Need Help!- Akira Seiki with OT fanuc, how to home it ??

[scadvice]

Well… I finally got my 96 machine wired up and in its new home, no manuals this weekend. Everything functions well.... we can jog ect....and no alarms. BUT... I'm not Fanuc or more to the point Akira Seiki controls knowledgeable...!
Lots of other machines and controllers, but I cannot figure out how to home this machine!! I was told even the new ones home the same. Anyone out there...if you can tell how, to home it I would really appreciate it. I never would have thought this would be a show stopper!
Steve

[bschris]

I am presuming this is a lathe because it has an OT control not a machining center which would have an OM?? To home it you should be able to jog it a minimum of 1 inch in X axis toward spindle centerline ( -X) and in Z axis toward the spindle (+ Z).When you jog it do not interrupt the movement by releasing the jog button before reaching the 1 inch minimum. Press the + X button and turret should retract away from you until it stops at X home .When it does press the + Z button and turret should move to its Z home. I hope this helps......it may or may not get you there. 2 of the 4 lathes I program and set up have Fanuc OT controls.

[scadvice]

All,
Again, thanks for the pointers. So far we have not been able to home the lathe and will be going back to it this Saturday with the info you give us. Here are some pic’s of the control and keys. It’s a 96 Akira Seiki.

Steve

[gwarble]

since you have to wait a week to see it, another thing you may need to try if you can't get the reference key or an axis key to work...

in mdi mode:
G91 G28 X0. Z0. (watch for clearance)

after moving away from the reference point as someone stated... without being reference, the machine's cycle start button will likely not work, but you can start MDI commands with the "output start" button on the soft keyboard instead of the MTB operator panel's "cycle start".

this ability is parameter controlled via (check your book):
0001.2 DCS
1 :Pushing the START button on the MDI panel directly actuate the
CNC start without going through the machine side (MDI mode only)
0 :Pushing the START button on the MDI panel issues the signal to the
machine side. The CNC start is actuated when the CNC receives the
start signal from machine side.


also check your interlocks, and some lathes seem to need a tool turret index command before activating the PMC/allowing cycle start

- gwarble

[scadvice]

All...thanks for the advice...we got it.
1) Press jog button.
2) Press and hold X down(minus) button until turret moves off home for about and inch or so.
3) Press and hold Z out(plus) button until its moved about an inch or so.
4) Press button with the crossed zero symbol and it moves on it's own from there (in the last picture I posted, first button, third row from the bottom)

The machine runs like it was new. The hour meter says 3100 hrs total on time.

It's been sitting in storage for about 3 1/2 years. A couple of months ago we noticed powder coming from the battery back pack. It was all corroded but still outputting voltage.... barely. Ran down to Radio Shack got two new battery packs wired one direct up to the output lines, carefully removed the old corroded one and replace it, then removed the temp one, worked out fine and no parameters lost!
Steve