SIEG iKC4 Lathe - ATC issues and refit

[PeterE]

Hi,

I have been running an SIEG iKC4 lathe which was an ex-demo from Axminster but several months ago the ATC stop rotating and the machine hangs.

Several months of discussion with SIEG over email has concluded the KT510 CNC controller has an issue but they have advised that this is $1100 to replace (plus VAT, import duty and shipping.)

I cannot spend this type of money at the moment but really want to get the machine back up and running!

I was considering trying to source a used KT510 or replace the ATC controller with a new motion controller. (I can pause code and change offsets in the SIEG software still.)

The Yako stepper motor driver all works fine but I was not sure about the best route for a controller board, break out and motion controller software to just rotate the ATC. (I do not have access to an old parallel port PC so Mach 3 is not an option.)

Any advice on where I should start?

[JohnHaine]

You can use M3 with a usb motion controller such as the uc100 under win10.

[PeterE]

You can use M3 with a usb motion controller such as the uc100 under win10.

Thanks John, I will take a look at the UC100 coupled with Mach3.

[JohnHaine]

I have two, running my lathe and mill. But how many stepper motors do you need to run? The UC100 is limited to 4 I think.

[needleworks]

I have a denford orac which runs off a UC100, everything runs fine (well as fine as Mach3 will allow) in fact I would say it runs a lot smoother since I moved to the UC100

[Neale]

I suspect that with an ATC in the picture, the UC100 might not have enough I/O ports which would suggest looking at the UC300 or UC400. And if you are doing that, then I would certainly go Ethernet rather than USB. Ethernet ports are a lot more common these days than parallel ports - and a whole lot better !

[Doddy]

Having banged my head against another forum member's ATC (Matron!) for a goodly while, I'd suggest that you'll want to research exactly the control/state-machine/timing required by the ATC and have a considered plan for how you want to go about this. Particularly, if the control system for the ATC is provided by the KT510 (probable), replacing with a generic motion controller is unlikely to offer an out-the-box solution.

Having said that - I know nothing of the ATC on that Lathe.

[m_c]

Before I make any suggestions, I'd like to see some photos of the lathe in question, and any information on the turret.

Personally, I'd say it's more likely to be some kind of electrical failure (what actually rotates the turret?), rather than the controller. It would be good to know what checks have been done to establish that it's a controller issue.

[PeterE]

Before I make any suggestions, I'd like to see some photos of the lathe in question, and any information on the turret.

Personally, I'd say it's more likely to be some kind of electrical failure (what actually rotates the turret?), rather than the controller. It would be good to know what checks have been done to establish that it's a controller issue.

I'll send some photos in my next reply as I am away from it at the moment.

I worked through the issue with SIEG and checked that there were no conflicts with other applications occupying UDP ports as as firewall issues between the PC and the lathe. (PC and Lathe are connected over a Ethernet connection.)

As directed by SIEG:
Checked the voltage from the switching PSU used by the ATC
Increased the current from the Stepper-Motor Driver (number turns suggested by SIEG)
Then replaced the switch PSU used by the ATC and verified the voltage was in the correct range

I spoke to another engineer in the UK that has some experience with the iKC4 and he suggested updating the firmware version as this has resolved these issues in the past. Unfortunately this did not work. He then suggested a visual inspection of the motion controller board to see if there were any obviously blown ICs. There are none.

I will reply with some details regards stepper motor drivers, etc. shortly.

[PeterE]

Having banged my head against another forum member's ATC (Matron!) for a goodly while, I'd suggest that you'll want to research exactly the control/state-machine/timing required by the ATC and have a considered plan for how you want to go about this. Particularly, if the control system for the ATC is provided by the KT510 (probable), replacing with a generic motion controller is unlikely to offer an out-the-box solution.

Having said that - I know nothing of the ATC on that Lathe.

Hi Doddy, yes I appreciate it will not offer an OTTB solution as well as giving me issues as I would have to pause code on one controller while I rotate the tool with a Mach3 solution. I really do not want to go down this route but SIEG have suggested a new KT510 will be $1100 plus VAT, duty and shipping which is money I cannot spend at the moment.

Yes, the KT510 is control system and I would have to resolve timings, etc. Again, not a route I want to go down but may not have a choice if I want a working lathe.