FADAL opperation question

[Phil S]

Does anyone know how to restart a program from the middle of a program without the control processing the program from the begining? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks P.

[toolrm]

Hi, I just figured that out on a Hurco 4020 milling center. Rather easy on that machine.
On the control screen it allows you to restart where-ever you like by scrolling to the first function you would like to perform and setting the start location. I'll look into the Fadal manual (we Have 2) and see what I can find. Later

[Mike Stevenson]

Phil,

Hit Manual until you see: ENTER NEXT COMMAND. Then type "AU,(line number you want to start on)" like this: AU,20 (if thats the line # you want) then ENTER. Next press AUTO a couple more times and the machine will start on that line number.

[ltmquik]

You can start at any point in the program. Scroll to the line you want to execute and press AUTO. The menu should ask what you want to do i.e. start at current line or start at the beginning. You WANT the control to pick up all modals from the start, if not big crash. Also, it is a good idea to be sure that the current tool in the spindle is the one for the section of the program to be run. The machine (at least ours) will not execute a tool change.

[Mike Stevenson]

Yes I forgot about the tool change. Make sure to change to the tool that you want to do the mid-start with.

[Phil S]

Thanks for the reply, but I would like to start in the middle of the program without using the AU command. I have variables from probing at the beginning of the program and don't want to reset those.

[SBC Cycle]

Phil,

The AU command should accomplish this. The format is:

AU,Line Begin,Line End,Dry Run Option,Search Modals option

If you wanted to start at N200 without processing any line that came before it the command would be:

COMMAND MODE> AU,200,,,1

This is a somewhat dangerous mode of operation unless you are very careful in your program. If you need to use a fixture offset (E), it must come after the line you are starting on, otherwise the control will use the home coordinate system or sometimes the last E offset used. Ditto with the H and D offsets and as mentioned above, the control does not look to see what tool is in the spindle.

An alternative to this method is available allowing you to start at a particular line number, say N200, but still search for modal values from another line, say N25, to the line you wish to start at. This will skip earlier portions of the program you don't want the control to process. The command for that would be:

COMMAND MODE> AU,200,,,25

This method is only available in COMMAND mode. If you use the command prompting menus, type "6" in the FUNCTION menu to enter command mode.

I hope this makes sense. If not, I can post a code example to show you how it works. Good luck.

SBC

[carbidecraters]

Yep its pretty basic when you've used it a bunch of times. I write toolpaths on a laptop and feed 3 3016's. I then finish my programs on the control adding certain programming features. This is how I have found to be an effecient way of setting up. This process is not 100% accurate when I hit the start button or as I am setting a production program from a prototype and I need to slide hold a tool because it isnt behaving. I use the AU,246,286,1,1 option alot... I freelance most of my programming and have not cared to add safety blocks to every program (its a waste of time). The mid program starts and stops are a great feature and really save the fadal (Think fanuc )

[toolrm]

To All, The AU command, I assume, will only work when the program is uploaded into the machine memory. What if your'e using a separate PC that the machine is reading from ?
We use Prosend software with Mastercam because it is a much faster upload. Obviously this is not an issue with Mastercam because it is easy to re-post the NC files from where-ever you want.......But it's nice to know anyway. Thanks

[Bwana Don]

I put what I call safe starts at the beginning of each tool (before M06 tool change). It is similar (if not identical to the starting line code. ie G0G17G40G80G90M5M9.....

Scroll down to the tool you want to start at, hit auto. When asked if you want to start at this line or start at this line and search all modals, I can just start at this line. This way I don't run the risk of loading something (modals) I don't really want.

Be sure to put the fixture offset in a line somewhere after the tool change (I do this after every tool), just in case. Also go slow on feeds and rapids until it looks like everything is ok.

I don't know if this is what your looking for or even if it's the best way. It works for me when I need to start in the middle of a program and pick up at the BEGINNING of a tool.