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Thread: X6-2200L

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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Posts
    165

    X6-2200L

    Well new machine build is not that accurate, since this is going to be an 'off the shelf' model. I do intend to be doing my own work on the homing, limits and so on.

    I sold off my homemade Solsylva machine, looking for something smaller and more accurate. Currently I have an OMIO X6-2200L shipping from china. I have to say the customer service has been excellent, they also agreed to ship me the frame only since I already have some of the components, plus I was looking to build my own control box anyway.

    So in the meantime, I have been putting this together, based on a used Schneider 40 x 30cm electrical box I found on eBay:

    Attachment 412878

    24V cooling fan with filter on RH side, exhaust on rear (box will be offset from wall)

    Attachment 412880

    2 x PSUs, also the Wantai stepper motor controllers

    Attachment 412882

    Finally I sourced these buttons from Hong Kong - the logos are printed on acetate using a normal b/w laser printer, then cut up and inserted into the button caps. Drop me a PM if you're interested in having a copy of the logos as a PDF file.

    Attachment 412884

    I might have some questions on the electronics coming up!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Posts
    1422

    Re: X6-2200L

    Nice. From all the war stories, expect that great customer service to evaporate now that they have your money. I'm still really happy with mine, have done a few mods over the years but it's been a good machine. Looking forward to see what you do with yours!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    165

    Re: X6-2200L

    It's here Initial impressions are very positive.

    Attachment 413782

    Haven't done any meaningful testing yet, but it arrived well packaged and with all the bits and pieces. There weren't any assembly instructions but it was relatively easy to figure out what goes where, until I had no bolts left!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Posts
    165

    Re: X6-2200L

    Some more work on the electronics today...

    I built this PCB which will link a wired MPG pendant to a 2nd parallel port on the PC. This gives me 13 inputs and 4 outputs (when the 2nd port is set to use pins 2-8 as INPUT, a Mach3 setting).
    Attachment 414408

    Thanks to Markus from MarkusMechatronics for some hints and tips on how to build this
    CNC MPG Pendant
    I made a few changes to his design, but broadly it's similar. All inputs and outputs to the Parallel port are via Schmitt triggers, the 4 outputs also have opto-couplers to provide isolation to other circuits.

    The pendant is one of these, there's plenty of these on eBay:
    Attachment 414410

    The MPG uses 9 of the inputs, so that leaves me 4 more for some of my control buttons, plus the 4 outputs.

    So my controller will have this homemade breakout board, an 'off the shelf' breakout board for the stepper drivers plus most of the buttons, limit switches and indicators. There will be another 'homemade' PCB which will interface the control panel to the two breakout boards, though I'm still designing that!

  5. #5
    ericks Guest

    Re: X6-2200L

    Looking good

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Posts
    165

    Re: X6-2200L

    More work on the control box
    Attachment 414710

    Attachment 414708

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Posts
    1422

    Re: X6-2200L

    Nice to have room to be able to lay out the control box nice n tidy, rather than jamming it into the omio black box. It's looking good.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    165

    Re: X6-2200L

    Before I finish the electronics I wanted to work out the best approach for home/limit switches.

    One thing in particular I wanted to try was checking the repeatability of 'hall effect' type switches when used as homing switches, however in reality these need to be positioned so that the metal passes over the top of them sideways rather than head on. I have already proved (don't ask) that they aren't a good option for limit switches when moving on rapids since the machine's inertia causes them moving parts to smash into them. The sensing distance (probably only 2-3mm) isn't enough to allow machine to decelerate.

    Attachment 414918

    Anyway, I did some tests with a simple GCODE script which zeores the axis using the proximity switch, then moves the gantry 100mm to a dial gauge. I'm pleased to report I got VERY repeatable readings (more or less identical each time) so am happy that these are good option for homing.

    This machine comes three very basic switches only, so the plan is:

    - microswitch limits on both ends of x and y and upper of z (so 5 in total)
    - Hall effect home switches on X, Y and Z (these will be offset say 20mm from the limits of the movement)
    - Touch plate sensor for Z tool height. I already have this working via a scripted macro.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Posts
    1422

    Re: X6-2200L

    Sounds very thorough. Personally, I find the microswitches sufficient to find some rough machine zero on startup and then I touch off with a probe on some known datum (usually the workpiece) before cutting; soft limits work pretty well including deceleration to avoid end-of-travel collisions. But if you plan to do repetitive work on a jig or something, being able to home accurately and know that the work offsets you've saved are valid would be pretty handy.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    165

    Re: X6-2200L

    Thanks - TBH I never really used soft limits on my previous machine, not sure why! I had micros on each axes (5 of)

    I had a quick play with the soft limits using the OMIO. They certainly do the job, however not sure there's any deceleration as such since the machine comes to a rather aprupt stop, plus it definitely loses some some steps since it needs rehoming again to restore the correct positioning (proved with the dial guage!)

