Light Machine Corp. Benchman XTr (retrofit)

Thanks for those documents, Don. I can see in the Nextmove manual that the difference between the PNP and NPN cards is the placement of transistors on the card. I haven't been able to get in touch with anyone at Intelitek yet about the Nextmove card part number and unfortunately I don't see one on mine. But I should be able to setup the Benchman 4000 this weekend and see if I get the same problems I'm having with the XT. That would be a strong indicator that the card is the problem. The XT has the 45k spindle and the 12 tool ATC. I will probably be swapping the XT's 45k spindle with the 5k spindle from the 4000 so I can mill steel and aluminum. Thanks again for your help.

Since you supplied your own PC and Nextmove card, do you have the .ini files for your machines?
There is a Bench4K.ini and an ATC.ini that are both machine specific and without them, the software won't run.
There is a laser compensation file that is also machine specific.

Intelitek should have all 3 of these files in their records.

Don

Wow. Good to know. It asked for that disc when I was installing the software, but I assumed it was fine tuned pids for the machine that I could deal with later. What are the .ini files for exactly?

Don, you mention .ini files being machine specific.
How is the correct machine determined?
I ask because my machine has Serial# 021-55AE-0184, but the program Serial# is 110-55AE-0176.

Rex

Rex,
If you still have the original PC and Nextmove card would you mind taking a couple close-up pictures of the Nextmove card (assuming it's an ISA and not a PCI card) especially the area towards the front of the card (the 100 pin connector end)? It might help me answer a few questions I have about the cards I have.
Thanks,
Troy

Troy,

With your machine serial number, Intelitek should be able to supply you with the 3 files I mentioned.
The Bench4K.ini file has all the machine operating parameters in it.
Items such as installed options, spindle configuration, servo tuning, etc.
Without that file, you're basically stuck.

The ATC.ini file has all the parameters for the ATC operation.
Items such as encoder count offset, toolchanger height, etc are in there.
You will need this file for ATC operation.

The compensation file is laser interferometer measured data that compensates for slight variations in the ballscrews.
Without that file, you will suffer slightly in accuracy.
That file will be accurate as long as the axis encoders have not been adjusted since the machine was shipped from the factory.

I have spoken with Intelitek and they should have those files for your specific machine.
I did not have your serial number, but their policy is to keep those files for each and every machine they made.

Give them a call and ask for the files.

The ini files are machine specific based on the machine serial number.

Thanks for all your help, Don. I really appreciate it. It looks like Intelitek is closed for the long weekend, but I will let you all know how the files affect my problems next week.

I have been working through several issues on one of our machines with the help of XIntelitek Engineer for several months now. Interspersed with vacations, weather, medical interruptions and our regular full time jobs, we have worked though all of our issues now have a functional machine!! At some time in the past we had component failures on our main board and a dead power supply that Intelitek attempted to repair. While some of the issues were fixed the machine was still not functional and as you guys have found, the tech support at Intelitek is AWOL. After a thorough analysis and repair of the main board, Don got us the board back and, with continued tech support, we are now back up and running. I must also mention this was done with Don in the northeast and me in the deep south with rudimentary, AT BEST, tech skills.
THANKS SO MUCH DON!!
TG

I'm about halfway through my X-rail replacement, I never got anywhere with Intelitek, so I've been gingerly feeling my way through it as time has allowed. I've got the machine torn down as much as I need to, now I just need to clean, re-lubricate and rebuild using the new rails and blocks. I'll do a fuller write up at cnczone eventually as this isn't really the forum for it, but I'll dump this hardware size listing here for anyone who might need it.

After 16 years some of the screws were seized beyond reuse and required screw extractors or head removal to get out. The panheads mounting the chipshields to the table being the worst example, and horrific to access. Most of my panheads will be replaced by stainless torx variants. Socket head bolts held up much better, any replacements will be black oxide coated steel as per the originals to ensure I don't weaken anything load-bearing. Heads up for anyone attempting this - you need to either get the front chipshield off the table (to slide the table off its blocks) or remove the entire enclosure in order to remove the entire table and saddle together.

Most hardware is US except that used to mount rails and blocks which are metric.

IKO Rails:
M5x0.8x20 Socket Rail to Table.
M5x0.8x... Socket Block to Saddle.
8-32x0.375 FH Rail/Block alignment
1/8dx5/8 dowel pin Rail/Block alignment

Axis Mtg Block:
1/4x28x1.25 Socket Axis block to table, Axis block to bed.

Servo to Axis Mtg Block:
10-32x0.75 Socket
#10 Nut
#10 High collar lock washer
#10 Flat washer

Chipshield:
10-32x0.5 Panhead (replace with SS Torx)
#10 High collar lock washer
#10 Flat washer

Bellows:
10-32x0.5 Panhead (replace with SS Torx)
#10 High collar lock washer
#10 Flat washer
#10 Nut (where appropriate)

Limit Switch:
4-40x0.75 Panhead (replace with SS Torx)
4-40 Nut
4-40 High collar lock washer
4-40 Flat washer