Found my Y axis issue

[lostinthefrost]

So as you all know I have been posting in this forum and the troubleshooting about my y axis problem. Alot of you have been a huge help in trying different things. Today I fired up the old CW and it was humming along perfectly until I heard a noise. Then it stopped. Luckily the bit didnt get damaged. Check it out though...

[newcarver]

Alot of this is visual inspection also. Would have been the last thing I would have guessed...

[Digitalwoodshop]

I have had that a few times. If I was a betting man, I would bet that your Y Problem is still with you after you replace the Z Truck. I believe they are unrelated. Don't want to step on any toes, but I would check the Y Gear Box for a sloppy big gear.

Good Luck,

AL

[lostinthefrost]

AL when you say "sloppy" what do you mean? I did pull it out and get all of the dust of out it. I still need to get some lithium grease for it, but I have a week before I get the new ztruck. Do you have any other ideas what I could do in the mean time to check?

[Digitalwoodshop]

AL when you say "sloppy" what do you mean? I did pull it out and get all of the dust of out it. I still need to get some lithium grease for it, but I have a week before I get the new ztruck. Do you have any other ideas what I could do in the mean time to check?

Remove the Y Axis again and remove the plastic cover. Remove the C Clip in the back and pull out the big plastic gear. Look for shaft wear, shaft thinner near the big gear end. Have a micrometer measure it? or install it and holding the area where the belt hooks try the wobble test.... If it wobbles then when it is installed in the metal of the machine. The area just behind the belt cog area can hit the right side or center of machine part of the black U where it is mounted. In one direction of rotation it hits in another it misses. The Hits or rubbing can cause a stall.

Without holding it in my hand it is hard to explain. I expect as all the machines age, the things I have already seen will be seen by others.

Worn Y Gear box.

Broken C1 Capacitor in the X Termination board.

Ball Bearing holding the Flex Shaft into the Top Cap wearing out or leaving a notch in the flex area where the ball bearing rubs.

Broken in half Flex Shaft core.

The Y Idle Cog gear on the right start to wobble... Worn out.... Replaced 2 already on machine 1 and 2.

Cut Motor Brushes every 300 hours.

QC's every few months... Scratch that one.... Found a Rock to fix that...

AL

[DocWheeler]

I did this test carve to document the problems that I have.

My Y axis problem is getting worse and I don't know the cause.
Since day one, two-sided carves never matched in the Y direction.
It has gotten progressively worse to the point that it can now be off by as much as 3/4".

The pictures below are unusual in that it is usually the Front side that is off, which ruins any cutout features that are on the mpc since a "Front" mpc will not have the back routings, this time it was the back that was off.

It measures the board okay but starts in the wrong place. The Y motor was replaced about four months ago. I checked the encoder and it is clean. This problem has occurred with both Y motors so I think it is something else.

If anyone can help me with this, I'd appreciate it.

[liquidguitars]

It measures the board okay but starts in the wrong place.

yea its really important to hit that same location each time,
your happy with how you do it , so could it be the Aux roller that needs a good clean?

Also you can index the y measurement to the stop fence
selecting menue "keep original size".

LG

[Digitalwoodshop]

My number one guess would be that the Encoder solder joints are cracked at the point where the round pin and the copper trace goes off on the circuit board. Remove the Y Motor and have someone inspect and resolder the pins looking at the space from the pin to flat trace.

LHR sells the encoder and you could invest in one and remove the old one and solder another.. Or just order another Y motor....

Could be the 14 pin flat FSC Cable too but my money is on the Y Encoder.

AL

[DocWheeler]

...so could it be the Aux roller that needs a good clean?

Also you can index the y measurement to the stop fence
selecting menue "keep original size".

LG

Brandon,

I'm not sure about what you are telling me here. "Aux roller", are you talking about what I call the "idler" that holds tension on the Y belt? And, "keep original size" seems to be not "Y" specific and is always a yes and is never present on two-sided carves that I recall.

Al,

I was leaning in that direction myself but was confused since the problem seems to have been there from the beginning (2007) and I have updated the Z bundle and it is a new Y motor so both the encoder and flat cable have been replaced.

General plea,

Folks, I screwed up by randomly picking patterns to put on my test board, I selected commercial patterns and posted the mpc - a major no-no.
I am asking that if anyone took advantage of my stupidity and lifted the pattern from my post that you consider sending Michael Tyler an amount equal to the value that the pattern has to you - if it has no value to you, please delete it.

