PH10T Datum Error

[Rich P]

Long Time Forum Observer (stalker) have not posted in a a long while

Any way started new job and went from 1 machine to 4 --4 Times the fun
Running a calibration routine for a TP200 SCR200 multi probe
While running hearing a crunching (like walnuts cracking) noise at angle change during probe tip calibration the PHC10-2 controller getting error message and datum error fault light is ON

First time today the angles were at A90 B 135 next time was at A90 B90
wrist error sounds and looks like but have not had issue on other probe tips but had other issues elsewhere so no time to try a different tip and it is time to go---- TGIF

Not looking forward to telling my new boss after being here only a week that we need 17-18 grand to replace this
Any ideas or fixes or things to try?
Only found similiar issue to PH9 and replies were replace for rebuild or new?
Thanks

[sealevel]

We went through a LOT of misery recently trying to track down an intermittent problem with a PH10MQ. No walnut noises as you descriibe, but we went through 2 RBE's before we finally had a tech come out. Turns out OUR prob was the Z rail cable. The rebuilt PH10MQ's (obviously all were good as it turns out) were a bit 'noisy' during wrist rotations, but not as bad as you describe. Also, we didn't get a Datum error light on the PHC-10-2, just a wrist error in PC-DMIS. You could d/l the .pdf's from Renishaw about troubleshooting Head problems,(they don't offer a whole lot of USER repairable options) but my simpleton opinion is that it sounds like the Head is toast. If it is? At least take solace in the fact that 17-18K to replace is a bit too high. An RBE (PH10MQ) ran us about 5K.
good luck!

[Poleaxe]

Not looking forward to telling my new boss after being here only a week that we need 17-18 grand to replace this
Any ideas or fixes or things to try?

RBE is the way to go....lot less than 17/18K.

[Rich P]

Thanks for responses and info on RBE's 5 is a lot less painfull
I will check out the troubleshooting guide from Renishaw and see if there is anything there too

Sealevel,
Did you guys swap out the Z connector cable to test it? Do you remember the price on this cable
Not Sure how interchangeable those are to different machines and the 2 CMM's in this building are diffferent
The Problem child here is a Brown & Sharpe Xcel and the other one is a Mititoyo retrofitted to PC-DMIS
Thanks again

[sealevel]

actually Rich, the Z cable was our last option, and no we didn't swap it out to test. Replacing it was a bit involved, so we let the Hexatech do it. Since our issue was intermittent, they also made no guarantee it would solve our problem. Here's what WE did:
first, swap out 1st PH10MQ. That didn't work. Figured maybe we got a bad one, so tried a second PH10MQ RBE. Same result, so we kinda figured it wasn't the PH10MQ since what are the odds we'd get 2 bad rebuilds in a row? We then swapped out the PHC-10-2 controller from our other machine and THAT was not it. Last thing we (and Hexagon) figured it could be was the Z rail cable (since it carried all signals from the PH10MQ). Oh, and we had already checked to make sure all connexions were tight. So after replacing Z cable, problem has not resurfaced in well over a month (knock wood)
Cost of the cable was $500, and the tech was here about 1 1/2 days @ around $135/hr. The 'sick' machine was a 2006 Global Advantage, and the other a 2005 Global Image.
But because of that 'walnuts' noise you described, I'll say again I think it's probably your PH10T. But I'm not a tech by any means, so take it for what it's worth.

[Rich P]

Thanks again for response
Have a quote for rebuilt PH10MT is 4800
Waiting on cable, unfortunatly different brand CMM is different cable that connects Z rail to Index Head
Renishaw suggested swapping out Index Head from a different machine to test this but that would mean 2 machines down and recalibration of all probing tips so I am going to discuss that idea with my boss or see if we can wait till weekend to try that.
Renishaw has sent me a graphical of different connectors so I can tell them which one it is for cable. I agree that that it is most likely the index head but if cable is short money I would like to give that a try before swapping index head just to see.