Upgrade/repairs

[v2tiller]

Looking good erick.
You sure know how to make it neat and tidy.
Puts my enclosure to shame.
Been meaning to ask you if you could help me wire my delta vfd to my bob for spindle on/off control. My bob has a relay output for control but not sure which connections on the vfd to use?

[ericks]

Thanks....no problem, i just need the Delta vfd model, bob details and control system details

[ropewrench]

Wow nice work
I always visualize my work to look like yours.
I start with a Monet mind and end up with a Picasso finish.

I love the machine
I am starting a 4x4 to replace my 2x2

Looking forward to seeing how its going to run with the new hardware
i have tons of questions

[ericks]

Thank you. The owner of the machine has a couple of roland engravers. He used this machine to carve amazing guitars but had too many hassles. Now he's ruining his small machines to do the work. Hope to have it working a bit better soon. Please feel free to ask anything. I will assist if i am able to

[ericks]

Wow nice work
I always visualize my work to look like yours.
I start with a Monet mind and end up with a Picasso finish.

I love the machine
I am starting a 4x4 to replace my 2x2

Looking forward to seeing how its going to run with the new hardware
i have tons of questions

This steel frame idea is interesting. I will be giving it a very close look....i quoted way too low to really do too many upgrades but i hope to get it working properly. He is supposed to help me, said he would machine any parts required. If anyone is interested i can post the vfd setting here once i am finished. This drive is very easy to set up

[cncmakers001]

Completed the wiring...Will be testing soon, then a bit of tidying up and changing a couple of circuit breakers

One thing i found was that although the Gecko is a nice and compact unit, wiring layout to it was a pain. So it's unlikely that i will use it in the future. I like the fact that if i have separate drives and bob i can change individual units if there are failures plus it's easier to do separation between control and main power. I am a little worried about electrical noise

Nice work.

[ericks]

Thank you

[ericks]

Testing started. Everything is working like expected, i just had to sort the pwm freq setting on mach3 so that i got a stable freq ref from the Gecko to the VFD drive. Also a bit of tweaking on the drive settings so i get close to the set speeds in Mach3. All working well. Ran a long program with the spindle at max rpm to see if i had any missed steps due to noise...happy to report zero issues at this stage

[ropewrench]

Sounds like progress
doing it right is always more work

I bet you are thinking about tramming and squaring too

I am planning to use 3by3 square tube frame
and using the gecko 540 with unipolars

i noticed bipolar and i guess i don't know the advantages of ether,
are those the original or did you upgrade the motors too
what size is on the "Z"?

how does the X feel with the aluminum plate?
It looks good but wondering how it handles the load?

again beautiful work

[ericks]

Sounds like progress
doing it right is always more work

I bet you are thinking about tramming and squaring too

I am planning to use 3by3 square tube frame
and using the gecko 540 with unipolars

i noticed bipolar and i guess i don't know the advantages of ether,
are those the original or did you upgrade the motors too
what size is on the "Z"?

how does the X feel with the aluminum plate?
It looks good but wondering how it handles the load?

again beautiful work

Yes lots of work now but should save him lots of hassles later

Squaring and lots of other fixes for sure

That sounds like a good size, must admit i have no experience with steel frame machines, however my 6040 did have a bit of steel in its frame....exciting to be able to see how well it works for this size machine
Gecko seems to work well on his machine, he never had any issues...but sounds like electrical noise caused him some hassles.

I will post all the specs as i document the repairs, not sure of the motors he has. The ones i used for testing the new panel is my own motors.

He has a steel tube for the x axis, bolted to the alu....seems to be rigid, will have to see when i start working on it

Thanks

[ericks]

So i only had a little bit of time to work on the machine....managed to strip the x and z axis down. No grease nipples on any of the ball nuts, i will be doing a lot of cleaning and lubricating. Found loose locks nuts on all the ball screw support bearings on all axis. Also loose and missing bolts all over the frame. The z-axis did not move smoothly, obviously had a misalignment. With the way they made the machine my only option will be to do a lot of shimming to get it lined up properly.

[ericks]

Progress....

[ericks]

Wow.....the cable/electrical is shocking. He used screened low voltage cable that i would guess is around 0.25 mm sq. on the 2.2Kw spindle motor. He used the yellow core for earth in the plug, which anyway got dislodged but the fourth pin was not wired in the motor. I also found one of the motor couplings was rubbing on the motor cause it was pushed in to far. At least the spindle plug is not a microphone plug, although the spindle motor bearings are noisy. The new owner was milling steel on the machine.....so i kind of expected problems with the spindle motor bearings.

[ericks]

Won't be changing bearings on the motor but the motor still good for testing so i added an earth connection and opened up the water port....

[ericks]

Not much progress atm. Waiting for a payment before i order parts. Messed around with the 2.2Kw /24000 water cooled spindle motor today, would i buy one of these?? most likely not

[Sterob]

Well, your certainly having fun Erick....lol
Its nice to see your methodical approach so you catch all the errors alon the way.
It makes commissioning alot easier in the long run.
Steve

[ericks]

Well, your certainly having fun Erick....lol
Its nice to see your methodical approach so you catch all the errors alon the way.
It makes commissioning alot easier in the long run.
Steve

Must admit i am, but won't be doing this sort of thing again, too much work for the $$.

[ropewrench]

Hope the owner comes through

I started downsizing my plans 4x4 eats up to much space
i really don't need it that big and if i do i will go see my buddy down the road

best of luck
Kelly

[ericks]

Hope the owner comes through

I started downsizing my plans 4x4 eats up to much space
i really don't need it that big and if i do i will go see my buddy down the road

best of luck
Kelly

What size are you looking at now?



Nothing from the owner so far!

Meantime i am working on a better version of a G540 controller box

[ropewrench]

Hope the owner comes through

I started downsizing my plans 4x4 eats up to much space
i really don't need it that big and if i do i will go see my buddy down the road

best of luck
Kelly

3 by 3 or rails and screws that fall within range
the one foot gives me working room
i need a bigger shop or less stuff " Hobbies, Projects, Repairs some might call them "get to them later stuff""
I am leaning toward the G540
I just received an ESS Ethernet to connect to my Hobbycnc chopper board so I can run Windows 10
My lpt port is out on my xp box and its slow and old
I am planning to run the G540 with it when I upgrade.
with new motors, power and spindle.

Your work has been inspiring