Denford Software & Machines

Hi folks,
I copied down the program that I was trying to run. I tried puting a feed in at N0070 aswell but that didn't work either so here is the original program.
The program is more than likely riddled with mistakes but it can get to the final block when I have it in mm/min mode but I can't thread then.
All help greatly appreciated.

N0010 [BILLET X25 Z45
N0020 G21
N0030 G99
N0040 M06 T0505
N0050 G97 S1500 M03
N0060 G00 X27 Z2
N0070 Z-0.5
N0080 G01 X-1 Z-0.5 F150
N0090 G28 U0 W0
N0100 M06 T0101
N0110 G00 X24 Z0
N0120 G01 Z-36.5 F150
N0130 X26
N0140 G00 Z0
N0150 G71 U0.7 R.25
N0160 G71 P0170 Q0310 U0.1 W.1 F150
N0170 G00 X14
N0180 G01 Z-0.5 F150
N0190 G03 X18 Z-2.5 R2 F150
N0200 G01 Z-25.5 F150
N0210 G02 X18.1468 Z-26.5 R629.0736 F150
N0220 G02 X18.3234 Z-27.5 R81.3610 F150
N0230 G02 X18.5422 Z-28.5 R27.9087 F150
N0240 G02 X18.8450 Z-29.5 R15.6732 F150
N0250 G02 X19.2626 Z-30.5 R16.9614 F150
N0260 G02 X19.8470 Z-31.5 R11.0374 F150
N0270 G02 X20.6918 Z-32.5 R8.4789 F150
N0280 G02 X22.0124 Z-33.5 R4.8473 F150
N0290 G02 X24 Z-34.5 R6.9732 F150
N0300 G01 X25 F150
N0310 G00 Z0
N0311 G28 U0 W0
N0312 M06 T0505
N0313 G00 X24 Z0
N0320 G70 P0170 Q0310
N0330 G28 U0 W0
N0340 M06 T0303
N0350 G00 X19 Z0
N0360 G00 Z-20.5
N0370 G01 X15.402 F150
N0380 G00 X19
N0390 G00 Z-18
N0400 G01 X15.402 F150
N0410 G00 X19
N0420 G00 Z-15.5
N0430 G01 X15.402 F150
N0440 G00 X19
N0450 G28 U0 W0
N0460 M06 T0202
N0470 G00 X0 Z0
N0480 G81 Z-3.5 F150
N0490 G28 U0 W0
N0500 M06 T0606
N0510 G00 X0 Z0
N0520 G81 Z-23.5 F150
N0530 G28 U0 W0
N0540 M06 T0404
N0550 G00 X0 Z0
N0560 G81 Z-18.5 F150
N0570 G28 U0 W0
N0580 M06 T0808
N0590 G00 X11 Z0
N0600 G01 Z-6.5 F150
N0610 X9.5
N0620 G00 Z0
N0630 G00 X12
N0640 G01 Z-6.5 F150
N0650 X9.5
N0660 Z0
N0670 G28 U0 W0

N0680 M05
N0690 M00
N0700 M03

N0710 [BILLET X25 Z45
N0720 G21
N0730 G99
N0740 M06 T0505
N0750 G97 S1500 M03
N0760 G00 X27 Z2
N0770 Z-0.5
N0780 G01 X-1 F150
N0790 G28 U0 W0
N0800 M06 T0101
N0810 G00 X24 Z0
N0820 G01 Z-36 F150
N0830 X26
N0840 G00 Z0
N0850 G71 U0.7 R.25
N0860 G71 P0870 Q0940 U0.1 W.1 F150
N0870 G00 X7.99
N0880 G01 Z-10.5 F150
N0890 X13.99
N0900 X19.5 Z-14.5
N0910 Z-23.5
N0920 X21.402
N0930 X25 Z-25.2990
N0940 G00 Z0
N0941 G28 U0 W0
N0942 M06 T0505
N0950 G70 P0870 Q0940
N0960 G28 U0 W0
N0970 M06 T0707
N0980 G00 X21 Z0
N0990 Z-20.5
N1000 G01 X18 F150
N1010 G00 X21
N1020 G28 U0 W0
N1030 M06 T0303
N1040 G00 X24.25 Z-18.5
N1050 G76 P034560 Q150 R0.05
N1060 G76 X21.402 Z-35 P1299 Q300 F150
N1070 G00 X25
N1080 G28 U0 W0
N1090 M30

At first glance, I think you need to change your F150's to something like F1 - because the feed is now per rev of the spindle you will have a massive axis feedrate.

Running at 1500RPM, F150 will give you 225000 mm/min - a bit more than our machines can cope with . There should be an error message though - I'll look into it !

A feed of 0.1 0r 0.2mm / Rev would be more suitable!

Sorry I had the feed at F1.5 but I changed everything when I tried the program with mm/min and forgot to change back.
Anyway, still no joy. I've loaded V1.16 but my program still won't run.
aaarrrgggg!!

