Per the sticky, here is the basic info on my recently purchased machine:
1. machine manufacturer and type - Alliant (Bridgeport Series I Clone)
2. year of manufacture - 1984
3. machine model - I believe AP-2 but I will double check tonight.
4. control brand and model - Anilam Crusader II
5. any machinery options/ accessories if they play into the issue - N/A
6. brand, model, and year of manufacture of accessorie the problem is related to - Anilam Crusader II, I presume the scale
I received my Alliant a month or two ago and have been going over the machine and checking out all the functions. Manual usage is fine, everything moves smoothly, ball screws are in good shape with normal (near zero) drag when compared to the year 2000 and newer Bridgeport Series I's I use at work. When I activate the servo system per the manual, everything turns on, lights are all properly lit on the controller, and no error codes are generated.
My X axis drifts at a very slow rate in the -X direction, maybe a quarter inch a minute. This is quite noticeable on the handwheel, and the movement is indicated on the DRO. No feed speed is indicated on the DRO. No program is running, no other inputs - this will happen immediately upon activating the servos. No error messages pop up, until you attempt to jog the X axis. Regardless of direction or feedrate, when you Jog the X axis the controller throws Error 19 (Following error increasing too fast.) Movement doesn't seem to have good feed rate control.
Jogging the Y and Z axes works fine, with one note. The Y axis moves smoothly and quickly when jogged at rapid and feed speeds, and moves distinctly and precisely when jogged on the smaller of the two increment feeds. When attempting to use JOG 3 incremental moves (0.1 inch per jog), the axis will move, and then kind of hunt for the point, swinging back and forth a bit like a pendulum, just on the order of .025 inches amplitude. On the handwheel this looks like three oscillations or so of a few degrees around the target point.
These two issues point to a major issue with the X scale of some sort, and perhaps a secondary issue related to the gains on the servos, correct? I'm not very clear on where to go next as far as diagnostics. The Crusader manual is a bit lacking in this department. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!
I will post up specific model numbers for the servos tonight.
![]()
1. machine manufacturer and type - Alliant (Bridgeport Series I Clone)
2. year of manufacture - 1984
3. machine model - I believe AP-2 but I will double check tonight.
4. control brand and model - Anilam Crusader II
5. any machinery options/ accessories if they play into the issue - N/A
6. brand, model, and year of manufacture of accessorie the problem is related to - Anilam Crusader II, I presume the scale
I received my Alliant a month or two ago and have been going over the machine and checking out all the functions. Manual usage is fine, everything moves smoothly, ball screws are in good shape with normal (near zero) drag when compared to the year 2000 and newer Bridgeport Series I's I use at work. When I activate the servo system per the manual, everything turns on, lights are all properly lit on the controller, and no error codes are generated.
My X axis drifts at a very slow rate in the -X direction, maybe a quarter inch a minute. This is quite noticeable on the handwheel, and the movement is indicated on the DRO. No feed speed is indicated on the DRO. No program is running, no other inputs - this will happen immediately upon activating the servos. No error messages pop up, until you attempt to jog the X axis. Regardless of direction or feedrate, when you Jog the X axis the controller throws Error 19 (Following error increasing too fast.) Movement doesn't seem to have good feed rate control.
Jogging the Y and Z axes works fine, with one note. The Y axis moves smoothly and quickly when jogged at rapid and feed speeds, and moves distinctly and precisely when jogged on the smaller of the two increment feeds. When attempting to use JOG 3 incremental moves (0.1 inch per jog), the axis will move, and then kind of hunt for the point, swinging back and forth a bit like a pendulum, just on the order of .025 inches amplitude. On the handwheel this looks like three oscillations or so of a few degrees around the target point.
These two issues point to a major issue with the X scale of some sort, and perhaps a secondary issue related to the gains on the servos, correct? I'm not very clear on where to go next as far as diagnostics. The Crusader manual is a bit lacking in this department. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!
I will post up specific model numbers for the servos tonight.
