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Assistance with troubleshooting Anilam 1400M servo problem.

G

GunMachinist

Plastic
Joined
May 3, 2020
I have a Bridgeport mill with Anilam 1400M control which I have been working on for the last 3-4 weeks. I have traced all the wiring in the computer cabinet and power panel on the side of the mill which is back to spec according to the schematics given to me by Jerry. Originally my problem was the head would not rotate which was traced to a malfunction in the overload relay. That problem fixed.

I recently disconnected the Y axis servo for cleaning, and when I replaced the cable and activated the servo it took off rapidly like a bat out of hell; if it wasn't for the limit switch I would have had a mill table on the floor. So I disconnected it again after attempting to balance, without any luck. I then disconnected the X axis which was working perfect and connected the Y axis to the X to see if the problem went to the X axis (It did not). Now the X axis took off after I turned it back on, thank God for limit switch, and i cant get either axis back to operating properly. The Y slowly turns as if it needs to be balanced but doesn't react to balance adjustments. Y rotation will speed up or reverse if I jog +/- on the control. X axis will react to balancing but just rotates the opposite way. I contacted Jerry and he can't help with this.

Anyone with Anilam control have experience with this problem? I running out of ideas and am starting to dream about large quantities of Tannerite, but I'd really like to have a machine at home so I could make s**t I want.
 
Sounds like your orig. Y axis problem could be an encoder failure or loss of encoder signal. I suppose you could try some contact cleaner on the connectors. Encoder signals are only between 0 and 5 volts, so a little oxidation in the connectors can reek havoc.
 
Ok, did some cleaning with electrical cleaner, and alcohol: still no better. Y doesn't move at all, and X runs like a scalded dog who's tail is on fire... both axis will count so I don't believe it's the encoder. I get no siginal on the Y to ballance and I can't get X to slow down when trying to ballance.
 
Is it really called balance there? Do you have a picture?

Are these the potentiometers for P, I und D coefficients of the servo controller?

If yes, these are very delicate to manipulate and should not be touched by without clear understanding..

It sounds like you have messed up the servo tuning, thats why they go bogus..

If so, I would recommend to remove the motors and retune them, to prevent damaging the machine..
If you have them running stable without load, mount them back om, and finetune them with machine load..

Usually on turns all the gains down and checks by slowly increasing P gain and so on...
 
Yes it's adjusting the pots, I probably have screwed up the tuning. I need to basically re-tune the servos from scratch as if I just installed a new servo motor, but have no Idea how to start. I can pretty much fix anything mechanical, but when you add electronics to it I'm lost. (electronics make no sense to me) I was given a procedure by Jerry, who is the person Acu-Rite refereed, but that's not working.
 
Do you have the "1200T/1400M Hardware and Interface " manual? #70000322 Multi page tuning procedures in it.

Are your servos Anilam or some other brand? If something other than Anilam will usually, unfortunately, throw Jerry off.
 
The most frustrating thing is that both servos worked a week ago. The Y stopped working, and in an attempt to troubleshoot by swapping servo cables from the Y to the X to see if the Y problem transferred to the X, the X stopped working. Now I have a machine whose original problem is working great and new problem which makes it unusable. I guess I should have stuck with a manual machine.
 
Normally this is no big deal, to tune them again..

I dont know anything about this particular control directly, but you need to give us some info here.. Maybe you can ask somebody to help you post it?
 
nordlichtFanuc said:
Normally this is no big deal, to tune them again..

I dont know anything about this particular control directly, but you need to give us some info here.. Maybe you can ask somebody to help you post it?
Click to expand...

Tuning servos varies from easy to difficult. YMMV. Having said that let's start with some basics. I assume that the encoders are on the end of the servo motors and the servo motors are DC brushed motors. Anytime an axis takes off uncontrolled something is drastically wrong. That the encoder wired backwards so the control is getting reversed info... always bad news. Or the encoder is not coupled to the motor shaft. I've seen cases where it counts in one direction and not the other. Can you manually move the table and does the readout count in the right direction and count opposite when you rotate the other way. If indeed the encoders are on the servos then one should be able to dismount the servo motor and do partially tuning where it cannot do any harm. If both x and y behave then you can couple the back up and start tuning. If you have not moved any of the tuning pots (knobs) then record the settings so you have something that should be close to go back to. If you can beg, borrow,or steal an oscilloscope to check the encoders to make sure both A and B channels are working. It may also have a Z channel for home on index.
If these are DC servos then often a 12 v car battery will move the servo at a slow speed.