Whats going wrong now ? - is it stopping on the first feed/rev move again ?

I've managed to simulate something although it looks a bit strange - not knowing your tool setup - but it is doing something right to the end - past the M00 where you have to press start again.

Yeah, same problem, it just freezes on the line with the G01. The spindle keeps spinning but no feed and no error message. It works fine on the simulator which led me to believe that it is a problem with the work envelope so I shortened all the tool lenghts, no change. Then I tried moving just two mm in case it had issues moving to X-1 but that didn't work either so I'm back to my original thinking that it's a program issue.

I'll see if I can reproduce the problem here on a machine tomorrow

Did you have any luck with that. Have you ever seen programs freeze without giving up errors. I'm just wondering if there is anything else I can try.
Rgds,
Tim.

I have run your program (as posted above with no changed) on my test rig (where I have to spin the spindle encoder by hand )

It pauses around line 80 until I start spinning the encoder, then it carries on through the program fine.



Where I have highlighted in red, you should get the actual spindle speed reading from the encoder - click the button shown to change the type of readout.

Do you have NovaTurnNS as the machine you connect to ? This means you have the motion control card with a green seven segment display.
If it is, it could possibly be a problem with older firmware as I'm running the latest - you could try using the firmware updating software from here:
https://www.denfordata.com/downloads/Eas ... 1_0_CD.zip
(ONLY if its a NovaTurnNS)

All the best

Yes, I have that problem that the readout doesn't show a machine speed. What would be my best way to test the encoder. Can I get at it by taking the cover off the motor/ chuck spindle assembly. It's not an NS so I assume the upgrade wouldn't help.
Any comments as ever are welcome.
Tim.

Have a quick look in the machine parameters under the [SPINDLE] section at:
Encoder Fitted=TRUE (ticked)

You can also look at the parameters file in:
C:\Program Files\Denford\VRTurning\Config\NovaTurn.ini

Check the spindle params look OK before doing any dismantling.

Its also possible that a mint file from the wrong machine has been downloaded to the DenStep control card - this would then not have the logic in to read the spindle speed.

Has the spindle readout worked in the past ?

It's ticked and it reads 4000. The machines were bought about ten years ago but never used as the MechEng program was axed. It's only this year that a masters was reintroduced so this is the first year I've tooled it run and attemped programs on it.

Have you dowloaded the latest version of VR Turning ? - sorry if I've already asked that.
https://www.denfordata.com/downloads/vrturningv1_16.zip

Once you have the latest software, you should also download the latest Mint file to the control:

Firstly - make sure any other Denford software is closed and disconnected from the machine
Then run the file: MintMan.EXE which is located in the VR turning installation directory (C:\Program Files\Denford\VRTurning)
Go to menu Setup -> Comm Port
Set the parameters to:
COM 1 (whichever machine is plugged into)
Baud: 19200
Parity: None
Data bits: 8
Stop bits: 2
Handshaking: none
Press OK
Press Upload Version button
If it connects to control OK and finds the mint version, you can now download the .mnt file for your machine
Click Download Mint
Should be: C:\Program Files\Denford\VRTurning\NovaTurn.mnt

I changed the encoder setting to 2000 from 4000 as it says PPR2000 on the encoder itself but no change. The encoder is ticked. THe only box not ticked is the one that says Manual.

Yes, I downloaded the new .mnt file with all the suggested settings but no change. The only other thing I've noticed is that when in manual it won't leave you change the percentage speeds and feeds either.

If you have override pots on the front of the machine then the software override pots are disabled, but will change to reflect the position of the real pots.

The encoder input counts on both rising and falling edges - giving a count of 4000 per rev.

As all sounds OK I think you need to look at your encoder and wiring.
From memory I think there will be +5V and GND to power the encoder and the pulse count itself A - possibly B as well - only one will be used and its connected at the bottom left side of the control board. You could locate this and scope the pulse signal - if you don't have a scope a voltmeter may show the signal flicking between 0v and 5v DC when you rotate the spindle.

If you can't get sorted after this I recommend you contact Denfords for a service visit to get you up and running again - our service engineers would also be able to advise on programming, operating and maintaning the machine and software .

Cheers,
We'll scope it in the morning and see if we have a signal coming from it and take it from there.

See this PDF for encoder connection details on the NovaTurn:

https://www.denfordata.com/projectimages/nvt_d6f.pdf (60Kb)

Probed the pulse with the scope but no signal. Ground and 5v are fine. Removed cap off of encoder. Continuity between gnd, 5v,reset(yellow) and pulse (white at enc/ blue at cnrt) is all good. Pulse just seems to emit noise at 13.6mV and no change when encoder turned.
Can the encoder be repaired/ how much is a replacement?
Thanks for the help.
Tim.

Any idea why a program wouldn't leave me into the m/c parameters to change something. I've put in the password (denny) which has never been changed and worked fine last week, for some reason it is now saying that the file is read only. I can't understand it.
Rgds,
Tim.