Need Help!- VMC40 CS Error

[rdoty]

(VMC40 - 88HS) Haven't used much so yesterday I decided to dive in. I've got a new vise so one of the things I did was indicate it in to set X & Y at 0,0. I went through the SETX and SETY but didn't touch Z. Everything seemed okay until I turned it on today. I did a CS and then decided to open the ATC. When it opened the head came down before the ATC was positioned (no problem because there wasn't a toolholder in that position). Now it won't CS. I get Error #1 for X & Y and Error #18 for Z (my manual only goes up to #15). I can get the display to show X, Y, Z locations as follows X=.0567, Y=.0036 Z=.0181 to .0155. It's obvious the Z axis isn't home (it's about 5 inches above). Whenever I try to jog down it faults and stops.
Also, what's the "C" mean to the right of the Z axis display?

[Neal]

The "C" represents the spindle. The spindle is really a rotary axis (C) when a tapping function is used.
To straighten out your your cold start issue follow this procedure:
1. Enter SETCS (no movement takes place)
2. Enter HO (That's H and the letter O not zero)
3. Machine should go into WAITING
4. Press Auto or Start
5. Machine moves to cold start position.
6. Verify that the axis indicators are lined up.
7. Enter SETH
8. All axes should now be at a HOME position with all axes indicators line up.
9. Setup machine and make some money

Neal

[DareBee]

Spindle move may have been due to improper CS procedure. When you say you did a CS do you mean at CS position or at your setX setY position?
IMO CS should never be done anywhere but at MCS home. Your machine is programed that it has half of full travel each way from CS. You can do serious damage to the machine (especially if overloads are set high).
I suggest you use fixture offsets instead of SetX SetY in your MCS.
This was discussed within the last few months here.

[rdoty]

Obviously I screwed something up!
When I powered up this morning I went through the SETCS, HO process and was able to jog all three axis' to their home position (they were all off by about 2.7 inches). Then I did CS and thought everything was okay.
When I did a TC,1 the ATC came in but the head did not go up first and if there had been a tool in that position there would have been a crash. I then retracted the ATC and when I tried to JOG the head back to position I got the error which prevented jog. I turned power off, back on and then did the SETCS, HO and was able to jog back to home for Z axis (it was off 2.75 inches)
What did I do wrong and what do I need to do to correct it?

[David Ferguson]

When you enter SETCS then HO, the machine will travel to where it thinks the Cold Start Position is. If this is NOT lined up with the marks, then you need to jog to the marks, then run the Cold Start Procedure (which I think is just using the command "CS" when lined up).

[rdoty]

I don't know if it's me or the machine but I'm really confused.
I keep getting an E-stop after I do a TC,1. When I first start up (CS) I double check all the axis positions and they're where they should be. There was no tool in position 1 so I loaded a tool into the spindle. When I hit TC,1 the ATC came out and the tool was loaded into position 1 and the head then raised up. At that point I get an e-stop message...the head is at 2.7697. If I jog the head back to zero which clears the e-stop condition the spindle thinks there is a tool in it and if I hit TC,1 I get a crash.
Also, there's a message line that says Probe: Touching....what's that mean?

[Neal]

First, ignore the PROBE TOUCHING. It means nothing unless you have aprobe installed on your machine. As for the rest it seems like you have either a sensor (orientation) or physical position is the issue.

Neal

[alex gitzel]

Check that the parameter for screw pitch is correct,verify it with the list inside the pendant (monitor)door .the command is SETP to get to the parameters screen and page through with the spacebar.also check that the atc fault switch is not tripped during an atc cycle.command DI,enter,DS,enter to call up the switch screen,the numbers will carry over to the other screens untill you do DI,DS again then enter x to clear.the oreintation switch is also listed.

[rdoty]

Thanks Neal & Alex
I checked and the screw pitch was set on inch instead of 8/10 (whatever that means). Anyway, travels appear to be correct now. Maybe I can get some work done now.

[alex gitzel]

if that one was set wrong you should go throung all of them,I think maybe the machine was powered down a while and the files were lost when the battery died,also you should redo the backlash settings,the procedure is in the manual,if you dont have one it can be downloaded from fadal.com