Air Drill

[dstacey]

I'm struggling to get my air dril to work.

I got this used and I haven't got it working yet. It has Air to it (90+) lbs and I have tested it like it said in the manual. It plunges fine using the manual swith with the slide up, but with the slide down it plunges but doesn't turn. I can hear air leaking while it's down, but doesn't turn. The keypad switch doesn't seem to do anything either. If I click on output 5, the switch moves, but the drill doesn't plunge and still no turning.

Please let me know if you have suggestions.

Thanks,
Dave

[Gary Campbell]

Dave...
Make sure there is no bit in the drill. Use the manual switch to turn on (plunge) and see if you can help it start by hand. Sometimes air tools get stuck from sitting. IF it starts, squirt WD40 into the drill and run it. Repeat a few times. Then put in some compressor or air tool oil.

I cant remember if the slide switch is supposed to be up or down. Test both ways. One more question, does this drill have 1 solenoid valve or 2?

[dstacey]

You are a Genius Gary!

We got part of the way.
I at least got the drill to run with the manual switch now. However I still don't get anything to happen when I click on output 5 in the keyPad. I have gone though the set up program and found the offsets and the light on the tool #5 comes on, but the output # 5 switch doesn't seem to do anything if i click it up or down.

I think it only has one solenoid valve, just a little blue screw that I turn 1/4 of a turn to get the drill to plunge.
Dave

[Gary Campbell]

Dave...
Make sure you keep oil in the drill. Add a small inline oiler is best.

There should be a wire (or harness) going from the relay board to the control board. make sure there is one going to Output 5 on the control board. Make sure one of your relays has its jumper set for 5.

When output 5 is on, a relay on your relay board should be lit to show it is active. Make sure the drill solenoid is connected to that relay. Lastly, check to make sure the relay board has power and when OP5 is active, the led is lit on the relay board, there should be 24V DC to the solenoid valve. You may want to check this at both ends.

[dstacey]

Thanks Gary,
I'll go try to track that part down. Just one dumb question; how do I check the lights on the relay board? It seems like I have to turn the master power off to open the box?
Dave

[Gary Campbell]

Dave...
Since no one else can see this...... Turn off the power to the control box. Open the door. Turn the power on by rotating the switch handle. Make sure that you turn it off before closing and latching the door.

[dstacey]

Ok Gary, the plot thickens!

I retraced all of the wiring and made sure I had good connections and it matched the instructions in the manual. I tried it again and it didn't seem to make any difference. So I tried to run a part file for the air dril but I got an undefined variable error. I think it was saying it couldn't find my_xindrilloffset_t1. I had previously run the tool setup and found the offsets for x and y, however when I got to the view and print settings it locked up and I had to go out and kill the program. I ran the setup again and the offset entries still appeared, but this time I didn't try to view, just clicked done. I looked in utilities and listed the variables and it had entrys for My_xindrilloffset_T2 and other T variables, but no t1. I wondered if the setup utility didn't get to save everything it needed.

Perplexing?
Dave

[Gary Campbell]

Dave...
1st... what drill do you have? PRT or PRS? PRT uses _T1 PRS ist drill would use &myXinDrillOffset_T31 same for Y and Z (check spelling in my variables file)

I would NOT attempt to make the drill operate in a part file if I couldnt make it run properly from the keyboard.

You will also have to make sure that you are selecting the correct post processor for the drill that you have. Will wait for the answer before I make any assumptions

[dstacey]

Ok,
It looks like I had the wrong post processor, I switched it to prs air drill, and now the part file runs fine, but the Air Drill still doesn't move.

Dave

[Gary Campbell]

Dave ...
It appears you do not have power getting to the solenoid valve. Trace the connections, from the PDF manual, all the way from the control board, thru and verify at the relay board and right out to the connections at the solenoid valve.

A small digital voltmeter will be a big plus. Connections before the relay board will be ttl voltage (5vdc+/-) and 24VDC after.

Make sure the relay board has power to 1) power the board and 2) power to the relay that has the drill wiring attached

[dstacey]

I checked the connections where the red and black wires from the solenoid valve connect to the relay and the board earlier and I didn't measure any voltage with the switch on or off. I will check again and try to follow it back. It looks like I have to quit for today, my family is waiting for me. I get back after it Monday. I'll let you know what I come up with.

Thanks so much for your help Gary!
I'll owe you a big favor.

[dstacey]

Ok Gary,
I traced all of the wires back, checked every connection and made sure they all match the instructions to the PRSAlpha wiring diagram. I was able to run a part file, but the drill still doesn't activate.

I checked the voltage and I get 24 volts on the output hub on the realy board, measured between the 24+ point and the gnd point. However I don't get anything on the far side of the realy points, with the switch #5 in either the on or off position.

Also, if you notice in the pictures, the blue output light 5 comes on with the switch up, but the green imp light above it never does.

Thank you very much,
Dave

[Gary Campbell]

Dave...
There are some jumper settings on the board that allow you to set a specified output to a relay channel. IF the documentation for the board is unclear, you may want to contact SB tech supt. THey know those parts inside and out

[kevin]

i also had a hard time getting the drill going

Part of my problem was lose wire where drill is on top

[dlcw]

Dave,

What version of the control software are you running?

When I first installed my airdrill it would not start - like the problem you are having. I called Shopbot and they found a bug in the software that was fixed and I've not had a problem since.

Just a thought.

[dstacey]

Thanks for your help everyone. I spoke (several times) with the folks at SB and we kind of worked through the issue. I guess I have a bad chip or something on the main board that was preventing power from going to output 5,6,7,8.

In the end we moved the air drill to connect to output #3 on the main board and then changed the setup program variables to turn the air drill using # 3 rather than # 5. It seems to work fine now.

The alternative was to send the main board into SB and have them find the bad chip.

Thanks again.
Dave:)