New cover switch fixed it - now I get a Z Stall

[vltrnjd]

I have replaced the roller pads, the memory card, the Flex shaft, the Z-truck assembly, the cover switch, the cut off wires to the cover switches, the head termination board, the FCC cable, and I went back and made sure everything was in correctly and tight. And Frank you are right the new enclosed switch went in easily and works well. When I do the sensor test I get Y axis movement recording but no Z axis recording and I switch cables around as the documents say to and there is still no Z Axis movement recorded. I think this is finally back to the original problem which was air carving. I have ordered a new Z motor mount electronic board. Not much left to replace eh?

[Digitalwoodshop]

OK... You are making progress....

Reading back in your older posts I see this is a "B" Series machine. So no posts about the possibility of you having a 18 pin FFC Cable... It should be a 14 pin cable... ( Never mix 14 and 18 pin parts as it will short out the computer ).

First step in troubleshooting....

1. Manually move the head UP to the very top pin.

2. Call up Sensor Data and Z Data on the keypad and LCD.

3. Since the Encoder is a Counter, it just counts the pulses when the light is blocked. See Picture. The black lines or SHADOWS in Picture 1.

4. Counter for the Z Data should be 0000 to start. Now move the head down slowly. IF the FCC Cable was properly installed the counter will change. 0001, 0002, 0003, or 9999, 9998, 9997, counting down with every pulse.

5. If this worked you should be able to return to the top pin and the reading will return to 0000. This method can be used to test for a bad FFC Cable by moving the truck up and down while moving the FFC Cable gently looking for a break in the wires.

6. This check of the FFC Cable only checks the ENCODER DATA from the end of the Servo Motor.

7. This Does NOT check for broken wires to the POWER to the SERVO Motor.

8. IF you got a 0000 and movement of the truck did not change the reading from 0000 then it is possible you installed the FFC Cable in with the Contacts facing AWAY from the pins on the jacks. The FFC Cable only has contacts on ONE SIDE and the cable CAN be installed with the contacts facing AWAY from the pins... YES, I did it once.... So I know to look for it...

9. IF the Encoder Data IS GOOD and the motor still does not work.... It could be a bad motor. I think I saw where you plugged the Z motor into the Y Motor Jack... Confused on what you did on that and what you saw. Can you clarify... You CAN put the Z Motor and Gearbox in the Y Place to test the motor. This would tell you if the Z Motor is GOOD or BAD. DO a Y Motor Test.

10. So that leaves us with the FFC Cable properly installed or a BLOWN Z Driver on the CW Computer.... Very UN Common... Likely a cable problem. See picture 3 and 4. Three Servo Drivers.

Good Luck...

AL

[vltrnjd]

OK... You are making progress....

Reading back in your older posts I see this is a "B" Series machine. So no posts about the possibility of you having a 18 pin FFC Cable... It should be a 14 pin cable... ( Never mix 14 and 18 pin parts as it will short out the computer ).

First step in troubleshooting....

1. Manually move the head UP to the very top pin.

2. Call up Sensor Data and Z Data on the keypad and LCD.

3. Since the Encoder is a Counter, it just counts the pulses when the light is blocked. See Picture. The black lines or SHADOWS in Picture 1.

4. Counter for the Z Data should be 0000 to start. Now move the head down slowly. IF the FCC Cable was properly installed the counter will change. 0001, 0002, 0003, or 9999, 9998, 9997, counting down with every pulse.

5. If this worked you should be able to return to the top pin and the reading will return to 0000. This method can be used to test for a bad FFC Cable by moving the truck up and down while moving the FFC Cable gently looking for a break in the wires.

6. This check of the FFC Cable only checks the ENCODER DATA from the end of the Servo Motor.

7. This Does NOT check for broken wires to the POWER to the SERVO Motor.

8. IF you got a 0000 and movement of the truck did not change the reading from 0000 then it is possible you installed the FFC Cable in with the Contacts facing AWAY from the pins on the jacks. The FFC Cable only has contacts on ONE SIDE and the cable CAN be installed with the contacts facing AWAY from the pins... YES, I did it once.... So I know to look for it...

9. IF the Encoder Data IS GOOD and the motor still does not work.... It could be a bad motor. I think I saw where you plugged the Z motor into the Y Motor Jack... Confused on what you did on that and what you saw. Can you clarify... You CAN put the Z Motor and Gearbox in the Y Place to test the motor. This would tell you if the Z Motor is GOOD or BAD. DO a Y Motor Test.

10. So that leaves us with the FFC Cable properly installed or a BLOWN Z Driver on the CW Computer.... Very UN Common... Likely a cable problem. See picture 3 and 4. Three Servo Drivers.

Good Luck...

AL

I read through the trouble shooting documentation and at one point it said that I could swap the Z and Y cables to see if when I moved the z truck manually it moved the y sensor numbers. I don't think I did it right. I am sure the FCC cable has the fingers facing the correct directions. It is brand new - I thought the old one might have a nick in it causing the problem. I am thinking it may be the Z truck motor but thought I would try the board as a change out first. The cable with the white pin connector from the motor to the board does not seem to make a good connection. The plastic on the pin side on the board is old and fragile. I have not had the bottom off to see the connections with the servo drivers. I will find the print of the pattern to test the FCC cable and encoder. I really appreciate your time and help with this. Thank-you.

[vltrnjd]

Oh and Yes is it is a B machine - the directions said I needed the 14 pin head.

[vltrnjd]

Could the AC cut motor switch cause that error?

[Digitalwoodshop]

Could the AC cut motor switch cause that error?

No, it just prevents the cut motor from running when the cover is open.

[vltrnjd]

I am looking at which way these connect. It comes from the cut motor switch - the cable has black and white while the cables these connect to are both white. One connects closest to the end panel the other is towards the center of the machine. Which one should be black so the other is then white?

[SteveNelson46]

It's a 120 volt AC motor so it doesn't matter.

[fwharris]

It is just a switch loop so treat the black wire as if it was a white wire.

[vltrnjd]

OK - makes sense. Thank-you. Learning a lot.