etc.

The black material is an 8mm SRBP (synthetic-resin-bonded-paper) sheet which I'm just using as a jig plate and to be able to drill/cut past the part. Aka phenolic/tufnol kite etc.

[dharmic]

so purdy

[madeinoz67]

Hah thanks, the man cave is a tip at the moment though - need to sort it out!

Depends what you mean by bed.... The main tray is a sheet of acetal and some acrylic side walls, which I then machined a pocket into to give a level surface for the 10mm eco-cast tooling plate, that is my general use surface for vices/clamps etc.

The black material is an 8mm SRBP (synthetic-resin-bonded-paper) sheet which I'm just using as a jig plate and to be able to drill/cut past the part. Aka phenolic/tufnol kite etc.

Hey zeeflyboy thanks for sharing, I'm interested in what you've done on your bed? Or more precisely how you've done it...

so did you replace the existing extrusion base with acetel? or just permanently mounted on top of orig extrusion base then pocket it for the tooling plate? What thickness is the acetel?

Btw I came across your build on mycncuk...congrats on your progress, quality looks awesome. I must say I absolutely love the foam tool tray inserts!

Many thanks


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[zeeflyboy]

cheers, it's going to be quite a long build that one! Generally fairly happy with what has been done so far though.

it is, if memory serves, a 12mm slab which initially I just temporarily fixed to the bed before then using my machine to drill and counterbore some m6 bolt holes that align with the extrusion channels. I then manually added another row behind the reach of the machine.

I then just used t-nuts as usual and bolted it semi-permanently to the extrusion bed. Having sunk the screws down to a good depth, you are then free to take a nice large bit (I used 12mm) and pocket out a bed as big as the machine can manage. I then chose to mount a ground aluminium tooling plate as my bed surface, but that part really depends on what you want to do. For the new machine I'm tempted to do similar but have a sacrificial slab of SRBP as the replaceable main bed rather than a tooling plate. I don't currently do as much vice work as I thought I would.