Serial Number
 

If possible, I'd like to wait for 111.
Thanks guys,

BillT

Build Notes and Technical Information
 

Technical information, this build.

Cutting Surface: 6’ x 12’ /w 8” Z (7-1/2’ x 14’ footprint)

Lower Frame: C3x4.1 weight ~ 325 lbs, welded tight

Upper Frame w/ cross bearers: C8x13.75 weight ~ 775 lbs, bolted

Frame Y axis: 4” x 2” x .125” and MM kit components weight ~ 180 lbs

Z axis: 3.375” x 22.5” x .25” steel plate, 1” x 3” x.375" x 21.5” rectangular steel tube, MM kit components, Porter Cable 7518 motor, K2CNC Porter Cable Motor Mount, BansBach Easylift Gas Strut 20 lb lift, similar to their HS-SH-005 model, Z axis weight ~ 20 lbs

Drive Motors: 4 each, NEMA 34 - 640oz motors, 4 Each CNCPartsKit reducers, CNC PartsKit claim the reducers are 4.8:1, but the numbers work out to 4.5:1

Drive Controller: Bob Campbell Designs, Sound Logic controller w/SmoothStepper. Bob provided the controller, motors and cabling. Bob provided the Z-Axis Touch-Off module and the MP2 Pendant

Frame Note:
The lower frame is welded. The upper frame with the C-channel and cross bearers is bolted.

V-Track, X and Y: The support rail for the V-track is 2.5” x .875” x .25” aluminum extrusion. One edge of stock angle extrusion (2.5” x 2.5” x .25”) was trimmed to a height of .875”. The cut pieces were used later in the build. The V-track is mounted by ¼"-20 button head screws on three inch centers. The V-Track and extrusion are bolted tight to the upper flange of the C-channel, and/or the upper face of the Y-axis rectangular tube. The rollers are standard call out per plan.

Y axis: The Y axis was constructed using the standard method described on the site. The recycled aluminum from the V-track cuts was used as a backer nut plate inside the rectangular tube. The remainder of the cutoff aluminum was used as a bed for the energy chain track. The Y axis was squared to the table using methods described on the website. Shims were placed between the Y-frame and the wheels to square the assembly.

Y car: The Y car was built per methods described on the website.

Rack and Pinion: The Rack and Pinion are standard callout per plan. The rack is mounted as described in the plan with VHB tape. Mated edges of the rack were ground precisely and butted together at assembly. No welding of the rack pieces was required. The VHB tape is sufficient to hold the mated rack tightly together.

Controller: The controller was provided by Bob Campbell of Bob Campbell Designs. Bob built and tested per spec, the matched components before delivery.

Smooth Stepper: The USB Smooth Stepper was added to improve movement control. It works well, but the Ethernet Smooth Stepper is a better choice. The USB version is greatly affected by electronic noise.

Z-slide: The Z-slide was made from steel plate and rectangular tube found in the shop. The build had to be altered from the plans to accommodate the use of these materials.

Shims: Shims used for alignment were found at Harbor Freight. Much thanks to John Higgins for the shims. Other precise shims are simple cuts pieces from automotive feeler gauges.

I will add more photos soon.

BT

Congratz!
Now the real journey begins :)

Cheers
Tim

Pulling this thread up since he wanted 111.

wow love the flexible light con the car.. i will do it,,,,

Updated Builder's Log
 

Bill,

It gives me great pleasure to congratulate you on earning Serial # 111.

Way to go!

Here is the Updated Builder's Log with your entry added.

Regards,
John Higgins

Congratulations on 111 easy to remember number :)

Now has SERVOs #111 - Georgetown, TX
 

While updating another thread that actually began life here, I said that my MechMate is being refitted with new servo drives and controls. Mike and a couple of others asked for more details, so I thought it best to have the retrofit discussion here. After all, the retrofit is part of the project.

Control and Motor drive replacement

Vital Systems HiCON Integra 6 axis Ethernet controller gets my attention:

The HiCON Integra 6 axis controller has 24V IO signal circuits for better noise rejection. And because it's communication is Ethernet, I can do away with the desktop printer port machine and work with a smaller lighter laptop.

