EZTRAK Alarm, With No Other Description Given

Hello All,

This morning, my EZTRAK booted normally as it always does and i hit HOME as usual.
Bam, Alarm, hit any key to continue. Hmm, that is weird... So i hit any key and try again but get the same generic alarm message. No other help or description to tell me what the alarm is.
The DRO's for both x and y axes work normally and I can use the machine manually. But any interaction with the controller results in the same generic Alarm message.

Both Servo boards are happy with green LEDs. The BMDC card appears happy with a flashing green LED. I seem to remember this happening about 5 years ago or so and the reset was something so simple and routine that I cannot remember. I believe there is some peripheral sensor that is the problem. The lube was low and we refilled, but that did not clear the alarm. Any help out there to help me get this thing back in action?

I uploaded a screen shot of the CRT and a couple of pics of the internals. I know there are some variations to the eztrak controllers, and I don't know exactly what version of Eztrak I have. Hopefully my pics and description are enough.

Thanks for any help,
Mark

When you home the table, a move is being commanded and no movement is sensed. An alarm will result. The y axis moves first so I would begin there. Check all connections with the y servo and drive. getting more ambitious, you can swap the x and y servo drives and if the drive was a problem, the y should home and get an alarm on the x. If you still have the alarm and no movement, then I would check the connections to the y servo and check that it is getting power.

I am convinced my problem lies before the drives come into play. I do not hear the relay close (or whatever the audible click heard when power is enabled to the drives). Therefore, something about the overall status of the system is preventing the drives from enabling. The only thing I can think of is the oil level being low. Which it was, but we refilled and the alarm did not clear. There must be some other status or limit or something sensor that is preventing the drives from enabling.
Does anyone have any other suggestions? Better yet, does anyone know of a Bridgeport Eztrak service in Phoenix, AZ?

Thanks,

Check the Bijur and air

The oiler will prevent the spindle from running. Does the spindle turn on? Also the emergency stop button will stop the spindle and drives.

The spindle does turn and the oil is flowing. I loosened a fitting and oil is continuously flowing. I ohm'ed out the float sensor on the oil reservoir and it is working properly (the sensor is closed, completing the circuit). At the end of the day though, the drives still are not energized and therefore cannot move. I am baffled by this one...
I have a basic schematic of the control system but i cannot find where the drive power is actually coming from. When the machine works properly, every time I switch from manual to powered mode, I hear a loud click like a relay or solenoid closing. If I can find the inputs to close that relay, I can back track on find what is preventing power from going to the drives.

In the meantime, I use the machine just great manually. And as i said before, all the DRO's and such work. But it sure is hard to machine a circle by hand!! :)

Your mill is a little different than mine but I looks like you have the axis relay in the center of the cabinet. Mine has a reset button at the upper left side of the relay.

Well, we finally found the problem. Turns out the prior owner of the machine altered the wiring of the head a bit and bypassed some of the safety circuits.

So the motor overload (MOL) was tripped but the head bypasses the MOL and continues to turn. The drives are disabled by MOL, but not the head. According to the schematic, MOL should take out just about everything, but due to the alternate wiring, this is not the case on my mill. So pushing the little blue reset button on the MOL circuit restored the full function of the machine. At least I know now...

Thanks for the help nonetheless,
Mark