Seems like everything takes me longer than I anticipate and installing the X axis DRO was no exception. I decided to mount it on the backside, out of the way of the gib screws and locking lever. It took a few passes and test fits but I finally got the shape of the bracket to a workable state. The bracket will mount using the screws that hold the rubber guard and with that in mind I milled out a strip in the aluminum to ensure the screw would still engage the threads in the table. The two small holes is where the DRO sensor mounts to.
A test fit revealed I needed to cut out some more of the bracket so as not to impede the travel of the sensor unit.
The final fit.
Installing the assembly onto the mill, I noticed the plug for the wire was loose where it goes into the DRO. I jiggled it slightly and what do you know, it came completely off and fell inside the plastic case with the wire still attached. th_wtf1 Well, I knew this was cheap and came from China so I can't say I was shocked.
I carefully took the unit apart and saw some pretty shoddy manufacturing. The socket (looks like a USB type) was cold soldered. Whats more, you can see in the pic they didn't bother to clean the board of solder flux. Over time this will contaminate the solder joints.
I cleaned out some of the flux residue from around the surface mount components. Not having a solder tip small enough for the teeny tiny PCB pads I took a PTA7 tip I had and put it to the grinder to get a fine tip. Then I re-tinned all the PCB pads for the socket, legs and pins, just by touching the iron to them briefly.The metal socket case has a coating that inhibits the wetting action of the solder flux so I took a very small file and filed the legs a little to reveal the metal underneath the coating then soldered the socket securely.
Next I briefly touched the iron to the signal pins just long enough to get the solder to join. Since both the pin and pad were tinned it was just a matter of heating the solder as opposed to heating the pin and pad.
Now it works. I'm still thinking about notifying Grizzly to see if they will send me a new one for backup.
The installed DRO. This week I plan to install a strip of plexi glass over the top of the assembly. A couple dabs of silicon glue should do it.
The Y axis readout should fit nicely right above this one. Dang it! I hate it when I come in the house from the workshop, download the latest pics to the compooter only to see some are out of focus!
This week I'll install the Y axis DRO. That one should be a lot easier and I anticipate it should go fast. :big:
-Trout
