MotionMaster Upgrade

Brushes, that makes the motors Brushed DC, and from what i recall the drives for those are hard to find, so it does pay off to check if the existing ones are ok.

tommylight wrote:

Brushes, that makes the motors Brushed DC, and from what i recall the drives for those are hard to find, so it does pay off to check if the existing ones are ok.

Ah, I think you're right. The big box with the Fagor computer in the top half, I can see what appears to be an analog brushed-dc multi-axis servo amplifier + psu in the bottom half of the box. With two fans attached.

@tommylight & NWE.... you two have better eyes than I do.

I think you two are right, and the bottom center thing is the rectifier and four drives.  Bundle of red & black wires prolly go out the the motors.

I'm going to make a list of components grouped by:
Power (From source to when it get's used)
Inputs (Not much here, keyboard and the handheld)
Motion (From the controller to drives to servos, incl encoders)
Feedback(All other sensors)
Spindle(VFD and everything downstream of it)
Other shit (ATC, grease, beer bottle opener etc)

Lot's of great feedback here. I'll try to understand everything said before committing to a plan. I've been labelling wires. Also decided to simply move to fuse out from the main junction box into its own separate box and just add another half-in conduit just for carrying power to the main box. This frees up all the room I need in the main junction box to work. I think I will be adding an additional 1in conduit to carry the extra conductors needed for the swivel head and rotaries.

motionmasterupgrade wrote:

I've confirmed that I can get a voltage if i turn the servos by hand. The resistance is above the plate, but still under 2ohms. 4 brushes in good condition.

He stated so a few posts back, i did not see it in the pictures from a quick glance, and glasses are not helping much.
4 brushes might be 2 for motor and 2 for tacho, or might be all 4 for motor if they are the same shape and size, as i have plenty of motors with 4 brushes at 90 degree each.

This is the swivel head that I want to insstall. It comes with Yaskawa servos and digital drives. The rotaries that I intend to install will also have digital drives so I think I will be using the analog drives and servos that come with the machine on one Mesa card, and doing all these more modern stuff on a second card with a 3rd handling all the sensors.

Question: The current setup with the 16hp columbo spindle is about 100ish lbs. This AC head is another 100ish lbs. I wanted to sell the columbo, and just install a spindle that is closer to what I need... about 6hp (max). The machine comes with an air piston that reduces the load on the Z axis servo drive. I'm not sure how much weight it can handle. I image this is a function of air pressure, gaskets, and how the thing is built. If this air lift thing is calibrated right, there should not be any additional load on the Z axis servo, so I'm going to assume that problem away. I sort of have no doubts that the gantry and bearings can take the extra weight... been climbing up there to check stuff out, and its just built solid, don't know what else to say. I think this was welded together as a bridge, and then machined to get a flat surface. I will need some sort of an L bracket and some hackery to stiffen that Z axis. This L bracket will put a moment arm on the linear guides, so I was wondering if I needed a counter weight. I know I will also have to alter the position of the tool changers because the swivel head will push the spindle a little further forward. That's no big deal. I wanted to add more tool holders anyway.

Do you guys see any major concerns? I know all this stuff is mechanically stressful which is why I bought this machine to upgrade instead of rolling my own joint with extruded aluminum. I think I don't have to worry about mechanical integrity, but again, I've never done this before. Thoughts? 

Will have all the faceplates and schemes up tomorrow, then I want to order this swivel head parts once I am sure that I can make this work.