Weirdness that just started

[EStegall]

What does it mean when the arrow jog keys stop functioning properly?
Specifically, the X is fine, but the Y axis, both arrows, up and down, move the gantry the same direction. This happened out of the blue. I cant see anything overtly wrong with the leads. Here's something though, just after I turn the controller on, I can get it to move correctly over a period of about 10 seconds, then it's back to both arrows moving the Y the same direction. Also, Ref all home has the same effect, it tries to home, but the Y is moving in the wrong direction.

Now, the stepper sounds like its having a rough go of it, as well. What should I dissect first?

Thanks Guys,
Eric

[Big S]

I am guessing that the connectors on the cable are playing up, make sure they are clean and tight, on both ends, to the DSP handpeice and to the machine control box.

This seems to be a common issue with Excitech routers.

Otherwise it could be a connection to the stepper motor driver inside the machine. worst case would be that a stepper driver is malfunctioning.

Shannon.

[EStegall]

Thank you very much. I will take the box apart again this evening and hope for the best!

[EStegall]

Originally Posted by Big S I am guessing that the connectors on the cable are playing up, make sure they are clean and tight, on both ends, to the DSP handpeice and to the machine control box. This seems to be a common issue with Excitech routers. Otherwise it could be a connection to the stepper motor driver inside the machine. worst case would be that a stepper driver is malfunctioning. Shannon.

Ok Shannon, heres what I found:
All wires in tact and retightened, etc.
Pulled the stepper, same running issues.
Switched the inputs so the X was getting the signal from the Y, duplicate problem.
Does this mean its the board?

Eric

[cabnet636]

probably the driver, be careful not to blow dust into your driver thinking you are cleaning it off!!

jim

[EStegall]

Originally Posted by cabnet636 probably the driver, be careful not to blow dust into your driver thinking you are cleaning it off!! jim

Well, perhaps I am too late with the air chuck... I actually used to blow off the housing quite frequently! I'm going to test the cable lead-for-lead tomorrow, praying that there's a short, and that it will fix the problem.

I keep trying to think on the positive side... what a great way to learn about my router! Too bad the jobs are piling up. Thanks for your post.

[Big S]

It almost seems to me as if the stepper driver or hand piece isn't outputting the direction part of the step/direction signal. Does the problem still happen on the same axis/drive when you have swapped the signal leads over? If that is the case I would suspect the stepper motor driver unit itself.

If the problem changes to the other drive when you swap the cables then it is most likely to be in the DSP or the cables somewhere.

I hope this makes sense.

Shannon.

[EStegall]

Hi Guys,
Traced it all down to the controller board in the main box. 1/2 of the signal had very low voltage. Of course, I did this over the weekend, when Tigertec was closed. A drawn out experience, to be certain. Right down to finding the schematics for the board on the Chinese website. I should mention that I do not read Chinese.

When I phoned David on Monday, he had me check the input card in the smaller parallel interface box to verify that both signals were happening there, before faulting the the controller board. They were. He told me how to map the Y axis over to the (unused) 4th axis on the cards. This was ridiculously simple. Now it all works brilliantly.

And then...

So, there I was milling along, giggling. After almost 3 weeks down, being up is, well... up! Now, heretofore, I had been using 1/4" tooling. So I purchased the 3/8 spindle collet and proceeded to break a thread on the spindle whilst tightening it. Long story short, I had to cut the nut off with a Dremel hand piece. Now to clean up those threads whilst I await my new nut from FedEx.

Thanks again guys for responding to my post. You are the reason that I did not freak-completely-out.