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More Orac X axis problems

Posted: Tue 28 Nov , 2006 16:52 pm
by steveb
Hi there, can anyone help.
I have an Orac lathe and the X axis has just stopped working. I can hear the servos fire up when I release the emergency stop button. Both motors are holding their positions, the Z axis jogs fine but the X axis servo will switch off and de-energise the motor as soon as I touch either of the X axis jog buttons. It also fails in Program mode.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated

Posted: Wed 29 Nov , 2006 9:10 am
by Triac whizz
Rip it open and swop the stepper drives over if its the drive, the other axis will now have the fault.

probably your typo, but they're not servos on the orac (unless mr denford made a special one) they're stepper motors, quite different :)

Posted: Wed 29 Nov , 2006 9:43 am
by Denford Admin
Also - if you've got the innards exposed, then you can get it to fail and watch what happens - any LEDS come on or flash ?

Sounds like it will be an overcurrent (dodgy motor wiring / motor winding failure ?) shutting the drive down as soon as you try to move it

Posted: Thu 30 Nov , 2006 10:09 am
by steveb
Triac whizz wrote:
probably your typo, but they're not servos on the orac (unless mr denford made a special one) they're stepper motors, quite different :)
Oops thought they were servo motors, I'm a bit of a bonehead when it comes to the workings of these machines.

Anyway thanks for the replies.

Regarding the X axis I can see that both green LEDs on the cards are illuminated when the Stop Button is released, when either of the X axis jog buttons are depressed the Green LED on the X axis card goes out and the Red LED immediatley below it illumunates.

Just about to swop the cards over.

Posted: Thu 30 Nov , 2006 13:12 pm
by steveb
OK I have just swapped the cards over and the X axis now works fine and problem is now with the Z axis with the same Red LED illuminating.
Could this be a problem with the drive card?

Posted: Thu 30 Nov , 2006 13:18 pm
by davidimurray
Have you looked at the manual in the downloads section - there should be one in there for the CD20 which gives some information on the LEDs and what they mean.

Cheers

Dave

Posted: Thu 30 Nov , 2006 13:34 pm
by steveb
davidimurray wrote:Have you looked at the manual in the downloads section - there should be one in there for the CD20 which gives some information on the LEDs and what they mean.

Cheers

Dave
Hi Dave

Yes according to the 'troubleshooting' guide the first red LED suggests an 'Overload' - short circuit in the motor. However I have swapped the cards over and the motor works fine. So could the card be at fault?

Steve

Posted: Thu 30 Nov , 2006 14:14 pm
by Steve
Sounds like you have a fault in the output stage of the drive.

You can either look to get the drive repaired or try and find someone with one for sale.

Posted: Fri 01 Dec , 2006 18:24 pm
by steveb
OK problem resolved with another drive card.

Thanks for the replies