My choice was between the HiCON Integra and the CS-Labs CSMIO/IP-S - 6 axis Ethernet Motion Controller. Both are excellent controllers. The price of each is nearly identical, but expensive. They both have good tech support and they both have good Mach support. The HiCON Integra won out because I can purchase it directly from the manufacturer in Phoenix AZ, whereby the CS-Labs controller would have to be purchased through a US distributor from the UK.

Teknic ClearPath 3-phase AC servo motors, the mighty NEMA 23:

In my search for a servo solution I was really disappointed with what I was finding. For each servo motor I needed a servo controller. And for each servo controller and motor, a pair of cables was required; one for the power and the other for the signal. And of course the cables had special plugs, meaning elevated pricing per cable unit. In the end, each motor, controller, and cable set was costing nearly one thousand dollars. So in my case, now we're looking at $3,500 to $4,000 for the motors, controller and cables. And yes, plus six hundred dollars for the HiCON controller.

Last year about this time, I ran across a demonstration of a NEMA 23 servo motor doing some amazing stuff. I found the little servo would interface directly with the HiCON controller. Great!! I now have access to affordable servos.

The little NEMA 23 servo motor I selected is a true 3-phase AC motor. It has its own controller built into the body of the motor, so all that is required is the Step and Direction stream from the HiCON. It requires a much lighter cable with easily sourced and inexpensive connectors. It is powered by a 75V DC buss with an internal DC to AC 3-phase converter. Motor braking is standard. So as for example, as the controller moves the X axis and the code asks for the Y axis to remain in position, the motor is locked in position. A mini USB communication port is onboard for setup, testing and tuning. And finally, like the HiCON controller, these servo motors can be purchased direct form the manufacturer in NY. And did I say these motors are about $254 each, 90 day money back return policy with 3 year warranty. What a deal!

This is what my build looks like today:
Laptop computer with Mach3 that talks to the HiCON controller.

A small 5V power supply and 24V power supply powers the HiCON and signal circuits.

A 75 V DC power supply powers the DC buss for the servos.

The HiCON controller sends Step and Direction signals to the Servos.

simple wiring

NEMA 23 AC servo drivers


Here is my cost breakdown for a system requiring 4 drivers:
175.00 Mach3 license
300.00 repurposed 32 bit laptop with Windows 7, valued at about 300 dollars
600.00 HiCON Integra 7766 controller
1012.00 4 Teknic Clearpath NEMa 23 motors, $254 each
199.00 Teknic 75V power supply (build your own if you like)
60.00 2 generic power supplies, one 5Vdc and one 24VDC
57.00 cabling, 150ft @ .38 per foot
75.00 control boxes, misc wire fittings, etc
2,478.00 TOTAL

So it comes in at less than $2,500 dollars, Mach3 to motors turning!!


More to follow soon!

motor information and videos
 

I have taken photos of my build and I am preparing them for the forum page. The build page will be updated soon.

As you wait for me to update my page, please check out the links regarding the motors. You will find some interesting stuff in them.

This video is from the manufacturer. Interesting to watch and is an introduction to their servo motor system. Please watch the entire video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz9mZ5fBwUM

This video is from Neo7CNC regarding the motors. This guy produces pretty good quality video, good description, dialogue, etc . He incorrectly calls the servos DC motors, but they are truly AC 3phase motors. Otherwise, this guy is really good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2kAcz-rG5s

And from the boys that like the 6-degree-freedom stuff... The video is not so good because it's looks to be done by cell phone, however, the information he provides is quite good. This guy, regardless the quality of the cell phone video, is very generous with his knowledge and his time to assist others.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CMIPu3t7d0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WUqyzt8tEY

Hello Bill, last time I used servo motors on the cnc router I used it with 3:1 belt reduction, those were low inertia panasonics, the problem I have faced is with inertia tuning - i had to finally live with a little noise on the motors especially on the Y axis where we use 2 motors - but performance was definitely a plus with the servos.

R / IRfan

IRfan,

Thanks for the comments.

I really like these servos so far. However, I have not put them through true performance testing, as in cutting actual parts. I will do so today or tomorrow.

The servos are tuned using the manufactures software. You plug the computer running the tuning software into the USB port on the back of the motor; with the motor mounted on the machine and ready to drive on the rack. You begin the software. The software recognizes the motor. You tab over to the Setup tab and begin the 'AutoTune' routine. You answer a few questions; then AutoTune drives the motor in position to test for load and resonance. Just sit back and enjoy your favorite beverage while AutoTune does the work. It takes 5 to 20 minutes. The software is very easy to use, even a novice as myself can understand it.

