y axis is sticking or hard to move

[Chris Reid]

I remember a time when I apply a little pressure to the truck and it moved smoothly along the y axis track. Now when I do it, I have to apply much more force and it is quite rough. Any Ideas on how to clean up or lube this.

I tightened the belt because I was getting yaxis stall errors and I noticed it to be getting bad. I have since loosened and again tightened it up and neither help. It almost seems like it is the gears or something. I am very sure that I didn't overtighten anything, the belt moves about 1/4 inch when I apply a simple pressure to it with my finger.

I have removed the cover and nothing is hitting the truck. I am about to try to remove the belt and see if the truck slides without the belt, but I dont want to do anything hasty until I hear from others.

I also remember a day when I started a project and the sound of the yaxis movement sounded a little different to me. Not bad, but not so mechanically smooth. This was before any tinkering at all. It was with about 9hrs on the machine ( I remember this because I had to clean the boardsensors and I stumbled upon it in the options)


Thanks guys.

Chris Reid

[DocWheeler]

Chris,

Sorry nobody got back to you yet, I'll try to answer what I can.

The truck will have a lot more resistance if the machine is on rather than off.
That would be my first thought, and probably yours.

There are instructions somewhere; what I recall is just cleaning the rails (wiping) and possibly applying some dry lube. Check the plastic wipers on the bearings, they snap on/off. See if dust has packed on the bearings themselves. There should be no roughness other than the motor being spun as the truck moves.

I hope this is helpful.

[Kenm810]

Hi Chris,

Welcome to the forum

If you try to move the (Y or Z) truck when the machine is on, your pushing against the axis motors and it will be tuff the move and feel very rough ( not a good idea to do ) if you try it to soon after you have turned the machine the results will be pretty much the same. It's wise to wait several minutes and you will feel a noticeable difference. Then if you still feel a lot of resistance and roughness, I would start looking at cleaning and checking the gears and belts again, a call to LHR for additional info wouldn't hurt either.


Ken ya must have slipped in there while I was typing http://www.carvewright.com/forum/images/smilies/icon_razz.gif

[ruggybear]

If the Y-axis is still problamatic when trying to move it while power is off, I would blowout the rails and area that the belt runs in with low pressure air. I have had to do that more than once.

[TerryT]

Ruggybear, good advice. Dust will build up in that channel. I blow it out after everycarve.

[Chris Reid]

To avoid some of the Y-Axis stall errors I periodically clean the machine while the piece is going. I will pause it, open up the cover, blow everything out and then restart it. I do this because the pieces of corian I am cutting are quite pricey and I can't afford to have any belt skips or stalls.

I didn't actually think about how the truck moves with the machine on or off, I will give it a test. Maybe I am over-worrying here (cheapskate).

I think I will just go ahead and give it a go... lets see what happens.

I will keep you guys posted.


EDITED:
I have had the cw off all day, went out and tried to apply a little pressure along the y-axis. Will only move back and forth about an inch. I am sure I remember moving it all the way with just a light constant pressure. Can anyone verify if theirs does this or not.

[ruggybear]

Chris,

My Y-axis moves the entire length with power off. After finishing a carve the Y-axis returns to the home position and parks. I turn the poser off and then move the truk to the middle position to remove the bit from the adapter. If I keep the channel clean I have no problem with the Y-axis movement.

[Chris Reid]

yep thats how I remember it. I think something is wrong with my gears/motors
Is it possible to check these or is this a job for the warranty.

[Digitalwoodshop]

You might find some of the cogs in either end of the belt might have sawdust impacted in the cogs causing that bumpy feeling. I had to replace the right idle gear because the C Clip came off and the sleeve bearing had worn and the gear wobbled.

Check for impacted sawdust in the belt of cogs.

AL

[Chris Reid]

Digitalwoodshop-
I am not sure what a cog is, but if it the part on the belt that matches with the gear head then: I blow them out constantly with air. Even right now with everything clean as a whistle, and unplugged. I would have to apply far too much force to make it move accross the track. Well actually, it will move about half an inch either way from the sticking point (about an inch total) with normal pressure. Hope that doesn't sound contradicting. (Basically there is about 1inch of play in it.)

Maybe it turned off and didn't release.
I will run some tests on it when I get home today.
Thanks for the response.

[Digitalwoodshop]

A half inch would point me to the valley in the two gears might have some impacted sawdust. Yes, Cogs are the tooth type gears. A repeatable thump as you move it is like a rock in the tire tread on your car. Look closely at the bottom of the cogs on both gears, scrape them clean if needed.

AL

[Chris Reid]

OK, now it is smoother again. Not as smooth as the z axis moving, but at least it released. Guess I will call cw this week and see what the problems might be. I will run some scrap wood through it and see if things are better. All I did, was turn it on and off a few times, tried to do a board measure on width about 20 times. After a few minutes of doing this it started loosening up. Can't see any signs of what may have been causing it. Whatever it is, is probably what is causing my Y-Axis stalls.

[liquidguitars]

Chris,
When it carves look at the idler pulley "small wheel on the right" if it is not running true or moving out of round, it could be your Y pack needs a replacement.

LG

[Chris Reid]

Just got my machine back here was the tech report sheet shipped to me.
Have run some tests and everything seems good again. It is just how I remembered it when I got it. Right before I sent it in, I could hardly move the truck, even with considerable force. This was a gradual process, getting more and more stuck. My board sensor was failing too, not part of earlier posts.
Anyways, hope this helps...

USAGE: 17hrs

Reason for return: Y STALL

They found the following problems:

Z TRUCK LOOSE
PINCHED BOARD SENSOR WIRE


Repaired Parts:

ADJUSTABLE ROLLER SHAFT & WASHER
BOARD SENSOR SEALED / WIRE GUARD
BOARD SENSOR WIRE
POWER SUPPLY FOAM