My Z Track and Cutting motor stop Salutation

[Johnny49]

I thought I would share frustrating problem I was going through that almost drove me to my sledge hammer. I received a lot of helpful suggestions from here so I want to tell the story in hopes of helping someone else.

First my CW would start a project running fine. It would sometimes run for an hour then suddenly stop. I had error messages like Z Axis Stall Error, or X Axis Stall. The cutter would still be engaged in the wood. After checking this forum I checked the machine:
I cleaned and lubbed every inch.
I checked the Truck to make sure it was tight.
I checked all the roller bearings for damage.
I checked the belts.
Electrical board connections. Flex shaft, everything I could think of.
I ran test projects trying to see how the machine acted.

Finally after hours of work I started to notice during the test projects that the cutting motor would stop cutting, but the rest of the machine continued to work as though it was still cutting. That is untill the cutting bit would finally hang on the woood causing the Stall Errors.

That at least encouraged me to push on to find the answer.
Why was the motor stopping?
I checked for motor heat, but it was cool.
Again I checked and replaced the flex shaft. No help...

THEN as if GOD Himself came to my rescue. I reached into the gap for the flex shaft for some reason I don't remember and it put pressure on the left side of the clear protective shield and the motor turned on for just a second.
After checking things for a few hours I think I discovered something.
I'm not sure this is correct but it's my belief:
There are 2 safety switches in the henges of the clear front cover. The switch on the left controls the cutting motor, and the one on the right controls the movement of the Truck and feed.

The henges of the cover were worn and caused the switches to sometimes not be activated or move during the project cutting.
I DON'T RECOMMEND THIS: however I bypassed both switches and Ta Da !!!
Everything is working great and I can open the cover to vacume out the saw dust while in progress.

I hope this helps someone else. PLEASE use caution if you do this. The safety cover is there for a reason....

Johnny

[PCW]

Johnny

The switch on the right side of the machine opposite the keypad side is a safety switch for the cut motor and appears to be your problem.

[shotgun 6]

Johnny -- great post! I'm ffileing this one away for future reference. And, yes, God helps us with the little problems too!

[Digitalwoodshop]

Shotgun,

Before you pack the above post away, there is a little error in the first post....

"There are 2 safety switches in the henges of the clear front cover. The switch on the left controls the cutting motor, and the one on the right controls the movement of the Truck and feed. "


The Left switch closest to the keypad tells the computer that you opened the clear cover. You get a "Close Cover" Error on the keypad when this switch is open. The computer stops the Cut Motor, and Retracts the Z and stops the motion drives.

The Right Switch is the return path for the Cut Motor Power and is designed to prevent the Cut Motor from starting when the cover is open and you have your fingers on the bit.

So when the first poster had a Axis STALL and the key thing he posted is that the bit was still engaged in the wood.... Then that tells us that the cut motor stopped turning and the motion system was still moving. Hence the STALL in what ever axis was moving.... X Board Length or Y Left or Right.

The Right Cut Motor Switch could have been loose or the plastic cover screws are loose causing the plastic tang to not reach the switch. Pressing on the cover and the motor coming back on tells us it is a switch problem.

Another thing that can cause the cut motor to stall is SHORT BRUSHES. If you have over 250 CUT motor hours then you should be replacing the brushes..... A Stalled Cut Motor while using the 1/8 inch cut path bit will cause it to SNAP and you can send LHR $40.00 for another PLUS Cut Motor Brushes... Do you feel LUCKY....?

Another thing is the C1 Capacitor on the X Termination Board... It can break off one side due to QC Vibration. It will cause the Cut Motor to START without the computer telling it.... Like when you are changing a bit.... So that is why the 2 safety switches are SO Important..... It keeps you from having to wipe the blood off the rails and bearings after joining the 9 Digit Club.... So bypassing any safety switch is not recommended. Sony had a few guys in the 9 and 8 Digit Club when I worked there. They would be guest speakers at the Mechanic Training Classes on Safety along with the Bloody Gory 8 x 10 Photos....

So be careful....

Johnny49, Looks like it might just be a loose screw on the clear cover hinge, or a loose right switch.

AL

[shotgun 6]

Thanks, Al -- that goes into my "review file" along with Johnny's -- Johnny's primarily for the thought of using pressure through the flexchaft opening on the cover to discover the bad switch. As for the cover, I nipped the end of my left ring finger on a joinner that didn't have a blade guard several years ago and learned the hard way to use guards and covers. I recently replaced all z-truck bearings and one y-truck bearing -- caused probably by a stuck QC and the dummy operating it using too much pressure tryng to get the bits out -- along with a lot of dust -- replaced the QC with a Rock and added the ringneckblues dust collecter and have been going great ever since. Can't believe it took me over a year to discover that. Slow learner. I might add that you, askbud, rjustice, fletcher and many others have helped me out many times over the forum as I've gotten back into woodworking, and I can't thank you all enough for your help.

Bill