The Mighty NEMA 23, Teknic Clearpath servo motor, 198 oz/in

Last year when I began looking for suitable servos I came across the Teknic ClearPath demonstration as I've said above. I was really taken by the demonstration and bought into all the hype of their video. And I began to consider the ClearPath servo motors as my replacements.

My first thought was to replace my existing stepper motors (490 N*cm/ 690 oz*in) with a comparable NEMA 32 model.

And then I thought, if the ClearPath servos are really more efficient, more powerful than steppers, then I will give a smaller servo a try. But to understand fully their capability I would have to use the manufacturers power supply as well. So I ordered the servos and the power supply and began the retrofit.

So there you have it. My case for smaller motors.

The last task for the steppers:

(1 cut NEMA 23 mount plates for the existing 4.5:1 reduction drives.
photo 1 - Delrin plate installed in the drive reduction

(2 cut the ventilation holes for the case fans on the controller box
photo 2 - ventilation holes being cut in the controller box

If the NEMA 23s work well, I will build newer, more pleasing reduction boxes for them.

More servo motor photos

photo 1
Y axis motor sitting on Y-car next to Z axis motor

photo 2
Y axis motor installed

Motor power supply

The motors need good clean unregulated 75VDC to perform at their maximum capacity. This power supply can easily handle three to five servos at much greater capacity than the servos on the MechMate.

photo 1
In this inexpensive $33 (12x12x6) junction box from the nearest home supply store is placed the power supply, a 120vdc case fan $14 that really should not be needed, a power switch $4, and a small junction strip $3 for the wires. That's all we need to power the servos.

photo2
What I like about this system, is that I was able to take power from the transformer down the main cable track on one single 2 conductor cable to a junction box, and then route power to each individual motor.
The junction box, $6 and the terminal strip $1.50

HiCON Controller

This controller is considered commercial grade. It has all the bells and whistles you can expect for a commercial device.

In this inexpensive $33 (12x12x6) junction box from the nearest home supply store is placed, two power supplies, one 5VDC to power the controller $30, and one 24VDC for the I/O $30, etc., and a CAT6 shielded cable $10, for communication with Mach3.

Installed is a 120vdc case fan $14, a power switch $4, and two small junction strip $5 for the wires. That's all we need for the HiCON to operate.

Running Mach3 with the HiCON

photos 1 and 2

When Setting up Mach3, put the HiCON XML file in the Mach3 folder, just like you've done for SmoothStepper or anything else. Start Mach3 and select the HiCON profile. The software will find and begin communicating with the controller. You will know this by a neat little pop up box filled full of text telling you everything the HiCON controller is doing. It simply works.

photo 3

Here I direct rapid by single line command telling the machine to move to X92 Y58.5. As you can see the rapid speed is 474 ipm. It is set on the motor setup page at 400 ipm, so I don't know why it runs at 474. Likewise, in photo 4 when I give the command, 'Go To Zero' it returns at 474 as well. However, when I Rapid the machine with the pendant, it runs directly at 400ipm. Regardless, whether the machine rapids at 400 or 474, it moves smooth as glass and is very quiet.

Cabling Stuff

I forgot to mention this above in thread #53.

For this build I used exclusively 18AWG shielded. Because the controller is built into the motor, there is no power loss between the motor and controller, or data loss or distortion between the HiCON and the motor. All the motor sees is Step and Direction signals, and the motor takes care of the rest. So, no expensive cabling is required.

In photo 1 you will see there is a green cable bundle. This is because 6 conductors are needed to control the motor. Two conductors for enable+ and enable-, two conductors for Step + and -, and two conductors for Direction + and -. But, 6 conductor 18AWG shielded is very expensive, about $1.45 per ft. With 4 conductor 18AWG at $0.38, I used two 4 conductor cables for the control signals, and have an unused pair in one of the cables.
As for the power cable, I used one 4 conductor shielded. Again, it was about the price of wire. Two conductor is simply more expensive than four conductor.

