Calibration program suddenly not working right

[[Da...]]

For YEARS I have had a calibration program that pulls all of the 4 probes in the rack, one by one and calibrates them automatically. One of our 4 machines finished with one of the probes showing yellow. I opened the characteristic, and it showed it had not been calibrated. I checked the default printout, and it said that the probe did not exist. I called up the probe and manually asked for a recalibration, and it ran fine. I deleted the probes from the cal program and then put them back. The program ran fine, I saved and thought I was done with the problem. That was last week.

This week, 2 of the machines had yellow characteristics and showed that the probes were not calibrated! This included the one that I thought I had fixed.
The machine from last week is ver. 7.6.04 SP1
This week's machine is ver. 7.6.0806 SP2
Chip readers are off on both machines, and each has a separate cal program. programs are stored on the network.

Anybody having these issues? Any ideas?

[[Ri...]]

What are the Sigma values for the affected probes?

[[Da...]]

.000007 to .000005

[[Ri...]]

Check to ensure the correct Reference Sphere is selected.
In the Probing system qualification dialog box check that the "Mode" and "RS" are correct (there are two choices for "RS", RS1 and RS2.
Select each stylus tip in the right side and look at the Mode label below for each styli.
I do not have the answer, these are things I would look at.

Capture.PNG

[[Mi...]]

Was it this error?
Had you ran that probe manually instead of a calibration progam you likely would have gotten the 1215 SDO error ( I forget the exact wording), but it will mean the S value calculated was so high it's not even going to show you and it disqualifies the probe in question.

Dirt
Loose Probe/Extension/Head
Bad head( seen it with XXT and XT)
Bad vibrations in the motors
Bad Uhingnut(if DuraMax)
Bad Ball Screw (if GageMax)
Bad Air bearings(if applicable machine type)
Bad Probe

Sometimes, actually deleteing and recreating the probe is required to fix it.
Sometimes power cycling the controller, redoing the MasterProbe and then recalibrating fixes it.

Basically what I'm getting at is likely start considering mechanical issues/hardware failures, unless this is some weird software bug in the newer software, when we start getting it, a while after we always find a hardware issue.

Since you're talking about the programs being stored on the network, which is generally not a great idea unless you have the actuals stored locally I would suggest you move the programs locally and see if the problem goes away first. I'm not sure storing the actuals locally will be enough for a calibration program.

[[Cr...]]

Another issue I've seen when there is yellow in my qualification program, which doesn't sound like it is in your case, is because the probe name in the program does not exactly match the probe name in the machine.

[[Da...]]

Michael, and Rick.
I have checked and rechecked everything that you've mentioned and found no problems. I forgot to mention that during the programmed run, the probe is picked up, the machine clears the rack then puts the probe back in the rack. It never checks it! These programs have run for years with no problem. We've even upgraded the calypso version with no problems ever before.

[[Mi...]]

Please sign in to view this quote.

Oh... well then yeah anything I said doesn't apply, except network programs, especially calibration programs sounds like a bad idea. Even if there was a Chip ID issue or Disc Contact error it would have Red lighted and stopped.

Next time you calibrate I would try( Like the scorched Earth method for stuff like this, and if you're calibrating anyway it'll hardly cost you any time):
-Fresh restart of the CMM and Calypso
-Delete the entire Stylus System in question.
-Delete the Calibration Characteristic
-Remake the Stylus System, 1 probe at a time not from PCF files(Watch your Naming/Numbering)
-Remake the Calibration Characteristic


Again, unless this is some 7.6xx related bug - hopefully somebody will chime in.

Last thought, I *Think* I've seen the CMM do something like this when there was an issue with the Calibration Sphere. So Rick's first answer may be more on the right track.

[[Ri...]]

Please sign in to view this quote.

I have seen this happen, and for the life of me, I can not recall what it was.

[[Da...]]

Michael, I think you are right, I will burn it all to the ground and start over. AAHHH Calypso ! 🙄