Need Help

[mkovac]

I have a Warner/Swayze indexing turret lathe with a Mark Century 2000 control. The operator crashed the turret into the spindle. Now, when he tries to run a program, the spindle turns on but the x and z axes don't move. The machine powers-up and references fine and all axes work normally when jogged manually. Any ideas? Thanks.

[andyb4]

Not being familar with the machine or control, I would be apt to start looking at the turret to see if something has shifted and the control is not recognizing that the proper tool is in position or that the turret is clamped properly. Will the turret index to the proper tool using MDI? Does the cycle start indicator stay illuminated? signs of the turret being the problem.

[mkovac]

Thanks for your reply. Turret indexes fine and cycle start stays on. The operator found an error messege stating that the spindle did not come up to speed within the allotted time. I'm going to tear all the covers off of the spindle end of the machine and check the servo and tachometer couplings. If you have any other ideas let me know. Thanks again. Matt

[andyb4]

That is definately a good place to start. When troubleshooting things like this I would run the program in single block. This would give you an indication of where the machine is stopping and under what conditions. For instance if the spindle starts and apperantly comes up to speed but the cycle start light comes on, it is an indication that the M3 command has not finished. This does point to the spindle not reaching the programmed speed. Couplings, and brushes in the tach are sometimes a culprip. Although the tach brushes usually go along with a very rough sounding spindle. You could also check the voltage output of the tach. For instance you could use a 1200 rpm drill and attach it to the tach and measure the output voltage. It should be rated in volts per 1000 rpm. Good luck. let me know what you find

[mkovac]

After removing all the covers from the spindle-end of the machine, I found the belt which drives the tach lying in the bottom of the machine. just a standard timing belt. It's on order as I type. Thanks so much for your input. I'm going to like this site.
Matt