Hello Bill, thanks for sharing the servo upgrade, I have auto-tuned Panasonic servos and based of my difficulty in tuning the servos - is what I mentioned in my earlier post. do post the method you use to tune the two Y motors.

Hope you got this working Bill.

Before attempting to tune motors:

Check track alignment. Are the tracks parallel to each other?

Check axis alignment. Is the gantry perpendicular to the track? Check the 'Y-car' and 'Z-axis' for the same.

(I checked my gantry to see if it was still perpendicular to the track and found that it 'was not' perpendicular to the track. I made the necessary shim adjustments and the gantry is now perpendicular, well, it is as good as I can make it. And all of the wheels appear to sit in the track squarely.)

Check wheel alignment. Do the wheels sit on the track properly?

Check rolling resistance of all axis. Are there smooth and then tight spots?

Yes, the gantry will feel quite heavy. It is loaded with the 'Y-car', the complete 'Z-axis' assembly, cabling, paint, etc. So even though it has a heavy feel, it should still roll smoothly.

It is now possible to tune the motors.

I'll share with you what I know of tuning next post. And it will be a short post because I don't know much.

BillT

Wow! These NEMA23 Servos are Impressive
 

Yesterday I loaded a program into Mach3, to simulate a peck-drilling routine of 45 equally spaced holes over the entire cutting surface of the machine. As Mach3 began it was clear the 'A-axis was not responding to directions from the controller. A brief thought came to terminate, to fix the fault and to start over, or to continue with the program and to see where the 'X-axis' motor would fail.

It was interesting to watch the one little NEMA23 servo motor drag the gantry from the first hole location to the second at 400ipm. Forty five simulated holes later still no motor fault. The motor still has not exceeded it maximum torque threshold value.

At the end of the program the 'X-axis motor drove back to its Zero position with precision <0.0005 and the 'A-axis' landed back near its Zero at 0.056. Of course you could not allow the failure of one axis to continue while working a real job. But I am impressed with the performance of the one little motor dragging that heavy gantry across the table without faulting the motor.

Good to know Bill that you have movement - any insight on the Y axis tuning method?

Thanks for the heads up on the CS-Labs CSMIO/IP-S - 6 axis Ethernet Motion Controller. Looks like it will be my next replacement for my g540.
Cheers
Tim

tuning stuff
 

I know little of tuning motors. I'll share what I do know.

Other tuning documentation first:

MachMotion has information regarding motor tuning and I have not heard this method before. Please refer to the following links and pages. The PDF's are easy to download and easy to read. These documents give good information for setting Acceleration and Deceleration values in Mach3. They may provide a good starting point and they make more since of tuning than I can ever do so here. So please, please look them over.

http://machmotion.com/manuals/Apollo...s%20Manual.pdf
page 24 and 25

http://machmotion.com/manuals/Apollo...s%20Manual.pdf
pages 35,36 and 37

Bob Warfield of CNCcookbook has a great blog regarding servo tuning. This is more extensive to read, but very informative. Please give it a look over, too.
http://www.cnccookbook.com/CCServoTuning.htm

Now, tuning multiple drive axis that are common to some MechMates and some large gantry routers.

When I tuned my 'X-axis' motor, the 'A-axis motor was installed at the other end of the gantry. The 'A' drive belt was removed to diminish drive resistance. Tuning began with the packaged software. I chose the resolution counts to use, the 'jerk' frequency setting from the available list, there were only two options, and then I hit the auto tune button. The software did the rest. When completed the tuning configuration file was downloaded for safe keeping.

Next the 'A-axis', the 'Y-axis', and the 'Z-axis' motors were tuned.

Later I began seeing random tracking errors faults from all the axis except the 'Y'. The 'Y-axis' ran well and never faulted. Sometimes the 'A-axis' would fault but not the 'X', and other times the 'X' would fault and not the 'A'. Then I realized, the 'SLAVE' axis must have the identical tuning profile as the master, duhh.

The lesson I learned here is, if you have a good profile and all motors are alike, then share the good profile with the other motors. Also, in the case of my MechMate, there may be too much resonance in the main frame for the tuning software to affectively tune the 'X and A' axis without tracking failures. But the smoother axis, the lighter 'Y-car' axis tuned easily. So I took the 'Y-axis' tuning profile and uploaded it to the other motors. Voila, after uploading the 'Y-axis' profile to the other motors, they all work well.


