Bandit - no servo movement

[Chris64]

I finally connected my Wells Index with Bandit Controller.

Everything seems to be starting like it should. BTW, the american rotary 7.5hp phase converter is really quiet...I'm impressed.

The controller starts up...and all the keys appear to be funtional. The factory spindle and coolant buttons work good. The Problem: Servo's don't budge! When I press the arrow keys, the screen lights up the appropriate direction arrow - but no movement.

I have seen this system work before (before the forklift/truck/forklift ride).

Any thoughts on debugging this one? I was going to try to re-seat all the boards.

I am glad to see the screen is functional as it swung open on the drive over and yanked one of the ribbon cables off the board...it's not fun to have to repair a fragile machine weeks before you can test it. On this machine the controller is just a keyboard (cards are in a box on the back) so I have no reason to think this is related to the servo problem.

I'll try to put up some pics.

[Chris64]

OK...I figured it out. I checked all the connections and re-seated all the cards. This didn't help.

Then I found this cryptic button located inconspicuously in the middle called "enable axis"...and what do you know...it works. The table is alive...woo-hoo!

I think the Z-axis hits it's limit switch a little too early. It looks like it should travel about 7 inches and it stops at about 5. I'm not sure if this is something I can toy around with or not.

Oh yea...the Z-axis servo makes a high pitch sound. It's not terrible, but it is a little annoying. I've read that this can be adjusted out by tuning the PID settings (I think that's what their called). Anyone done this?

[Chris64]

I setup a couple of my first programs...using a sharpie and paper. It seems to do nice lines and arcs. I can't believe I'm so excited over something so simple. I'm having so much success that I don't want to jinx it by trying to connect the serial port just yet.

I do have a couple more questions though:
1) It seems to be stuck in metric. The switch on the front IS connected (haven't confirmed if it works) but no matter what position it's in - it's metric. I read about G-codes that can do this switch on the fly...anyone done this?
2) The Z-Squeel gets really annoying after standing in front of it for an hour. Any tips on this?

[Chris64]

Well...I'm still figuring some things out. I did figure out the metric switch problem (appears to be the switch itself). And my idea of using g-codes was unsuccessful. They will only tell the program to test if it is in metric/standard...not actually change anything.

Now my problem is resolution. I have to enter 10.0 to go 1 inch as opposed to 1.0 (like the manual says). I haven't found anything regarding this in the Bandit manual but I seem to recall something like this in the ShadowCNC manual.

I'm still stuck on the Z axis squeeling. I can't find anything regarding setting the PID's for the bandit anywhere. So really, any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

I'm going to probably try to connect to the serial connector tonight. Any advice?

Thanks