Need Help!- Bridgeport Series I Boss Z axis stuck!

[dynamotive]

I finally got my Hillbilly BOB/Mach3 retrofit going on my Bridgeport Series I Boss machine. I cut a part, and then after doing something else for a few minutes, I came back and pushed Page Up to get the spindle up. I only pressed it momentarily, but it must have decided that going up was a good thing, because it rapided right up to the top, made a bad noise, and I punched the Emstop button. I got everything reset, and tried pushing Page Down. No go - another bad noise (sounded like the belt slipping), and no movement. I took off the belt cover, and the belt looks ok. I was tempted to put an aluminum bar in there and try tapping the spindle pulley to turn it, but I might just make it worse. Any ideas on getting it unstuck? Is the ballscrew ruined?

Don't bother telling me that I should have checked the limit switches before I started using it. Obviously, I should have. After using the machine for years with the Boss controller, and never seeing such behavior, and never imagining that Mach3 would do such a thing... Any ideas on why it did that?

[TOTALLYRC]

Originally Posted by dynamotive I finally got my Hillbilly BOB/Mach3 retrofit going on my Bridgeport Series I Boss machine. I cut a part, and then after doing something else for a few minutes, I came back and pushed Page Up to get the spindle up. I only pressed it momentarily, but it must have decided that going up was a good thing, because it rapided right up to the top, made a bad noise, and I punched the Emstop button. I got everything reset, and tried pushing Page Down. No go - another bad noise (sounded like the belt slipping), and no movement. I took off the belt cover, and the belt looks ok. I was tempted to put an aluminum bar in there and try tapping the spindle pulley to turn it, but I might just make it worse. Any ideas on getting it unstuck? Is the ballscrew ruined? Don't bother telling me that I should have checked the limit switches before I started using it. Obviously, I should have. After using the machine for years with the Boss controller, and never seeing such behavior, and never imagining that Mach3 would do such a thing... Any ideas on why it did that?

I have had this happen on mine a few times, not a pretty thing I assure you.
The quick way to get the Z to come down is to use a pair of pliers or vise grips(ouch, I know) or something to grab the motor pulley. Standing in front of the machine, with the tool sticking out to your left, pull it towards you and this will screw the Z axis down. IIRC. When it happened the first time it was really stuck, I would bet it took 30-40 lbs of pull to get it to move.

As to what caused it, a bad encoder/wiring if using servos. I have no idea if using steppers unless the key stuck.

If you are feeling lucky, the screw will be OK this time but don't make a habit of it as it can easily ruin the screw.

Mine is a BTC-1 which is very similar. The other problem on mine is that the limit switch is about a quarter of a turn from the hard stop. It has to be set so high or the tool changer won't work. In my case the limit switch just keeps it from breaking, it still gets stuck.

Mike

[machintek]

Very common issue with a BOSS 8 and 9.
Fixed by the method mentioned above.
But the BOSS 3 > 6 all have a decel switch that actuates about .200 inches from/before the up switch.

George

[TOTALLYRC]

Originally Posted by machintek Very common issue with a BOSS 8 and 9. Fixed by the method mentioned above. But the BOSS 3 > 6 all have a decel switch that actuates about .200 inches from/before the up switch. George

I think that this is where the soft limits become helpful in Mach3.

Mike

[dynamotive]

Thanks for the comments. I wound up making a hardwood 'persuader', like a long, thin chisel, which could make it into the spindle pulley - it was too stuck for the timing belt to get it loose. A couple of sharp raps, and it came undone. I haven't tried cutting anything yet, but at least it goes up and down without making any noises.

The limit switch and the decel switch do show up on the diagnostics page. I'm not sure exactly what they're supposed to do, in this situation.

It is a stepper machine, but the Page Up key seems normal, and if it stuck, that would be the first time that has happened to me in many years of computering.

I think maybe the computer suffered a major hiccup. It's an old Thinkpad 770. It does fine on the Drivertest, and it drives the machine just fine, but I noticed some suspicious 'fluttering' in some drop-down boxes, so maybe there's a serious problem lurking in there. Maybe Mach3 has given it indigestion. I was planning on putting on a newer computer anyway, because the thinkpad takes forever to boot up, and to start Mach3.

