Scanning Probe problem

[crazyhammer]

Ok,, maybe someone had had this happen before and can shed some light on this problem. When trying to scan I can jog to the first position and confirm. When I hit enter to confirm the head raises up and the display goes blank. The sled starts tracking very slow. Also wante to say hi to everyone.. It's been a while since I posted. Pulled the CW out of storage and it works fine outside of this scanning probe problem.. It did do one scan successfully and on the second scan it started this problem. Any help would be great ! or point me to a thread that may help,, Thanks in advance !!

[RMarkey]

Sounds like your sled isn't making good contact with your tracking roller.

[AskBud]

Ok,, maybe someone had had this happen before and can shed some light on this problem. When trying to scan I can jog to the first position and confirm. When I hit enter to confirm the head raises up and the display goes blank. The sled starts tracking very slow. Also want to say hi to everyone.. It's been a while since I posted. Pulled the CW out of storage and it works fine outside of this scanning probe problem.. It did do one scan successfully and on the second scan it started this problem. Any help would be great ! or point me to a thread that may help,, Thanks in advance !!I'm going to guess at a head pressure problem (too tight), or the connect points where the 2 cords connect is not making good contact. If you do a sensor check, at this point, you may see an "Open" probe reading. Just for starters!

How does the sled travel, on the X-path (forward & back) prior to selecting your start point?
I, sometimes, have to load my sled with the opposite end of the model under the truck in order to get good X movement. It's like the machine is out of track in one direction.

One more thing you must watch for is the height of the model, in relation to your sled rails! The model may not be above your rails, as it will bind on the rollers where the model exceeds the rails and could break a gear or the model. If in doubt, take a piece of straight stock, Place it across both rails and make sure it can pass over the model. If not, place an added set of rails on the sled to give you clearance (I just lay them in place). I have several sets, each a different dimension, just to keep from stacking too many temporary sets.

AskBud

[crazyhammer]

Yep,, Have a tracking roller problem,, pulled the probe off and put the carving bit in to see if it was a probe only problem and got the check tracking roller.. Thinking I need to pull the rollers and clean the sensors..

[AskBud]

Yep,, Have a tracking roller problem,, pulled the probe off and put the carving bit in to see if it was a probe only problem and got the check tracking roller.. Thinking I need to pull the rollers and clean the sensors..Start with a run of masking tape to help the brass roller. That may cure your problem.
AskBud

[crazyhammer]

Ok,, I want to thank Bud and Metallus for there sugestions.. There post sent me in the right direction. I did get the problem solved but, I'm thinking it's not a very common one. After checking everything from encoder wheel to o-ring, head pressure and electrical connections here's the end result. It was the pc board for the encoder. Because this has been in storage it developed some corrosion problems. I've already had to replace the card reader due to the led post to PC board corroding in half. Of course I did solder it back together and used the rigged card reader that read cards and wrote to them without any of the LED's lighting up until the new one arrived. Anyway,, it appears that dust was on the back side of the encoder wheel reader and that's where the corrosion was.. or led and photocell box. One of the post on the photocell box had corroded and required re soldering to the PC board.. I was able to remove a small amount of protective pc board coating on the contact area and placed a small amount of extra Solder to strengthen the connection.. All is well now although I will be getting a new Tracking wheel assembly just in case.. Again,, thanks guys for all your help .

[chebytrk]

And that's reason # _-------- why this forum is so valuable. I'm glad you fixed it. :)

[AskBud]

Now, one of the things remaining is the cord going bad at the probe (it happens)!
You can tell as it either quits or bounces, even though it's not touching any surface. The solution is to slightly move the cord to see if you can find a good contact curvature. Once found, use masking tape to hold the cord in that position (somewhere on the chuck or truck). This will extend the life of that probe.
AskBud

[RMarkey]

We use a conductive gel at the 3 touch points inside the probe itself to keep corrosion to a minimum. Most times it will never fail, but it can be something to check. 90% of the time its the cable, though.