BillT

Good work, Bill. Your plowing new ground!

So, have you re-run the "peck-drilling routine of 45 equally spaced holes over the entire cutting surface" since setting all the servos to the same profile?

Great work, Bill! Could you give us a comparison in the performance differences or any other interesting differences you may have noticed after you changed over the the servos compared to running the steppers you had before? Do you feel there was enough of a difference between the two setups to justify changing out your stepper motors and BOB? I've been running the recommended OM 7.2 motors for a few years now and have been pretty happy with them but have always been drawn to the closed loop nature of servos. Thank you in advance for any input and insight you may have to offer.

Thanks Bill for sharing your AC Servo experiences.
In time a video of your machine running with the Servo's might be very informative.

Thanks
Ross

This MM is a much better machine overall than it was before. And I have more confidence it will faithfully run the tool path routine I provide without fail.

An example:
Last weekend I was building up a corian spoil board and a corian tool plate to run a few parts. The spoil board was mounted to the base plate, which of course mounted to the cross bearer steel channel. The corian spoil board, 20x30 inches needed surfacing. So I built a small routine in VCarve Pro to pocket cut the surface and to leave a small shoulder on the X and Y axis for the tool plate. I chose to surface the spoil board with a 1/4" end mill. Yes, I know the 1/4" end mill is not the right tool, but I wanted a tool strategy with a long runtime. The tool path took 58.5 minutes to complete. And I ran the tool path three times, each time shaving off about 0.015. And then I mounted the 13x13" tool plate to the surface of the spoil board and surface cut the tool plate three times as well, each routine lasting 20 minutes. THE REAL TEST here was to see how well the machine would run continuously in the 105F degree Texas summer heat. The motors, the electronics, the machine ran well without any failures. I checked the motor temperatures with a digital thermometer during the run time, and the nominal temperatures ran about 10 to 13 degrees above ambient. These motors run a lot cooler than the steppers ever did.

What I really like most about the new controller and motor configuration is that the cut path, whatever tool path is loaded is now repeatable and the electronics reliable. The machine will now repeat, time, and time, and time again.

Cut Quality:
One project in the shop to complete is to retrofit the old manual Bridgeport with CNC controls. I was cutting motor plates and I found the cutter was leaving 'chatter marks' around the long radii at the ends. This was very disappointing to say the least. Thinking the chatter problem through I realize that all the motors can be where instructed, but that the cutting material, Delrin in this case, a gummy material can actually push the cutting tip off axis, thus causing the controller to reacquire its position. Speculation on my part for sure, but better speed and feed control could help a lot. And so I realize the new controller and motors cannot heal all the ills of this machine or my understanding of its use. But still, a far better machine than it ever was before.

I cannot speak to the OM motors as I have not used them. There has been much discussion of them in this forum and I believe most of the discussion regarding them to be favorable.

Right before I changed the motors and controller, my friend and I completed many hours on the MM cutting form blocks, dies for aircraft bulkheads. A discussion regarding the dies and bulkheads here:

http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showt...2278#post72278 thread #17

The steppers worked great while cutting the aircraft project. We had the 'feeds and the speeds' matched for the job and the cuts were good. But the 'hobby' electronics was unreliable. Sometimes during a cut routine one of the axis would quit working and from that, the part would have to be scrapped. I decided after every other part produced, the machine would be completely shut down, Windows too, and restarted. This dramatically reduced failures, but I was never able to trust the controls again. So from this experience I decided to change the controls and the motors.

Would I change from stepper to servo with an existing machine? No, providing the machine and the electronic controls are in good condition. In my case, there was a failure somewhere. Was it the Windows machine, the BOB, the Smooth Stepper, or one of the Gecko's?

That said, with more build or retro experience under my belt, I will never consider steppers again. The inexpensive NEMA 23's I have on the MM prove, to me at least, they are the best option for my MM and other machines moving forward. They are light weight, quiet, smart, very quick, more powerful than my old steppers, and so very precise.

David, Ross, thank you for your comments.

It's not that I'm some technical moron, but I really don't know how to post video to You tube. After learning CAD, 3D Modeling, CAM, and other software, etc, I really don't want to learn another software. But perhaps I should!

