Partner 1 Tool Change problem

[bocko912]

I just hooked up my Ptnr 1E and after the machine was homed I tried to do a tool change but machine acts like there is no tool changer. If I go to Utilities Tchange and hit CW or CCW tool changer will turn but I cannot get it to MDI a tool change Any thoughts?

[Brian FRF]

depending on what youve got for 3 phase, you may have it backwards on the phase. Did this with another machine.

[Brian FRF]

trt

[bocko912]

Does the phasing have to do something with the spindle orientation? It looks like it is lined up with the senser on the spindle. The machine acts like there is no tool changer at all it asks questions as it would if you did not have a Tchanger. Is there homing for the Tchanger or a parameter that needs to be turned on?

[Brian FRF]

Originally Posted by bocko912 Does the phasing have to do something with the spindle orientation? It looks like it is lined up with the senser on the spindle. The machine acts like there is no tool changer at all it asks questions as it would if you did not have a Tchanger. Is there homing for the Tchanger or a parameter that needs to be turned on?

the electrical supply, the 3 phase power coming in.

[chipsinpan]

This may sound too obvious , but don't forget that you need air to swing the arm , and rotate the carousol . The only things electrical are the proxomity switches that send a signal back to the control .
I have embarassed myself by running around , then calling for tech support , before I discovered I had popped off the air supply .
Sorry , I just re read your post , If you have rotation , you have air.
Did you do the tool changer HOME command ?

[bocko912]

Yes air is on. It will move CW and CCW but will not move in or out. In MDI I type in M6T2 and head will go to Tchange position but the arm will not rotate or move in to switch tools. You say that the tool changer needs to be homed what is that procedure?

[chipsinpan]

does the spindle orient to the tool change position ?
it should make a 1/2 revolution until the roller on the air cylinder engages a detent on the spin orient plate . Then a prox switch on the air cyl signals the arm to swing .
If you take off the fibreglass cover on the head , and look inside , you will see the air cyl assembly below the belts .
If any one has moved the head , it is possible to hav cut the wire to the prox switch . It is quite delicate , and easy to cut if you lift the head up before cutting the wire tie holding it away from belts .
Prox switch is expensive , but you can solder a cut wire back together /shrink wrap , if you have steady hands .
Home sequence on the tool drum is in the utility screen ( I think )
UTIL /TOOL/ HOME . this is the screen that has CCW, CW and HOME .
HOME will make the drum make 1 full revolution until it sees the home marker .

CW/CCW button will make the drum rotate 1 tool position . This is for when you want to load tools in the drum without doing an MDI.
Also very dangerous to do as it will cause the control to lose track of which tool is active . THIS IS HOW YOU CRASH TOOLS! always do a tool drum home after doing this .
This is also why the control keeps asking you to confirm which tool is in spindle at the start of a pgm , or when you set your Z offsets .
A quick way to check is to see if the main screen tells you which tool is active . If it says tool #0 then it is confused and is protecting itself until you home the drum .
Hope this helps
CHIP

[bocko912]

Chip
I looked up top in the belts and I only see a prox switch on a bracket that is lined up with a set screw on the spindle. I do not see an air cylinder at all. Also on the Tchange page I only see CW,CCW no home. When I MDI the Tchange home M code it accepts the code but machine does nothing. I am just wondering if the guy that had the machine before me installed parameters for a machine without a Tchanger. I did purchase knowing that the Tchanger did not work. The guy did not seem to know much about the machine so I thought that maybe it would be an easy fix. I forgot to mention that he did install a new Yaskawa VFD maybe there is a problem there.Is there something in the parameters that turns the Tchanger option on or off?

Thanks John

[chipsinpan]

John ,
I was gone today , but I will check tomorrow where the tool home is .
That is quite odd that the control will rotate the drum thru MDI if there is no way to orient the spindle . There is supposed to be a steel plate under the belts , and mounted to the spindle . It is a steel washer about 4" in dia X 3/8 thick . It has a half circle milled out in one place . This is where the roller mounted to the end of the air cyl pops out and locks the spindle . Then the prox sw reads that the air cyl is out all the way , and tells the control to continue the tl chg .
Do you have the books for the machine ?
look up the code for spindle orient ( I think its G19 )
MDI that and see what happens.
Inside the back door of the elect cabinet there should be a machine set up book and a copy of the machine parameters on a disc.
If they installed a new VFD box , there is a long list of codes that need to be set on the box itself . I cant help ya there .
I am more a nuts & bolts guy . If you need more help with missing parameters , then I hope some of the others jump in here to help out .
I just ran over to the shop to check : M19 is the command for spin orient
utilities/tl chgr should bring up CW- CCW- HOME if yours does not have the HOME , then perhaps someone disabled it .
Scavenged it for parts maybe ? I think you have a manual tool change partner , with a tool drum to store your tools in .
Earlier I said that you need air to rotate the drum . This is not true . The moter to rotate is electrical . Only the air cyl to swing the arm is air .
CHIP

[bocko912]

CHIP
I do have a manual that came with the machine. I am not at home currently so I am doing most of this from memory. I will be back Monday. You said there should be a air cylinder by the pulley's but I did not see any air lines coming out of the head.Only wires for the prox switch. I also need to check for a param's disk. The guy kinda messed up wiring in the cabinet trying to find a problem which turned out to be a bad 24 volt power supply. I will have to go through it and fix it up. Maybe I will find something disconnected. I did notice that he had the spindle brake disconnected. It must be bad I will have to check that also. I am sure that this is a fully functional Tchanger but I got the feeling that he messed around with stuff he should not have trying to get it to work. I have tried to operate the Tchanger with the M codes and machine will accept them but does nothing accept rotating the Tchanger. It just seems that the machine has the Tchanger turned off. Maybe he did that after he could not get it to work.

Thanks John

[chipsinpan]

OK , MDI a M19 and let us know what happens .
DO NOT put tools in the drum till you get this resolved .
If the head comes down before spindle orient , it may not engage the drive key .
IT COULD BREAK OFF THE TOOL DRUM MOUNTS.
No air lines to the head ? an air cyl is what releases tools from the spindle .
Disconnected the spin brake ? ( is this what you are mistaking for a brake ?)
Actually the VFD induces a reversing voltage to stop the spindle , there is no mechanical brake as such .
CHIP