I got my Easy ATC last week and I think I did a good job of following the installation instructions in the manual (from the Onefinity Support Page) and this video " Installing the Rapid Change Easy ATC on Onefinity Elite Masso" on YouTube
I have not, however, had very much luck in getting the ATC to actually work for me.
Using the subroutines downloaded from the WebUI for the ATC, sometimes the “Load Tool #.nc” routine works perfectly. Other times, it fails because the collet has tipped over and blocks the spindle or the collet nut is cross threaded or it just fails to engage with the collet nut. This same behavior happens on all 4 of the positions.
Any ideas what could be going on here? Maybe the zero is off? If that is it, what is the reference point for setting the zero? I used the maximum UP position for the Z axis for reference.
The “Tool Change Test.nc” program has failed every time I have tried it. Sometimes because of one of the above problems, other times because the collet nut comes off, but the collet + bit stay in the spindle when it moves to the next position.
One other observation, I manually loaded a Jenny bit and ran a few jobs then tried the “Unload Current Tool.nc” job to send it to position 1. When it unloaded, it also dumped a fair bit of sawdust that had accumulated around the collet/nut into the position 1 cup. That can’t be good but it seems like it would happen frequently if you do jobs that use the same bit for a while before unloading it.
So far, I think I’ve probably dedicated more time to the ATC than I would have spent changing bits manually for the next several months. If anyone has any tips about these issues and would be willing to share, I’d greatly appreciate it. Since I’m just a hobbyist and not trying to run the machine at a production level, this things seems to be more trouble than it’s worth.
As frustrating as setting up new systems can be, your following the instruction manual and support video will go a long way in helping others when providing you support, and helping you to understand it as well.
A few things come to mind…
The collet if seated properly to start should not be able to ‘tip’ to the point where it interferes with the tool changes. I would double check the collets are correctly inserted into the nut, and also make sure the tool assemblies are seated all the way down inside their magazine pockets.
It sounds like a setting may be off if the successful tool changes are intermittent. The WebUI is constantly being updated and improved, and one fairly recent feature is the ability to save/print a page that summarizes your settings. It is under advanced in the settings - and called view profile details. If you have the time and energy perhaps you can share this as it may hold a clue.
Can you clarify what you mean by zero being off? The critical Z height, as it pertains to the Easy ATC, is determined using/running the find Z position program (after homing) and recording the machine coordinate Z value.
I know that Onefinity tests each machine and wiring harness as a pair, and that they run a successful tool change program of all 5 (4 magazine + 5th manual) tools, so I am sure the community can solve the issue(s) you have.
Finally, you may want to contact Don at RapidChange for support. The access code he provides enables him to identify your specific setup and parameters, and his expertise will get you going quickly I am sure.
I think my “tipping” problem was caused by a bad collet. I switched the problematic one out with another one and that hasn’t happened any more.
I also rechecked my X, Y and Z positions. My new positions were within 0.01" of the old ones so I don’t know if that’s enough to make a big difference but it’s better now so maybe it is.
I’m still having inconsistent results on the loading though that I think are related to my Z height.
For the Zero on the Z axis, I put the slider in its highest position and zero’d it there before running the Find Z Position program. I’ve run that multiple times and get a different number each time but they’re all within 0.002" of each other so I picked a mid-point for that (-2.132" on my machine).
Sometimes the “Load” command works perfectly. Some times it loads the tool, but the collet nut is only finger tight and other times it doesn’t grab the collet nut at all… I think this means that the spindle is coming up just short of the threads grabbing so I might adjust the Z height down a little to give it a better chance.
The Find Z is run with the collet nut+collet+endmill installed, and lowered into the pocket to the point past the IR beam being blocked - the LED goes on. Apologies if that is what you are doing but thought I’d check.
Also, you are using the same units for your gcodes and the WebUI setup?
Also, a copy of your parameter summary would be great if you have time to post it.
My machine and the WebUI settings are both in Imperial units.
Here’s where I’m not getting the Find Z Position problem…when I run the program, it’s going to give me a number on the Masso screen but that number has to be relative to something, right?
When I raise the Z-axis all the way up, zero it out and then lower the spindle (with a collet+nut+Jenny bit installed) until the light comes on, then run the Find Z Position program, I get a number between -2.13" and -2.2" (the -2.24" in the screen shot is from me experimenting).
If I just run the program without zeroing the Z-axis, I get a much different number but what is it relative to? It doesn’t look to me like the Find Z Position adjusts for the current reading on the Masso before it starts raising the spindle.
From your numbers…
assuming you are homing to the top height of the Z travel…
your spindle is travelling down 2.1" at which point the collet nut just blocks the IR beam…
Does that seem correct?
And these are all machine coordinate values?
I work in metric, but after doing the conversions, your offset values seem to be consistent with those that Don at Rapidchange has shown.
Those are all machine coordinates with the X and Y zeroes at the most forward and left position and the Z zero with the spindle raised all the way up.
I center the spindle over the first pocket and then lower it until the light on the ATC comes on. Then I run the Find Z Position program and it raises it until the light just goes out. That position gives me a number in the -2.12 to -2.2 range.
FWIW, I’ve adjusted the Z-position to values ranging from -2.1 to -2.4 in .1 increments and none are working consistently at any of the pockets.
At this point, I’m going to pause my efforts to diagnose it and give Onefinity a call in the next few days. Either we will (1) get it worked out, (2) there will be a new post in the For Sale category or (3) it will receive the Humpty Dumpty treatment.
Thanks for all the thought you’ve put into this…you definitely went above and beyond!
I would second it with getting a hold of Don, he is very quick and very good with his product, just a note, I have had his ATC for a while now and had absolutely no issue, many hundreds of tool changes no issue, great product.
Pat
How low do you have your spindle in the mount?
I just can’t understand how your collet nut triggers the sensor inside that pocket when your spindle has only travelled down 2.1" from home position…
This is not a completely new machine and setup is it?
I went to the RapidChange website and used the contact form to request help with the loading issue.
Don called me pretty quickly after that (which I wasn’t expecting at all on Memorial Day) and helped me work through it.
Here are the tweaks that we did to get everything working:
A slight change to the pocket spacing because Pocket 1 was working better than the others down the line. I don’t recommend changing this except at the direction of Don.
Increased the load RPM’s to increase the inertia when tightening the collet nut to 2000. Don may be changing his default setting for the 1.5Kw spindles because they don’t have quite the oompf of his 2.2Kw spindle.
I dressed the lead in threads on both the spindle and the collet nuts with some emory cloth to make sure that there weren’t any burrs that could be causing the hang ups.
I changed the slot positions in the Tool Changer -Type 2 settings to all be the same as the Tool Setter instead of Pocket 1 to save some extraneous movement on tool changes.
I reduced the spin-up and spin-down times in the Spindle settings so the process would go a little faster.
Once these changes were made, I was able to successfully load each of the tool pockets individually and when running the Tool Change Test program to cycle through all 4.
I think this may have the issue resolved but will need to run a few jobs before I am confident in it.
Thanks to Don for going out of his way to work through this with me.
Also, for reference, here’s a picture of my spindle in the Z-slider…I could raise it a bit but not a lot before I would run out of room for the dust shoe.
That is what the manual instructs you to do - you must have missed that.
I highlight this only so others do not get confused when doing their installations.
Was the “Installing the Rapid Change Easy ATC on Onefinity Elite Masso” video on yourtube taken down? I watched it a couple of weeks ago before the ATC arrived, now that it has arrived I went back to watch the video again and can’t seem to find it.