BillT

Photo 1: The Pattern

This photo is that of a motor plate for the Bridgeport CNC. Well, it's a failed motor plate. I made an error in CAD and scrapped this part. Anyway, I decided to have some fun so I built a cut routine in VCarve Pro to check the accuracy of the 'Z' axis. I drew 32, two inch squares to cover this part on a 30 degree angle. I programmed two routines; one routine calls for the 'Z' axis to 'Pocket Cut' the 32 squares, and the second routine calls for the 'Z' axis to 'Perimeter Cut' each square. So that means the 'Z' axis will have to extend and retract 64 times to cut the pattern on this plate. Also, because the pattern is on a 30 degree angle, all 'X and Y' moves will be simultaneous diagonal with different torque values applied for each movement. I know you can't see the surface well because of the small photo, but know that the surface is quite smooth.


Photo 2

This photo shows a very smooth and accurate cover slot along the perimeter. The slot was cut with a .125 end mill at an .063 offset to the inside. I'm happy with the slot offset.
Chatter marks on the end radius as described in the above post.

Bill, thanks for laying the groundwork, very impressive! Definitely got me thinking :)

Hi Bill
No problem on the video you have already done plenty.

Ross

Bill,
Nice write up of your quest. I install and use various servos and steppers where I work but they have a much higher budget to play with. You have given an option for the lower budget builders which is great. I will be waiting to hear how everything is going after 1000 hours of service. So far, everything looks promising but time is the tester of all things. I believe you will be fine but please keep us informed all things involved.

Hi Bill,

I'm very interested in the servo approach you have taken based on the seemingly added simplicity of wiring and control.

-How is your experience with the Clearpath motors and Hicon controller now that you have a few months on the kit?
-Which model motor did you end up getting? Speed/torque?
-If I understand correctly you are running two motors on the X-axis? Is that one on each side of the gantry? Do you think this is a requirement with the motor size you bought?
-Any other wisdom learned on the upgrade?

Many thanks,

Brandt

Brandt, thank you for your query.

I am very happy with the ClearPath servos and the Hicon controller. They exceed my expectations in every way. There have been failures but none under performance testing. The hardware is rock solid.

Upon installing the servos and the controller, I found the Z-axis moved unexpectedly in the negative direction. I tracked this back to V-Carve tool path, specifically the following line, N150S12000M03.

This line is used for spindle start/stop, and should not be relational to the Z-axis. Regardless, I don't want or use a spindle start/stop operation, so I delete this line from every tool path V-Carve builds and the Z-Axis now works as it should.

But, deleting the N150 line does not address the underlying problem. To fully understand this I need to dig deeper and find solutions to the following.

1) How can I prevent VCarve Pro from writing un-needed instruction.
2) Why does the Hicon controller apply instruction to the Z-axis from this line?

Any help from you guys here would be greatly appreciated!!

================================================

Yes, my MechMate has dual X- axis motor drives with one motor on each end. One motor drives clockwise while the other motor simultaneously drives counterclockwise. This is taken care of easily in the Mach3 setup.

This machine has a rail center to center distance of 90 inches, 7.5 ft across the X-axis. It is impossible for this machine to maintain a perpendicular relationship between X and Y, given the weight of the three assemblies on a single mobile rail system. The three assemblies weigh in at, perhaps 100 lbs. I know for sure my machine cannot maintain perpendicularity with one driver. All it can build with one driver is parallelograms and egg shaped holes.

Let's talk motor torque. I have no way to provide empirical data regarding the torque of these little servos. But I can provide two things. The manufacturers specifications listed below, and my observations.

I have knocked the A-axis off line (by stupidity) a couple of times while cutting through a piece of MDF. Once, by the time I realized the A-axis was offline, I let Mach3 finish the remaining five minutes of the routine just to see how the NEMA 23 servo would perform. The tool path specifications were; 1/4" two flute carbide end mill, cutting depth .175, surface speed 75 IPM, RPM 10,000.

Well, the little NEMA 23 X-axis servo kept churning along. It finished the remaining five minutes of the routine and returned to the home position like nothing was wrong. Of course the A-axis was being whipped along as the routine finished and landed about a half inch from its home position. The part was pretty ugly and I re-cut it of course, but the strength of the little NEMA 23 really impressed me. These NEMA 23 servos are far superior in every way to the NEMA 34 motors I originally installed.

