Machine specifics.
ClearPath Servos X4: CPM-SDSK-3441P-ELS
Power Supplies X2 w/ two servos per PS: ClearPath 350/500 Watt DC Power Supply IPC-5
Controller: MB3 with ESS and Mach4
VFD: Fu Ling DZB300B002.2LSA Input 3PH 220V 50/60Hz Output 3PH 0-200V 0-60Hz 2.2KW 10.0A
Spindle: 3kw 220v 10A 400Hz
EMI Filter on power into control cabinet: CW4L2-20A-S 115/250v 60/50HZ
Large farad on power line to Spindle unknown specs it came with my original Chinese setup
Farads on all control lines leaving cabinet to servos.
Power and control wiring for the servos are all Teknic supplied wires EXCEPT I used shielded outdoor rated CAT6 wiring to go from the MB3 to the circular aviation connectors to connect to the panel (maybe a foot long with farads on them0.
Spindle wiring is grounded. It wasn’t originally but I opened it up and grounded it then to the machine. Each moving part of the machine is grounded to the next piece of the machine until it gets to the machine frame. Machine is grounded to the building ground rod about 3 feet from machine. The control cabinet is grounded to the wiring ground which eventually is grounded to the same outside rod.
Z Axis issues
I am having issues with my Z axis and can’t figure it out. I’m posting this in multiple forums since I don’t know which component is causing the problem.
Z will stop responding to Mach4 randomly. There are no errors and Mach4 thinks it is moving and shows the coordinates changing on the DRO even though it is stuck.
Restarting everything, Mach4, ESS with MB3, computer and the machine won’t usually get it working again. I have to unplug the power plug for the Z servo from the power supply side and plug it back in. Unplugging from the servo end doesn’t do it most of the time. There are no LED errors flashing on the power supply when this happens.
When the Z servo stops responding the green light is still flashing on the servo and the Z axis cannot be moved manually as the servo is engaged. As soon as power is removed from the servo, I can push the axis up and down no problem.
I know VFDs are horrible for noise and sometimes this would happen after running a cut but there have been more and more times when I haven’t even starting cutting anything so the VFD has not been running the spindle.
I have been trying to troubleshoot this and looking at the MB3 LEDs there are some strange things going on.
I have the HLFB+ outputs from the servos connected to the MB3 even though I have not set anything up in Mach4 to use them. I’m honestly a bit confused as to what all I can do with them but I connected them so they would be ready for the time I do figure them out. I’ve noticed the LEDs for their inputs sometimes are all lit, other times only some are and generally when the Z is not working only one of the Y axis servos (I have a dual gantry servo setup) will be lit.
Today as I was getting info together to write this, I noticed only three of the HLFB+ inputs were lit but all axes were responding properly. I have the outputs set to ASG-Position, w/Measured Torque in the ClearPath tuning software.
Before when the Z would stop responding this would be frustrating, but it wasn’t hurting anything because it only happened when not running the spindle but now it is.
I’m cutting a large sign from HDU (sign foam) I could tell static was building up on the dust collector line and then the Z started getting lower and lower and starting cutting completely through the bottom of the sign into my spoil board, but Mach4 DRO showed it cutting the correct depth. It was colder outside with lower humidity which added to it.
I stopped and grounded the dust collector line which seems to have helped a little but on my next clearing toolpath with a smaller bit I could tell the Z height was still off from where it should have been the further into the tool path it went.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do to troubleshoot and eliminate this issue?
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