ALARM!!! "Commanded X Axis move too far / Positive"

[aimeahz]

Hi to all,

I have an EZ Trak 3 axis with the .pgm system .When the machine goes to home position I get this alarm:

"Commanded X Axis move too far / Positive"

1. We already changed the X motor with a new one, Interchanged the X motor with the Y motor including the drive.
2. Re-installed the operating system.
3. Verified the X adjustment with no success.
4. Manually tried to jog the X axis with no success (still get the same alarm)
5. Re-set the computer


IF any knows about this situation please sen a e_mail or call 7873174815

Héctor Zayas
M.E.
HAMILTON SUNDSTRAND Puerto Rico
Machining / Cores / Repair Center
Phone: (787) 845-4343 Ext. 1639
Cell : (787) 207-3981 Fax: (860) 660-9894
hector.zayas@hs.utc.com
Felicia Industrial Park
Street B Lot 9 Blg. B
Call Box 2805
Santa Isabel, PR 00757

[Al_The_Man]

It sounds like a software overtravel. Some controls allow this to be disabled when homing . Does the manual mention s/w overtravel?
I don't know this control, but it may be some where to look in the mean time
Al.

[machintek]

This alarm occurs when the commanded move exceeds the travel limits of the machine. IE: You are at the center of the table with display showing X0Y0, and ask it to move to X40.0 and of course it can't.
Very common is to forget that you have a 3 axis machine and you forget to set the TLO (tool length offset) for a tool. Then you command Z.05 for 50 thou above the part but the quill is all the way up and cannot move any further. Same error.
Lastly it is possible that your machine travel limits are screwed up. at the main screen press the * key. A box should pop up asking for a code. Type in 11235. Then press ENTER twice. A screen should come up telling you the machine series, X travel, Y travel, backlash, lead error, etc. Make sure those are correct for your version of the machine.
What version of software are you running?

George

[NC Cams]

We got a similar error message after we R&R'd the servo motors on our ExTrak.

Seems we didn't get the once per rev timing pulse reset properly when we reinstalled the motor.

My understanding: The machine looks to travel only so far more after it hits the 'home' switch as it expects to see the single pulse/rev signal within a certain count window thereafter. If the timing pulse doesn't occur within so many counts after "home" is reached, you'll get that error if I recall properly.

That problem and many others were corrected when we had a "factory trained" technician do a system tune-up of our machine.

A simple adjustment of the home switch fixed that problem for us. Even though I watched it being done, I couldn't repeat it if my life depended on it.

By the way, all other servo tuning was done via editiing of parameter codes - the cabinet did NOT have to be opened for the adjustments. Be wary of someone who messes with pots on the servo amps. IT should'nt be necessary to fix this problem or to tune the servos.

Brian at BPT Machine in Carol Stream Illinois did my tuning and I"m sure he'd LOVE to come to Puerto Rico for a service call. Tell him I provided the reference.....

[aimeahz]

You hit on the target. We used the code to enter to the parameter-editing screen and wrote down the actual parameters. Then I called bridgeport service and informed about the actual parameters. At the beginning they didn’t know about the alarm I got but after I told them about the actual parameters they told me that the parameters were screwed up and gave me the correct parameters for my machine type (series 1).

Machine series -1
X max travel - 30.0
y max travel - 12.0
Everything else leave it as it is. Then save to the machine.

Waalaaaaaaaa! , Machine working perfectly.

Thanks to everyone who gave me support.

Att . H.Zayas

NOTE: Is there a way or a new software version that can guive me the opportunity to save as .pt4 (prototrack version)???

[NC Cams]

Warning: if you are using ExTrak version 7, you MUST not shut down while in metric mode or else it will scramble data.

HINT: once you have a configuration that works, back it up on a floppy. You can then reload it next time the machine acts wierd.

another HINT: you can't get fancy with enabling LBA mode in your bios or by using a new H/D that isn't formatted to the size that the 'Trak software is looking for.

Reason: the computer will write back stuff to a place on H/D that it can't won't read from next time it looks for it...

If you have the original H/D, you might want to consider replacing it with a DOM instead of convetional H/D. Much more robust and less prone to vibration damage.

You should be able to buy a preformatted one from BPT Machine (Carol Stream, IL) or EMI.

[machintek]

Prototrak and Bridgeport were competitors. There is no software version of Bridgeport that will produce the Prototrak programs.
But, if you find the EZSPS software, it can be loaded on a PC and it is the conversational EZTRAK software! It can output either a G & M code program or a EZTRAK conversational program.

George