New 2 me problem

[want2b]

Ran a small sign for a friend multiple times with small tweaks. Suddenly early into the carve heard the carver stop. Went in and had the message of "POWER FLUCTUATION" PRESS ENTER TO CONTINUE. Hadn't noticed any lights flickering so I hit enter and off we went. Just cleared the room and it stopped again. Found the same message, so hit it again but this time instead of starting I got a 'CLOSE COVER" message. I had not touched the cover but I lifted it and then closed it and hit enter. Then got a message of "MOTION FLUSH W/O SERVO ERR E048-0303" . This time I shut down and have not done anything to it. Anybody have experience with something like this??
I had run the carve several times with no problem but wanted to try one with cypress vs the original done in pine.
Rick H

[mtylerfl]

Power fluctuation was a common occurrence for a guy that called me for help many years ago. The machine didn't do it all the time and was intermittent. I suggested it might be a bad power supply. Then...one day he called while his machine was running and the power fluctuation happened while we were on the phone. FINALLY, it occurred to me to ask, "Do you have anything else on the same circuit as the machine?" "Why, yes I do!", says he. Turns out it was a chest freezer on the same circuit and each time the compressor cycled on during the CW running - poof! Power fluctuation!

Solution was simply plug the machine into its own outlet. Hopefully, that's all it is for you too!

[Digitalwoodshop]

I see you joined in 2007 same as me. I have all "A" Machines. So the question is what version do you have... The "A" Machines had a L2 problem in the Power Supply where it would SNAP slightly below the circuit board level due to vibration. This would cause a intermittent power as the 2 ends touched then did not touch. The output of the 5 volts goes through the L2 Coil to remove any Electronic Noise or Static on the power. It is just a piece of solid copper wire like 14 gauge house wire wrapped around a ferrite core. The theory is that the noise on the DC Power Wire intermixes when in the L2 Inductor Coil and some of the noise cancels each other out cleaning up the DC Power. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inductor

The theory in "MY" opinion is that your L2 Coil did not get enough RTV Glue at the factory holding it steady. The "Lolly Pop" of copper vibrates and like bending copper wire over and over, it turns color and snaps... In my pictures you can see that you muse push the coil to see that one leg is snapped within the board where it is bent over on the bottom side of the board.

Hundreds of power supplies failed in the early years especially when the QC went bad and the machine vibrated at high speed. The C1 Capacitor also failed due to this vibration on the X Termination board due to vibration. The Early Fix was LHR added more glue to the L2 and C1 and later re designed the power supply. Even later power supplies had a metal case around them. On MY first machine that did this in 2007 that is shown in the pictures, I found the problem with a DEAD MACHINE when I put it on it's back or Muffler side to remove the bottom the display came back ON.... sitting it up and it went OUT letting me find the L2 Problem myself the first time without LHR Help. It was still in warranty and they sent me a power supply.

Reminds me of when I was making Picture Tubes or CRT's for Sony. If you ever looked at the back plug of a picture tube it has a plastic cap to act as a pin guide. Two pins of the CRT had high voltage on them. On my 17 inch CRT Line in 1996 we had a girl with a RTV Gun that applied a dab of special high voltage black RTV between the pins before putting on the plastic cap manually. On one shift of the 24 hour 7 days a week production one girl hated to change the RTV Tube on the gun... Messed up her nails.... So she would put LESS RTV on the CRT than we wanted... The result is that the voltage arced through the RTV making the tube fail... We then had to do a rework and have a team remove the RTV with Q Tips and Alcohol. We noticed the date code were all from one shift and found what she was doing... We eventually got a Robot to do it like the rest of the plant was using on the 20, 27, and 32 inch CRT's solving the problem.... So with the L2... I always though it was a worker in China not liking to change the RTV tube....

[want2b]

Michael,
Thx for the idea. Made sure it was the only thing on that breaker and ran a carve. Within 20 secs. got the POWER FLUCTUATION message. Then I hit Enter and it ran a 30 min 2 sided carve with no problem so I feel the A/C input is not the problem.

Al,
As noted above the carve went fine so I thought it might have been a fluke. Got a thickness ? during the carve so thought I would do some checking. Used the same board and went to measure the thickness using the 1/8 cutting bit as requested and got a Z-Axis stall failure. Am using the Rock and looked at the collar and thought it had slipped so reran the test but used the 1/6 bit, didn't care about being perfect. This time got the Power Fluctuation after I jogged to position. Hit Enter an then got the Z-Axis Stall again.
Had the Power failure back a couple of years ago and worked with you and eventually found a bad solder joint. When I can I'm going back to the power board looking for something. Thanks for your info, will post whatever I find.

Thx,
Rick H

[mtylerfl]

Hi Rick,

Its good you tried the simple thing first! Unfortunate that it wasn't the problem.

Now try the steps 2,3,4...as AL has suggested (and your own troubleshooting too)

I hope you find the problem soon. As long as you will be doing some surgery, might as well do more simple checks...make sure all your cables/wires are well-seated...the A/C to the power switch also.

[want2b]

For what it's worth, I'm not sure what or if I have 'fixed' the cause of my Power Fluctuation' message. Pulled the power board and looked it over carefully with light and magnifier. The L2 coil looks like one that had the extra epoxy mentioned in Al's post, PIC Attached. Couldn't see if the coil had broken even when removing the heat sink top. Checked the connection I had found and resoldered a couple of years ago. Decided that even though it looked ok(hard to be sure with some rosin build-up) I redid it and one other connection that was a little questionable. While I had it out I added a jumper across the L2 to eliminate it.
Ran a 35 minute two-sided carve with no failures. Bit the bullet and opened it up again, removed the jumper from the L2 coil. reran the same carve with no failures.
Wish I had a positive answer/fix, can only hope it's gone away. Will post if it happens again and what if anything I can find.
Thx for the help.
Rick H

[Digitalwoodshop]

The soldering and un soldering of the jumper on the L2 could have wicked some solder inside the hole of the board and to the top end of the L2 making a new repair...

GOOD JOB !!!!

I bet it is fixed....

And a temporary jumper over the L2 is an acceptable troubleshooting method since the coil is just a length of solid copper wire. The wrapping around the core does the work of cleaning up the power.

Also check your Brass Roller holder for a hole drilled through the plastic during a bit check. When the cut motor gets well broken in, it spins longer on a bit check and can still me moving when it touches the Brass Roller Plate. Epoxy filling the hole will work as will a piece of credit card glued to the hole.

AL

[Dale]

Hopefully you got it. Don't you just hate it when you don't know for sure if it is fixed or not?

[want2b]

Al,
I'm hoping the 'heat' has given me a reprieve. Went thru a similar one as I mentioned, several years ago and we discussed a lot of possibilities then as now. If I get another couple of yrs from this event I'll be happy. Just hope my memory and yours are still working then.
Dale,
Yeah, like you it really ****#5#8 me off when I can't positively say I found an answer. Keep waiting for the other shoe to drop as they say.
Thx guys for the help and support.
Rick H

ps: Al, I had the problem with the bit cutting through the plastic several years ago. Got a lot of feedback but didn't realise it was from the brushes. Anyway, they have been replaced so it doesn't have a hole anymore, bad news is I used a small plastic piece to plug it and that may be my thickness answer.
Thx again