I hope this gets you headed in the right direction. (no pun intended)
 
I have the complete manuals for the 1400M. If you send me a pm with your email I can send them to you.

"both axis will count so I don't believe it's the encoder" - but the axis could be counting in the wrong direction, this would cause the runaway problem.

Under Setup Utility, Machine/Installation, Machine Axis, Machine Axis Setup, there are "Encoder Phase A" and "Encoder Phase B" settings. Choices are "Not Invert" and "Invert", you could try switching these. This may change the encoder count direction. If the system worked previously then this should not be the issue.

When balancing, it's possible that your multimeter is affecting the signal. What is the multimeter's input impedance? What brand and model is the meter?

I have a 1400M on a Fryer VB-40. The Z axis used to run away toward the table. It was a very exciting time. I replaced the DAC (digital to analog converter) on the board and have not experienced the problem again. It was a DAC4813 made by Burr-Brown. I found a new on online after searching obsolete electronic suppliers. The 1400M used one of two different motion boards so yours may be different.

Are you using Anilam motors or something else? The Anilam is probably designed for 5V encoders. If it's a newer motor, with 3.3V encoder, you could have affected the encoder. Do you have an oscilloscope? Can you view the encoder signals?

What do you mean by "motor cleaning?" What was done during this process?
 
You may want to disconnect the coupling/belt between the motor and the ball screw for the initial servo balancing. Make sure to mark the orientation between the shafts.

The machine setup password is SERVICE.
 
Phoenix800 said:
When balancing, it's possible that your multimeter is affecting the signal. What is the multimeter's input impedance? What brand and model is the meter?

Are you using Anilam motors or something else? The Anilam is probably designed for 5V encoders. If it's a newer motor, with 3.3V encoder, you could have affected the encoder. Do you have an oscilloscope? Can you view the encoder signals?

What do you mean by "motor cleaning?" What was done during this process?
Click to expand...

Fluke T5-1000

It's a Bridgeport V2E3 and not Anilam servos. There's no chance of obtaining an oscilloscope, I used one when I went through an electronics class in the Navy, but I didn't understand them then and highly doubt if I were looking at one now I'd know what to do.

I removed the attached wire cable and wiped the oil off.
 
I looked up the specs for the Fluke T5-1000. It is not appropriate for this job. The T5-1000 has a DC resolution of 1 volt. You need a meter that can measure millivolts or preferably microvolts.

When balancing the 1400M you need to get the voltage output from the DAC to +/-0.001 volts (Anilam 1200M & 1400M Hardware and Interface Manual page 15-87). Your meter's resolution cannot measure this.
 
Phoenix800 said:
I looked up the specs for the Fluke T5-1000. It is not appropriate for this job. The T5-1000 has a DC resolution of 1 volt. You need a meter that can measure millivolts or preferably microvolts.

When balancing the 1400M you need to get the voltage output from the DAC to +/-0.001 volts (Anilam 1200M & 1400M Hardware and Interface Manual page 15-87). Your meter's resolution cannot measure this.
Click to expand...

I'm a fluke fan... I've owned 3.. one bench top and two handheld. If buying new then the fluke 114 should do nicely. I rather like my 85 but it may have features you don't need. Nulling the dac is usually or the servo amp is normally done by simply adjusting the pot (balance) until the axis doesn't drift. If your system gives you the capability of nulling the dac then adjust that output so it is zero or flipping between -.001 and +.001 V. Then move on to nulling the servo amp. Some systems will have extra parameters like FF0, FF1, FF2 which allow you to tune better.
FF0 is offset. FF1 is normally set to 1.000 for starters and FF2 is set to minimize the spike on positive accel when starting a move and the negative spike at the end of a move.
The 114 or equivalent will get you to 0.001 V; considering that your full scale signal is probably 10 V that is a lot of resolution. Having a set of probes with interchangeable points and clips is invaluable when working on a machine and simply not having enough hands.
Have fun.
 
Another thought. Careful buying off ebay may get you a good 'nuf meter for a bit less. But maybe not enough less to make it worth the chance.
YMMV
 
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