Denford Software & Machines

Please help!! We are about to start cutting our cars for the F1 in Schools finals in Malaysia, and the router has let us down!!

We have a virtually brand new machine (see subject line). It have had it operating and cutting and it seemed to be working fine until today.

This is what happens when I try to home the machine:

The x and y axes move and have reached what (according to VRmilling) is the limit of their movement. This is not the full home movement as the microswitch on the x feed has is nowhere near the metal piece which should trip it.

The Z feed just keeps cycling continuously up to the top of its travel, down again to the bottom, up again and down again without stopping. It would continue to do this if I didn't disconnect from the milling machine. The co-ordinate where VRmilling thinks the machine head is located does not reflect the actual physical movement. It just keeps going up and up. I then get the message that the machine failed to home in 55 seconds and that I should attempt to do it manually.

This is what I have done so far to try and rectify the problem:

1. I have found the secret jog button and have attempted to home the machine using manual jog. The feeds will only go so far and the stop when the think they have reached the limit of their movement (according to VRmilling where the green arrow appears next to the co-ordinate in the window). These are clearly not the Physical limits of the machine's travel because there is so much more travel visible on the feed threads (and I have also seen the machine working properly and know what the travel limits should be.

2. I have cleaned and lubricated the threads and bedways for all the axes of movement. This had no effect

3. I have checked for obstructions of the above. Also no luck

4. I have checked (click test) and cleaned (with a vacuum cleaner) the microswitches which tell the transport that it has reached the limit of its travel. I checked they are properly connected too. Also no difference

5. I have restarted VRmilling

6. I have restarted the machine (with a 10min break after switching off)

7. I have restarted the computer

8. I have checked the switch which disables the machine if the door is opened is working

I have now run out of ideas and need help. It seems like the machine datum has somehow changed, although I thought that was impossible.
What's happening to the z axis is beyond my understanding.

Thanks, and looking for help urgently!!

Ian Flude

1. I have found the secret jog button and have attempted to home the machine using manual jog. The feeds will only go so far and the stop when the think they have reached the limit of their movement (according to VRmilling where the green arrow appears next to the co-ordinate in the window). These are clearly not the Physical limits of the machine's travel because there is so much more travel visible on the feed threads (and I have also seen the machine working properly and know what the travel limits should be.

You will never be able to get the full travel of the machine using the secret home button - this button in effect "homes" the axes wherever they happen to be at the time, so the maximum travels will be shifted away from where they should be - homing out properly is the only way to operate the machine.

Is there a problem with X and Y homing, or is it just Z ?
It sounds like there is a faulty switch or wire to the Z home, and you are having problems with X and Y because you're trying to use the secret home button.

Have you double checked that the correct machine type is selected in VR milling ?

Obviously, Denford will be able to arrange a service visit, but I understand you want to get things working quickly - I would concentrate on testing the Z home switch fully.
If you feel confident, then there is a way to examine the I/O to determine whether the home switch signal is reaching the control, although I don't really want to make it common knowledge on here..

Having spoken to Denford, I have now downloaded easy upgrader to do some tests. My software is completely up to date.

I have also conducted the card test function and get the following message:

'Device driver call failed'

What does this mean? Does it mean that it looked for a machine and couldn't find one?

It appears the card test never did anything. However, now when I run VRmilling, I get the following message when I try to connect to the router:

'External Exception E06D7363'

When I click OK. the software then seems to endlessly attempt to initialise the machine with no luck.

Eventually, if I click the button to disconnect from the machine, I get the following error message:

'Must use a setXXXLink function'

Can you please help me here? The problem seems to be worse now.

Thanks,

Ian

'Must use a setXXXLink function'

This message just means that the Machine (Lathe, Miller or Router) controller was not found. The message may not always appear as it depends on your PC comms settings and any other software that is using the comm port.

Check that COM port works, either USB or RS232, and the correct cables are plugged in and secure. If all looks OK, try turning the machine and PC off and on again

Check that the Baldor USB driver in Device Manager has not got a ? next to it, if it has reinstall the Baldor USB driver from the VR Milling Ver 5 CD

Could you try remove then re-install VR Milling ? I'm pretty sure this will fix this.
The current version from the website is 5.20
I suspect that the device drivers have got mixed up by installing a newer version of easyupgrader.

Can you confirm that VR Milling 5.20 is installed, and that the firmware reported by easyupgrader is:
Firmware: V 5331
FPGA: V 17
CPLD: V 4
COMMS: 3

(Tick the debug box in easyupgrader to bring up the detailed info window)

Customer getting message External Exception E06D7363 when using VRMilling and when NOT connected to machine. This rules out a problem with the USB connection.

Check that computer does not have DEEP FREEZE installed. If so, uninstall DEEP FREEZE. This should solve your problems.

Below is some information from the DEEP FREEZE site that may explain what is causing the problem.

"How do I exempt a folder or file from Deep Freeze so that my application can update and my users can save their data?

Deep Freeze does not differentiate between user data, application data, or a virus infecting the system. While this provides a very robust method of protecting the integrity of the computer, specific files and folders cannot be exempted from the actions of Deep Freeze. However, there are many methods to redirect applications and user data to a second volume, either physical or virtual, that can be marked as exempted from the actions of Deep Freeze."

Hopefully this will help others.

I had the same problem.
Make sure you uninstall Deep Freeze and your problems will
go away.