Partner 1 toolchanger

[martsto]

The toolchanger on my '95 Partner 1 is not coming in all the way when there is a tool in the spindle. I experimented with the Z axis tool change position, and was successful in improving it by about 50%, but it still doesn't come in all the way under it's own power. I can easily help it manually - it takes very little additional power. I have the valve on the manifold that feeds that cylinder all the way open, and my pressure to the machine is 105 psi. When there is no tool in the spindle the arm does come in all the way, but it's a little slow. Anybody have any suggestions?

[tsutt]

Make sure the wire connections are good, There's several prox swithes in there. Todd

[chipsinpan]

Remove the fibreglass cover on ther tool carousol so you can observe the air cylinder that swings the arm . Your air should be at 85 PSI. You may have an acccumulation of air tool oil in the cyl that prevents it from going the full stroke . There is a prox sensor on that cyl the sends a complete signal to the control to activate the tool chg macro .
The spring buttons that hold the tool in are causing the additional pressure that prevents a full swing also .
You may have to disconnect the air supply and then remove the air lines from the cyl , and manually swing the arm to make sure the cyl will run its full stroke .
There is also an adjustment on the outer end of the cyl so you can loosen the attaching yoke and screw it out to get a bit more swing of the arm . You will have to remove the pin on the arm end so you can screw it out . This was not quite enough in my case , so I wound up making a shim pack 1/4" thick to put under the fixed end , and that gave me the extra stroke I needed. Pretty serious stuff if the z retracts before the tool is snapped into the holder . I also had to increase the delay time between tool release and Z retract so it wont rip the tool out of the carousol .
Note that there are adjustable inline valves on the air lines to control the speed the arm swings . These are VERY sensitive , so be careful if you adjust them . I made the arm swing so fast , that the sudden stop made the tools fall out of the carousol .
Best of luck , I have 2 partner 1's about the same age , and they produce tons of work . BTW if yer CRT screen craps out on ya , don't ever try to fit a generic screen inside . Tried that , and fried 2 control boards at $1000 each , just go to tiger direct.com and get a 14" lcd screen and make a tin box to attach it to the outside of the control box.

[bborb]

Maybe a bad valve or crimped line. Can you swap air lines so that cylinder utilizes a different valve? (for diagnostic purposes)