When you have time please watch this video. Dave provides a great description of these servos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2kAcz-rG5s

================================================

ClearPath Servo model CPM-SDSK-2310S-RLN
Motor Frame Size NEMA 23 - 59.18 mm (2.33 in) sq.
Length 84.84mm (3.34 in)
Peak Torque (@75 VDC) 1.57 N-m (223 oz-in)
Cont. (RMS) Torque (@75 VDC) 0.32 N-m (44.9 oz-in)
Max Speed 4000 RPM
Rated Speed 3040 RPM
Achievable Resolution 0.45 degrees
Repeatability 0.03 degrees
Shaft Diameter 9.525 mm (0.375 in)
Weight 0.63 kg (1.38 lb)
Rotor Inertia 0.077 kg-cm^2 (0.420 oz-in^2)
Input (bus) Voltage Range 24-75 VDC (90 VDC max)
Logic Input Voltage Range 4.0 to 28 VDC
Maximum Radial Load 111.2 N (25.0 lbf)
Maximum Thrust Load 22.2 N (5.0 lbf)
Environmental Rating Dust & water splash resistant
Ambient Temperature 0-70 deg C (derated >40C)
Ambient Humidity 0-95%; non-condensing
Regulatory Certifications UL recognized; CE; RoHS
Country of Origin USA
Warranty 3 Years

Update: Z-Axis moves unexpectedly.
 

Last post I made the case that perhaps, the Z-Axis was moving because of a line of unneeded code from the VCarve tool path. Shown here: N150S12000M03.

Sure enough, that line of code causes problems with my Z-Axis since the Hicon and Clear Path servo install. The Z-Axis has never run successfully with that line of code in the file.

Yesterday I had another incident with the Z-Axis runaway. However, this time there was no code posted to Mach. I was simply moving the Axis with the pendant. After such incident the workflow is the same, shutdown everything and restart again.

As I pushed the shutdown button to close Windows, the Windows Search Box opened and Windows began populating the test box with all 9s. I guess this is Windows version of the same fault I just had with Mach; in Windows a runaway textbox, in Mach a runaway axis.

I think it is time to look a little closer at my Dell control computer. More on this later.

Bill..
Not being 100% fluent with mach code, I will ask: isn'tt that line simply a "set rpm and turn on spindle" line? If so, do you use speed control? What about a spindle on macro?

You are correct. It is simply a line of code for the spindle and should not control any axis.

But in my system it does. I found this out by using the 'Run Single Line' feature in Mach. I ran a simple routine in Mach line by line. Every line of code ran as expected until I executed this line 'N150S12000M03', line 150. As I ran this line of code the Z axis began moving in the upward, negative direction. Again, this line should have nothing to do with the Z axis. So I'll work this out with the Hicon folks. I'm sure they'll have a solution.

This MM is a manual control system and will remain so for a while. There are no home switches, limit switches, or any other electronic switches in the setup. For now, Mach is simply used as a 'Step/Direction' controller.

Strange behavior indeed.

Just as an experiment try deleting all the code on that line apart from M3.
M3 only on that line, not M03.

You could edit the postprocessor to alter that line of code, or you could write a program to edit the code output from the postprocessor.

When you run the N150S12000M03 line, are you also changing the state of the spindle? Meaning that the spindle was off, and this line starts the spindle running, or it changes the speed of the spindle?

What happens if you disable the power source to the VFD / spindle, and then run this line? Does the Z still move? If not, I'd be looking for an electrical noise problem, especially if this is happening as the spindle is accelerating from a dead stop to 12k RPM.

Regardless, the code problems with VCarve, I'm sure that will be easy to sort out.

The last time (Sunday afternoon) the Z-Axis 'ran-away' there was no tool path posted to Mach3. Likewise, there were no motors running. I was just simply moving the Z-Axis with the pendant. Yes, the Z-Axis 'ran-away' once when I used the keyboard controls too.

When I rebuilt the machine with new controller and servos I stripped all the old electronics and wiring out. Today the wiring consist of, 1) Signal wire to each motor for step and direction, and 2) DC power buss to each motor per manufacturers direction. All signal wires are shielded and appropriately grounded. Finally, the Vital System Hicon controller was chosen because 24V controllers are more immune to signal noise the their 12V cousins.