Need Help!- Citizen L720 G660 machine mode

[Bob Szczypinski]

I’m trying to prove out my program but I keep getting hung-up on the G660 portion. It makes it thru T11, starts T51 but I keep getting a "P32 illegal address alarm". I tried a number of different program changes but I still get hung-up. Also, the book calls T5100 Tool position then calls T? for the Tool Offset I assume it is T51.

[ProProcess]

nobody is going to be able to assist with this type of problem without seeing the code in question.

[SirDenisNayland]

Sounds likely that you must index to an intermediary tool to prevent collision, thus throwing the alarm. Also I have no idea what t50xx would be on a 720 and that I've never used g660 and couldn't tell you what it is off the top of my head.

[Bob Szczypinski]

The problem was I choose the wrong machining mode to get me to the the results I wanted. I reconfigured the $2 process using !'s to achieve the results I wanted.

[ProProcess]

Originally Posted by SirDenisNayland Sounds likely that you must index to an intermediary tool to prevent collision, thus throwing the alarm....

The OP said that the alarm is ...

Originally Posted by Bob Szczypinski ..."P32 illegal address alarm"...

which is a program error, not a collision error, this is why I suggested posting the relevent code.

Originally Posted by SirDenisNayland ... Also I have no idea what t50xx would be on a 720 and that I've never used g660 and couldn't tell you what it is off the top of my head.

G660 is a mode that allows the user to use a drilling or milling block that has tools facing both the main and sub spindle and allows you to perform simultaneous operations on front and back.
The tool calls are done in sync between systems...

$1                            $2
G660                         G660
T1100                       T5100
(code here)                (code here)
T1200                       T5200
(code here)                (code here)
T1300                        T5300
(code here)                (code here)
G630                         G630

[SirDenisNayland]

ProProcess,

It was a shot in the dark. Having worked with L20s yet never having used a t5500 or g660, I thought perhaps he had some odd attachment that would make calling such a tool number an illegal address depending what tool you're on currently. Brainfart, I've used the front working attachment T11-13, just never the double end one with T50s for the back.. doh.

I guess I've been involved with the stars too much lately where this is an occurence. When switching from crosswork live tools to gang/front id tooling you can get an alarm if you don't index to an intermediary tool before making your index. Citizens are much smarter machines and now that I remember the star throws a p/s alarm, not an illegal address alarm, but the two are much the same.

Cheers

[ProProcess]

Originally Posted by SirDenisNayland ProProcess, It was a shot in the dark. Having worked with L20s yet never having used a t5500 or g660, I thought perhaps he had some odd attachment that would make calling such a tool number an illegal address...

Now that you say that, the OP may be getting the alarm if the Tool Pattern is not set correctly.
Certainly something to look at.

[SirDenisNayland]

Originally Posted by ProProcess Now that you say that, the OP may be getting the alarm if the Tool Pattern is not set correctly. Certainly something to look at.

Certainly sounds like that could be the case if he couldn't get g660 to work and had to use wait codes..

Indeed i do wonder if g660 has any relevance over using wait codes? I know the 600 series codes claim to be faster, but I've yet to really see it myself.

[ProProcess]

Originally Posted by SirDenisNayland Certainly sounds like that could be the case if he couldn't get g660 to work and had to use wait codes.. ...

I agree!

Originally Posted by SirDenisNayland ...Indeed i do wonder if g660 has any relevance over using wait codes? I know the 600 series codes claim to be faster, but I've yet to really see it myself.

That's a good question, one I've not tested.
G660 would be "cleaner" and easier to maintain plus it give you the option to Superimpose X2 onto Y1.
With that, you could perform different boring operations on both the front and back at the same time

[SirDenisNayland]

Originally Posted by ProProcess With that, you could perform different boring operations on both the front and back at the same time

I've wondererd about doing that in the star before.. at least now I know thats how to do it on the citizen (with the right attachment of course)

[SirDenisNayland]

This thread got me thinking of G660 and how I could use it on the A20 that is new to me (actually the star had me thinking about it, but the A20 is quite a similar configuration given the drilling/boring tool post off the gang). What I have come across is a difference in the way G660 works (or so the book says) between the L20 and the A20.

Although it is not a live head, but instead a drilling/boring tool post, I figured I would be able to still superimpose Y1 onto X2 (X2 $2 argument when commanding G660 on the L20). Figured I could perform operations like front boring/back drilling or front and back boring as long as the proper conditions were met such that X2 doesnt over travel, which is a consideration anyway.

It turns out - according to the book for the A20 - that G660 is only designed for front/back simultaneous drilling on this machine. I quote:

G660 is a machining pattern to perform center hole drilling with the front and back drilling tools simultaneously. Front/back superimposed drilling is disabled in which center drilling by T51s is performed together with an X or Y command by T11s (eg. boring machining). However, X and Y commands are enabled on programs. Accordingly, specifying the above command by mistake may cause interference to occur. Take extra care of it.

Under the macro specification under the "superimpose" category the A20 book simply states "cancel z1-z2 superimposition" while the L20 states "The X2 axis is superimposed on the Y1 axis"

The reason why I guess this is not possible is that you can only bring Y1 to +.196~ before you run into over travel, accordingly you cannot bring Y1 under 0 as the X2 overtravels at that point (which is not entirely true if you are boring in the back as well and the X2 shift makes up for the -Y1 movement).

Still though, under the right circumstances I feel that is more than enough room to perform some smaller boring and/or ones with a small variation in bore diameter required (eg. use a boring bar that is almost entirely at size while the post is centered). Its a shame this isnt something you can toy with on this machine. I realize this is somewhat of a "budget" machine in comparison to the L20, although they both have their pros and cons due to their different configurations, yet I feel like they take some functionality out that the control can easily handle. One sitting spent flipping through the 2000 page 32i control manual will leave you feeling left out to dry.. I truly wish for a control that allows my mind to go wild and allows me to do all sorts of "unconventional" things with the machines.

Food for thought

Cheers

[danrudolph]

I, too, ran for the A20 programming manual after I read ProProcess' reply.

If you were performing the same boring op on the front and back of the part, perhaps you could use G660? Seems like the control won't prohibit it from the manual, just sort of proceed at your own risk kinda thing.

A female to female luer fitting is one that pops into my head.