Thanks to Tormach’s excellent tech support, I’ve been able to manually unstick the x-axis og my 1100MX when I have jogged the table to the far right,
This involves manually turning the ball screw and then that clears up the error in Pathpilot so i can jog again. This is fine, but it is starting to occur more often on accident and I am looking for a better fix.
Is there a way to stop the x-axis from sticking and causing the machine to fail to jog? Should i be adjusting something? Is a part worn or is there some other easy fix?
I guess the first question is how are you able to jog the machine too far in X and what error are you getting? The MX machines don’t have limit switches so the travel limit is based on a software endpoint which shouldn’t be able to be exceeded.
Yes, this happens after operators jog to the far end before an x-axis reference is done, but since the e-stop button is sometimes used for safety purposes, an x-axis reference is not something that they can remember to do all the time.
Assuming I cannot force the operators to be “smarter” about when they jog the machine to the limits, is there a way to prevent this from happening, or is this impossible to prevent given how the machine works?
There is no way to stop them from jogging before the machine is referenced. It’s just something that has to be done. Generally people are tipped off that its not referenced because it jogs so much slower when unreferenced.
Somethings wrong. You shouldn’t be able to use the machine until it’s referenced. You can jog before referencing but it’s painfully slow. (Like 2inches per minute slow.)
Power on, reset, reference z, x, y, then jog. That should be the order even after estop.
Thanks everyone. What I’ve gathered from the responses is that there is no real way around the issue given the way the 1100mx is designed and the way it operates.
From a technical point of view, why is it that this issue doesn’t occur after a reference? Is it because the machine limits travel by counting pulses from the end of the limit switch?
Also, why does issue not occur on the y and z axes?
It’s hard stop referencing. There is a hard rubber bumper (if you look under the left side of the table you will see it.)
I am wondering if somehow through manually turning the ball screw and mashing the bumper, if your machines bumper referencing point has been moved past the physical travel limit. You could try putting another hard bushing in to trick the machine into referencing earlier on X. Also check the placement of the end stop switches. I know there has been a lot of people saying they don’t do anything but I remember mine was loose and it threw the limits off. The end stops get loose on my table every 6 months.
Once the machine homes, it establishes its machine zero position, which then brings the software limits into play. The soft stops/limits, if the machine is homed in the proper location, should stop machine travel at max advertised travel before hitting the opposing hard stop.
Why is doesn’t happen on the other axes, could be pure luck. I have seen it happen on both of these axes before, so it is indeed quite possible.
It all just comes down to routine, every time you start up the machine, reference all 3 axes.
Also, for what it is worth, the limit switches 100% do not make a difference on the MX configuration. You can fully remove them if you wanted. Makes no difference.