I have CNC'ed my HF Model 33686 only to have nothing but problems with this machine. I am having problems with my motors stopping intermitently mainly the Y Motor. When doing test cuts on parts not under any load or under load it doesn't matter when after about 45 minutes of running the Y axis just stops working where by the motor loses power and will not come back on unless i turn the whole machine off and back on again, after which it will run again until it decides to shut back down. I am using the folowing parts

Antec 50V 16A Unregulated Power supply
Gecko G202 Stepper Drivers
Sanyo Denki 710 oz-in stepper motors
Winford Engineering PC Parallel interface board
X & Y Axis are using the existing lead screws until i can get them replaced with ball screws
Z axis is using ball screws

I would guess that something is overheating or something loses logic state (such as the PC hanging). When you shut off the machine, do you have to let it cool for a bit, or do you just power it up right away and it works fine then? When running (and immediately when it dies) is any component getting excessively hot? Do you re-boot the PC as well, or do you leave that running?

When it happens again, try shutting off and re-starting selective components only so you can narrow down the problem. Try also swapping parts (such as both motors) to see if the problem moves to the X-axis. Try swapping drivers. Try swapping the outputs on the parallel interface card (and of course you'd have to swap in the machine control software) to see if that moves the problem to the X-axis.

Also, try cooling the parts, so see if that delays the onset of the problem.

Etc, etc, etc. You want to narrow it down as much as possible, and yes, it will take time to do this.

Cheers,
-Neil.

Put a fan on the Geckos. It seems this has happened to others and the fan can help if that's the problem.