Need Help!- Colchester Tornado A200

[Grimreaper831]

Hi all,need help with Colchester Tornado A200 fault. The x axis seems to "stick" if dwelling in position for a few secs ie turning shaft diameters, when x axis steps to next diameter it alarms out. 416 alarm and after reset a 420 alarm also comes on. So far checked jib adjustment, for foreign objects or scoring on slides. Removed fail safe brake in case it was jammed on ( it wasn't! ). Checked lube pump to see if slides were running dry, all seems ok. Called 600 group who said the x axis motor cable may be breaking down. Fault getting progressively worse from being able to run all day,6 hours, 3, now nothing! Even alarms out when referencing x in the morning! When switched off the lead screw can be turned by hand but sometimes a bit "jumpy" when moving down the slide. Thought this was due to failsafe brake being active with power off! Running out of ideas and excuses to customers! Final thing can anyone recommend a good engineer for this machine in Essex area? Thanks.

[600Service]

Good Morning,

I think my colleagues advise remains sound. The 416 alarm means that the signal from the X-axis motor encoder or linear scale (if fitted) are faulty. I would have thought that it is more likely that the cable has failed though it is possible that the encoder itself or the servo card are at fault.

If the axis is not running smoothly by hand it implies that perhaps the gib strip is incorrectly adjusted or there is some other mechanical problem.