    Sorry I stand corrected - I need to use the 'slow zone' in the soft limit settings

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    165

    Re: X6-2200L

    Update... I completed this stand/bench in the garage. It's yellow to match my DeWalt tools (sort of!)

    Click image for larger version. 

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    It will also hold the control box and spindle VFD

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    165

    Re: X6-2200L

    Also completed this PCB to go in the control box. This has quite a few functions, but essentially will interface between the PC, the breakout boards, the control panel and the home, limits and eStop systems. It will all make sense once I have put it all together!

    Click image for larger version. 

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    The main components are:

    - a 5V DC-DC converter for the other breakout boards (to isolate the PC's 5v/ground from my own)
    - an AND logic gate, essentially this will activate the stepper drives when the PC's ENABLE signal is high (from Mach 3), the eStop isn't activated, and the limits aren't activated. There will be a button on the control panel which will enable the limits to be 'jogged off', otherwise you'd be stuck in a constantly disabled state
    - 8 channel buffer, this is switched on/off by the output from the AND gate (actually, it has to be inverted since the buffer is enabled when the control input is 'low'. This will be used to switch off various indicators when the machine is 'disabled'
    - a load of transistors/resistors to change between the various logic states and also interface between the 24V and 5V levels

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    165

    Re: X6-2200L

    PROBLEMS!!!

    I get great performance out of the Z and X axes of the machine. However The Y axes (which is in the direction of the machine bed) is giving me grief.

    Out of curiosity, I took up the machine bed, and removed the ballnut from the gantry. No problems with the ballnut, it' s nice and smooth through the whole length of travel. As for the gantry.... I'd expect it to slide easily on the linear rails (I paid extra money for these), however it needs a surprising amount of force to move it, plus there's a bad sound coming from one side. See this video (with sound)
    https://youtu.be/9JV7Rq1DHtw

    What do we think? Have I been shipped a bad rail? I don't have any experience of linear rails personally, so not sure what they should 'feel' like. My gut tells me something is wrong though.

    UPDATE.... I removed the gantry from the bearing blocks, yup there are definitely issues there. Of the four blocks, one is VERY 'sticky', the one adjacent to it is nearly as bad. The other rail is OK but not fantastic. What's annoying is it was considered acceptable to ship the machine in this state, unless the damage happened in transit...

    This video shows the problem nicely...
    https://youtu.be/zzG5CQ0iVnU

    Thanks!

  14. #14
    Join Date
    May 2015
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    1422

    Re: X6-2200L

    Tried oiling the sticky one? It also may just be a bit tight and need a little running in.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Posts
    165

    Re: X6-2200L

    A little online research suggest this is a common problem with the chinese linear rails. i.e. the are supplied with protective gunk in them for shipping and proteciton, with the intention that they are refurbed by the user.

    I did use WD40 and a light spray grease which helped slightly, but both sides are still not what I'd expect, particularly the one side which is really bad. I imagine I'll end up removing the rails then stripping the blocks right down and reassembling from scratch. As you'll know, taking the machine apart is relatively easy!

    A couple of observations:

    - it looks like the shorter rails in the X and Z axes may be from a different supplier since they have different sliders on the rails

    - I don't understand why they would ship the machine in this state, I was expecting it to be 'ready to run'. Note I bought the frame only version, since I fitted my own steppers.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Posts
    1422

    Re: X6-2200L

    Ready to run is off the table without steppers etc. I reckon that, since it didn't have steppers and everything, they never bothered giving it more than a once-and-back. If it moved at all they'd have put the roughness down to gunk in the bearings and boxed it up to ship.

    Remember with these you've paid under a quarter of the price of a machine that would be considered ready to make money and a hell of a lot of that extra coin goes into things like quality control, preparation of the unit and support after sales.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Posts
    165

    Re: X6-2200L

    Thanks - bearing strip/rebuild in progress! TBH the machine was okay at lower speeds, it was the rapids which were the issue. It's just some extra reistance which was causing the motors to stall repeatedly at the same spots. Regardless I wouldn't expect to be able to achieve the same rapid speeds on the Y as the other two axes since there's much more mass to it.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Posts
    626

    Re: X6-2200L

    I had a similar problem with the round rails on my X61500GT. Two of the four were 'lumpy' and then other 2 were very smooth.
    I had several other issures as well. Make sure you check everything.
    My Y axis balllscrew was tight in one direction only! ( how does that work? I replaced the whole thing.
    I had 2.6mm offset btween the Ball nut and mount on mine. No wonder it was binding and missing steps.
    Steve

  19. #19
    ericks Guest

    Re: X6-2200L

    They should really install a "stronger" motor on the y-axis.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Posts
    1422

    Re: X6-2200L

    Nah, if the gantry moves smoothly (AFAIK most of them do, you guys were just the lucky ones) I reckon the supplied motor is plenty strong enough. I can get nearly the same rapids on the Y as I can on the X and, when it only takes a couple of seconds to jog the length of the table, I'm happy.

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