Syil X3 initial experiences

[jerryw]

Hi
I am new to CNC milling and chose a Syil X3 conversion mainly based on cost.
From the day of the delivery I was on a steep learning curve and thought some of my findings may help others in the same position.
I was impressed with the machine when I unpacked it from the shipping crate but over to following days I spent a great deal of time tracking down various problems with it. They are listed here in no particular order along with the cause and solution.
The first thing that I had to do was go over the entire machine checking all the wiring as there were numerous loose wires.
The plastic conduits on the home switches did not stay close to the switches which not only looked untidy but allowed swarf to fill up the conduits.
I cured this by using a hot glue gun to glue the conduits to the rubber bush on the switch. This worked very well and looks much neater.
Excessive head motor temperature - The top spindle bearing has a spacer ring that was too thick causing a lot of friction and heat. Thinning this by a few thou really helped. I also fitted a small 12 fan into the lower metal guard cover. Temp is always now luke warm at worst.
The X and Y steppers got way too hot to touch - Rather than reducing the current I chose to fit finned heatsinks inside the metal covers and they now stay cool even on long jobs.
There was a lot of chatter and vibration even on light cuts and round holes weren't - This was caused by very loose dovetails (the lock nuts were all loose) there was around 3mm play at the end of the table. I disconnected the motor/leadscrews and cleaned out all the oil from the dovetails. I then carefully adjusted them so that they were slightly tight but smooth over the full travel. On reassembly and lubrication there was no appreciable play and cutting was much better and round holes are now round.
Head vibration - Loose Z dovetail - Adjusted this and cutting is now perfect. A good test is to lock unlock the head dovetail and watch for any movement on the dovetail.
Too much backlash in the A drive - I tightened the backring on the rotary table. This does not remove the backlash but if tight enough and you always drive the same direction then cutting is much more precise with less chatter.
Sudden loss of Z control - It thought it was at the Z home switch all the time. This was caused by the Z home switch cable having been crushed between the Pillar casting and the rear cover. Replacing the cable and re-routing cured this.
I use Mach 3 and Bobcad to process drawings from Turbocad
After initial problems installing the drivers for mach 3 where the mill would not respond this all works very well. I did have to spend a lot of time setting up the Mach 3 profile to match the X3 as the one supplied did not work.
Let me know if you want a copy.
I also redesigned a couple of Mach 3 screens to allow me to use a touch probe for head/stock alignment. For example I added buttons to zero to left of stock, zero to x centre etc
This really speeds setting up jobs.
I also added a socket for the probe to the side of the mill housing. Let me know if you want wiring details.
There were many other small issues but I am assuming that these are just part of owning a cnc mill. The more time I spent putting the machine right the more I learnt about it and the easier it was to use so maybe having to deal with such problems has benifits.
Reading these forums provided many solutions to the problems that I was having so thankyou to all those that have contributed and saved me a great deal of grief.

[iGG1e]

I think we've travelled a similar road when it comes to getting these mills up and running. I've not tried my A axis in anger yet, so I'll have a look at what you've mentioned as the first thing to do.

I'd be interested in seeing your Mach profile. Mine seems to be running okay, but it'd be nice to compare the settings.

[jerryw]

Its nice to know that I am not the only one.
I have attached a copy of the profile that I use
This drives the a axis anticlockwise (+ve) viewed from the chuck.
I have assigned the A axis home switch as the probe input as it is not used by the rotary table.

[Gregory B]

Is it possible to see some pic's of the cooling fins you put on the stepper motors.
thanks greg.

[jerryw]

Hi Greg
I have attached some images of the stepper heatsinks
They are just off the shelf heatsinks. I chose the largest that would fit into the covers and made simple U clips to hold them in place (plenty of heatsink compound of course).
I had to shorten the inside part of the conduit bush on the Y axis.
Also included are a couple of photos of another worthwhile modification.
I ran the Y axis home switch conduit through the body of the mill.
It kept getting in the way behind the table.

Jerry

[Crevice Reamer]

Good work! Thanks for sharing.

CR.

[Gregory B]

Hi Jerry,
Thanks for the pic's, I am going to do the same to my stepper motors.
Greg

[djnbig]

I think a dedicated b1tch forum for UK Syil customers would be a mighty popular place.

Not speaking for ALL UK customers, or even any for that matter.

djn

[iGG1e]

Hey what can I say. We get very little value for the money we pay for anything over here, so it's quite a disappoint when the 'out of the box experience' isn't a particularly good one.

This isn't going to be dragged of sideways into a 'well move somewhere else' arguement either. Anyway, I'd say it was pretty much global b1tching from what I've seen.

[neilw20]

On the drivers there is a 4 pole DIP switch.
Switches 2,3 and 4 set the microstepping.
Switch 1 OFF 50% gives current reduction after an axis is stopped for 0.3 seconds.
As I see it, and have experienced, the switch is ON disabling the current reduction made as delivered, as the last thing done at the factory is to set the current limit for an axis. The switch should be OFF for current reduction.
This made my steppers nice and cool, and it leaves a much larger safety margin for the power supply.

The same applies to X4+ CNC. It had S1 ON also. OFF is cooler.

Ref: page 5 of the Syil Super Driver stepper manual.

[wurth51]

Thanks Neil for pointing this out. I made similar changes and noticed a significant reduction in overall heat generation of the motors.

Roy (newbie to CNC)