The soft limits thing is interesting, but I'm not sure how it would fit into the way I use the machine - I set my Z by stepping the spindle down, and touching the tool to a piece of .001" of brass shim stock. Then I set the Z according to the particular setup, so '0' varies widely. Maybe I could figure out how to make the soft limit turn on when the decel switch is hit.

[TOTALLYRC]

Originally Posted by dynamotive Thanks for the comments. I wound up making a hardwood 'persuader', like a long, thin chisel, which could make it into the spindle pulley - it was too stuck for the timing belt to get it loose. A couple of sharp raps, and it came undone. I haven't tried cutting anything yet, but at least it goes up and down without making any noises. The limit switch and the decel switch do show up on the diagnostics page. I'm not sure exactly what they're supposed to do, in this situation. It is a stepper machine, but the Page Up key seems normal, and if it stuck, that would be the first time that has happened to me in many years of computering. I think maybe the computer suffered a major hiccup. It's an old Thinkpad 770. It does fine on the Drivertest, and it drives the machine just fine, but I noticed some suspicious 'fluttering' in some drop-down boxes, so maybe there's a serious problem lurking in there. Maybe Mach3 has given it indigestion. I was planning on putting on a newer computer anyway, because the thinkpad takes forever to boot up, and to start Mach3. The soft limits thing is interesting, but I'm not sure how it would fit into the way I use the machine - I set my Z by stepping the spindle down, and touching the tool to a piece of .001" of brass shim stock. Then I set the Z according to the particular setup, so '0' varies widely. Maybe I could figure out how to make the soft limit turn on when the decel switch is hit.

I am not sure since I haven't done it yet but I think the soft limits are in absolute coordinates so where you zero the part has no bearing on how the limits work. I do think that you need to have limit switches on the machine but the more knowledgeable among us will step in and correct me.

I would consider wiping the hard drive and starting with a fresh install of windows and Mach3. Don't forget to back up the drivers before you do it.

Not all laptops will work and it might be worth a try to get it working on this machine since the driver test is good.

Mike

[dynamotive]

Interesting comment, about 'absolute coordinates'. Does that mean that Mach3 can run with 'relative' coordinates? I think the way I use the machine must be different from most others, judging from some of the things I see in Mach3. There's a lot of stuff about 'homing', which is something I don't do. I can see where if you often used the mill for repeating certain processes, and you had fixtures which were aligned exactly with reference to the table, that 'homing' would be useful. But, I don't do that. Most of what I do is making wax molds, where each part is different, and the 'zero' references depend on various things, so I have to edge-find almost everything. That also means that being able to zero an axis is rarely of any use. I edge-find, and then enter the coordinate. Occasionally I'll make multiple parts, but I put a fixture in the vise, and edge-find it. Maybe I need to learn some new ways of doing things.

[TOTALLYRC]

Originally Posted by dynamotive Interesting comment, about 'absolute coordinates'. Does that mean that Mach3 can run with 'relative' coordinates? I think the way I use the machine must be different from most others, judging from some of the things I see in Mach3. There's a lot of stuff about 'homing', which is something I don't do. I can see where if you often used the mill for repeating certain processes, and you had fixtures which were aligned exactly with reference to the table, that 'homing' would be useful. But, I don't do that. Most of what I do is making wax molds, where each part is different, and the 'zero' references depend on various things, so I have to edge-find almost everything. That also means that being able to zero an axis is rarely of any use. I edge-find, and then enter the coordinate. Occasionally I'll make multiple parts, but I put a fixture in the vise, and edge-find it. Maybe I need to learn some new ways of doing things.

What you are doing is fine and normal.

I am waiting for Rufi to finish the probing routine so I can do the edge finding automatically. There are some great Macros out there that do it automatically.

Let me use a better choice of words.
Soft limits are in machine coordinates. When you touch off and set zero, you are in user coordinates for lack of the proper term.
With home switches installed on the machine, you can do a ref all at the start of the day and then the soft limits will be in regards to the machine dimensions, not the user dimensions.

I may be slightly off in how this exactly works because I use the DSPMC/ip to control my machine and it does do somethings slightly different.

The Mach3 user manual would be a great help here. It is on the Mach3 web site under support/downloads.

Mike