[scouse]

I am really worried now, my machine is 17 hours old and it appeared the flexshaft overheated, I have got a new one coming but as I raised the head to take out the old flex shaft a very small shiny ,almost looked like the head of a rivet, dropped to the belt underneath, have no clue where this came from, but prior to overheating the machine appeared to go off track during carving, miscut across bt about 1/2 inch then continued on its way ? I am worried that I have other issues that won't surface until I put bach the flexshaft, can this machine be plugged in and put through some testing without the flexshaft ?:confused:

[Kenm810]

That a look inside of the Top Hat flex-Shaft receiver on top top of the "Z" Truck
to see if the Ball Bearing or part of Ball Bearing is missing.
Not Likely but just a thought.

[bjbethke]

I am really worried now, my machine is 17 hours old and it appeared the flexshaft overheated, I have got a new one coming but as I raised the head to take out the old flex shaft a very small shiny ,almost looked like the head of a rivet, dropped to the belt underneath, have no clue where this came from, but prior to overheating the machine appeared to go off track during carving, miscut across bt about 1/2 inch then continued on its way ? I am worried that I have other issues that won't surface until I put bach the flexshaft, can this machine be plugged in and put through some testing without the flexshaft ?:confused:
It could be the small ball bearing that holds the FS in the z-truck. Remove the top cap to see if the bearing is still there. If the FS was not fully seated it could cause the over heating. It may have damaged the z-truck also.

[scouse]

No, its not the bearing, official reply from Carvewright is that it takes 6 weeks to come from the factory in China, then sits in a warehouse for unknown length of time before sold, so the FS probably dried out !! kind of like buying a car, just getting it off the dealers lot and the wheels fall off, walk back to the dealer and he tells you it has been sitting on his lot for sometime, so I should have greased the wheel bearings before I drove it !!! The president of Carvewright I saw in a comment on thier site is impressed with the sales figures, with an after sales attitude that Carvewright appears to have that will soon drop, a warning to all potential purchasers of this piece of junk, do your homework, make sure it is lubricated , no where in thier literature in the box or website do they warn of this potential danger, I now have A $2000.00 bench ornament with a $300.00 box of bits and have to try to repair this myself, not knowing what other damage has been done, for instance a shiny piece of metal like the head of a rivet, very,very small dropped out of the head when I cranked it up to get at the flexshaft, was it in there from the Chinese plant or has something else dropped off ?
Not ver happy with Carvewright.

[Kenm810]

Per-Chance is the shiny piece of metal like the head of a rivet, magnetic,
some folks have found some of the small 1/4" round magnets from the tool holder cases
laying around in side of the machines.

[Hexe SA]

Per-Chance is the shiny piece of metal like the head of a rivet, magnetic,
some folks have found some of the small 1/4" round magnets from the tool holder cases
laying around in side of the machines.

I have the same mystery part and I don't have a tool holder case. Still have not been able to figure out where it comes from. It is 1/4" diameter white plastic and has a square shiny magnet in it. The machine still scans but carving is out because the bit and bit holder wobble bad and no the z-truck and QC are tight. Since I'm lucky enough to have a second machine still under warrenty I'm not in a real crunch.
Eva

[bdehoyos]

Remove the Y Axis again and remove the plastic cover. Remove the C Clip in the back and pull out the big plastic gear. Look for shaft wear, shaft thinner near the big gear end. Have a micrometer measure it? or install it and holding the area where the belt hooks try the wobble test.... If it wobbles then when it is installed in the metal of the machine. The area just behind the belt cog area can hit the right side or center of machine part of the black U where it is mounted. In one direction of rotation it hits in another it misses. The Hits or rubbing can cause a stall.

Without holding it in my hand it is hard to explain. I expect as all the machines age, the things I have already seen will be seen by others.

Worn Y Gear box.

Broken C1 Capacitor in the X Termination board.

Ball Bearing holding the Flex Shaft into the Top Cap wearing out or leaving a notch in the flex area where the ball bearing rubs.

Broken in half Flex Shaft core.

The Y Idle Cog gear on the right start to wobble... Worn out.... Replaced 2 already on machine 1 and 2.

Cut Motor Brushes every 300 hours.

QC's every few months... Scratch that one.... Found a Rock to fix that...

AL


Al, do you just replace the gear or the whole assembly?

[Digitalwoodshop]

After looking at that first picture in the first post I see the Z Spindle Damper is falling down..... What was I thinking.... That was a MAY post.

Not sure what gear you are asking about....

AL