Hitachi Hmark 100 Hcut 345Q Alarm

[blakemachine]

I have a HItachi Hmark 100 control on my wire EDM. I have not had it running in a while has it used to have random alarms. Well today I tried to fire it back up to start diagnosing. It has a Z Encoder alarm of 443. I tried searching the web and came up empty handed on where to look from here. Obviously It thinks the Z encoder is bad, but is there a fuse or something else I should look for before buying a new encoder?

[blakemachine]

I swapped the entire encoder with the motor to the X axis and the problem still says Z. I then swapped the drives, and it still says Z. I reset all of the boards and still has the same problem. Where to look next?

[sodickappsguy]

I usually go to basics and check power to the drives and make sure that if they are three phase drives that all three phase has power. Can you verify that the motors turn under power or does it alarm as soon as you turn the machine on? If you can test the motors make sure that the z axis motor does turn and the encoder does respond properly(hook the z axis motor to the x axis). If all the above looks good take a meter and ohm out your wire harnes and check for a broken connection. Older machines can be prone to breaking at the connections or rub on a spot and ground out on the casting.