Tormach 1100MX Z fault on automatic tool offset

Mill
1

Hi All,

As some background and context of my machine: I recently bought my day job’s 1100MX that I had been using for the past 3 years to help the company out and get the machine in my own name. It hasn’t moved or anything as part of our deal so it wasn’t damaged in transit or anything like that. Recently, it began having a z-axis fault when using the automatic tool height offset feature. It will increment down slowly as usual, do the touch off then rocket up and slam to a stop short of the limit switch. I am able to jog up to the limit switch without any issues or stopping or anything else out of the ordinary. When this first started happening this past July, I would reset and it would work the next time around, but now it is happening no matter what I try.

So far I have:

  • Reset (estop, power down, unplugging) x more times than I can remember
  • Updating to the latest pathpilot version
  • Ensured no debris or loose connections to the limit switch
  • Banged my head on the cabinet
  • Changed the G30 location - I did notice the same behavior if I MDI’d the G30 command and figured the ETS went to G30 after tool height setting. After changing G30 it stopped doing that when I issued the G30 command, but it’s still faulting when using the ETS.
  • Moved the ETS to different locations around the bed to test

I’m just about out of ideas. I have a job for both my day job and for a client on my own and I’m urgent to get this going again, but also nervous to run a full program if there is something else going on.

Thanks for your help!

Ryan Norris

2

I’m not sure the exact operation of the G37 cycle so I don’t know if the machine goes to G30 or G28 after setting a tool length but since you know your G30 is ok, perhaps try adjusting your G28 position and see if that fixes it?

3

I will give that a go as well!

Last night after dusting off my manual height gauge, I couldn’t delay on my work so I got it setup, 40 minutes into the op it went up for a manual tool change (no ATC) and hit the same issue. This got me wondering if there was something wrong with the lubrication or gibbs. This morning, I lowered the head as low as I could to the table (without touching) and exposed the part of the gibbs at around where the fault keeps occuring and I don’t see any damage or gouging to the gibbs (granted I can’t see the whole of them) and they have a pretty “decent” coating of oil on them as well.

I also started experimenting with lowering the max velocity slider during the tool set / G37 operation. I found that if I lowered it to 42% or less the motor did not fault. Anything above that and when it gets close to the limit switch the motor brake kicks on with a thud and the system estops (or other way around). At least I appear to have a work around for now. Extremely not ideal, and I am worried about making things worse, but I have to get this job done.