overheating???????hm

[steelcnccutter]

Question is has anyone else had a problem with machine just stopping in the middle of a file and machine becomes non responding? Just upgraded to the latest software several weeks ago and ever since it seems to me the control box is hotter than normal. I only have cut about 6 times on it since doing that and now the machine just stops after it has been on for 2-3 hours. I will cut a file two or three times fine and then after 2-3 hours I will be cutting the same file as I was and it just stops. the only way to get back control is to ctrl alt delete and when I go back in, the spindel stops and all is good but machine thinks it is at zero right where it stopped. It happened again last night and I stopped and open the control box and put a fan on it and turn on everything and cut the rest of the night with no problems. this tells me it is overheating all of sudden. do I need to go back to old version? sounds dumb to think that newer upgraded software would do this but what am I to think? maybe just a time to start overheating? it is in air conditioned room and now I need a fan.
questions,suggestions,comments are welcome please.

[gundog]

Is your control box inside a cabinet? They told me not to put my control box inside a cabinet but mine is so I added a server fan to that cabinet they also told me to take the cover off the control box and lay the control box on its side not like a tower because with one controller over another the heat transfers up to the next and so on. I would think yours would be plenty cool inside an AC room.

Mike

[steelcnccutter]

control box mounted on outside of cabinet exposed on all three sides heat sink side mounted a extra 1.25 of of normal mounts. it is mounted like supose to be upright like theirs is monuted . forgot to mention it is a alpha control box the big aluminum one. and the only difference in the last 7 months is two software upgrades one in the last several weeks. thanks for suggestions

[Acmeaviator]

I doubt it's overheating in an AC environment - my shop has no A/C and it was hovering around 100 in there today:eek: I think the high temps are harder on the computers than the Bot. Any other new software on your control computer that could be causing a conflict?

[steelcnccutter]

Brian I believe like you the temps should be harder on the computers if it were hot in the shop. I have a dedicated computer for the shopbot. I do not put software on it or use it for programing just running the bot and no internet either. thanks for your thoughts as well.

[CNYDWW]

Steven,

What kind of dust protection do you have on the control PC and when was the last time the heat exchanger for the CPU was cleaned along with the rest of the components. The heat buildup inside the control computer and the CPU might be enough to create an issue but not enough to shutdown the computer itself when the limit is reached.

Regards
Randy

[steelcnccutter]

Randy thanks for your help also but that was all cleaned and in good shape.

[steelcnccutter]

ok here is a update I still have found no smoking guns yet, but I did call Frank at shopbot today and he helped me with the heat issue. Maybe because I had the quiting problem I just thought it was more heat than normal ( heighten aware syndrome). But frank did have me back the current down on the drivers and everything cooled way off. the temps just are warm now, even the motors. for being a novice I can not tell a performance differance. the problem did it again today but heat was not a factor. I now think that because I program in the house and take the file out in the shop and run it from a flash drive maybe the flash drive I have been useing is getting slow access or going bad so now I will run from the hard drive. I ran from the hard drive rest of the day and no problems. I still forgot to write down my starting numbers before I zero, the good new is I did find a way to get back to zero, at least it worked for me . thanks to Frank and all for suggestions.

[Gary Campbell]

Steven, et al...

DO NOT, repeat, DO NOT, run cutting files from a USB thumb drive. Accessing the drive during cutting can conflict with the usb communication to the controller card. Always copy the file from the thumb drive to a hard drive on the control computer.

[gc3]

months ago..... i suggested you give her an endearing name and use it foundly...walk into your shop with 1st cup of coffee and think about what you want to do with the machine(her)...don't need to run it everyday...just think and dream about it...make sketches

maybe on a sunday midmorning with a six pack and tools start looking for a quirk that catches the eye...maybe need to check all of the wago wire connections...uummmm that one looks loose...cable carrier clean and sanitary with wire routing? Racks clean, pinions good or worn.

search tool is your best friend.

what volatage were you driving motors g203v should be good to 80v

also...did you get that drill pattern worked out?

i run files from thumb drives with no problems...why would you want to access that drive while running a 9 hr file

[dhunt]

DO NOT, repeat, DO NOT run cutting files from a USB thumb drive.

Accessing the drive during cutting can conflict with the usb communication to the controller card.
Always copy the file from the thumb drive to a hard drive on the control computer.I've been running cut-files from a USB-key for about 5 yrs. now and never had problems!

I take note though, of your second sentence re. accessing the USB-key during cutting
but also wonder why I might want to do that.
I guess things do crop up, but usually..
when cutting is under way I don't mess with anything...just let it be.


We have always run a dedicated SB Control computer.
It does nothing else but run cut files.
No internet connection, nothing else but cut files.
Only way to go! ;)

[Gary Campbell]

David...
to clarify..... if the control software accesses the thumb drive during cutting, it can interupt the data stream to the controller card. The intent of a control computer is to have a clean, unencumbered computer with no backround processes. This allows full use of the usb data for control. I assume that any operator input during cutting will result in an error.

Virtually all CNC controllers require file transfer to the control computer by either network or thumb drive so that they can be run from a local drive.

The fact that you have been doing this for 5 years may prove 2 things.

1) You may have missed this in the documentation or your SB training.
2) It is better to be lucky than good.

[steelcnccutter]

to further clarify about the flash drive, I do not access it during cutting only the sb control does. and I did not read all or take sb training and so I admit I do not know that was a printed no no but I will correct it from here. I touch no buttons during the cutting process. this is only a guess for my current problem that may be solved from now on . and since I have been running cnc plasma for 10 years and bot for 8 months i have always run from a flash drive with no problem. only looking for a cause do I think that maybe my problem shows up when using this flash drive, 1 of the 6 I use constantly back and forth . if I no longer have the problem I will update you and assume that the flash drive is the problem and I have been doing it incorrect for shopbot. thanks for all inputs and help. this is a fun and helpful forum

[dhunt]

to clarify.....

if the control software accesses the thumb drive during cutting, it can interupt the data stream to the controller card.
The intent of a control computer is to have a clean, unencumbered computer with no background processes.
This allows full use of the USB data for control.
I assume that any operator input during cutting will result in an error.

Virtually all CNC controllers require file transfer to the control computer by either network or thumb drive
so that they can be run from a local drive.

The fact that you have been doing this for 5 years may prove 2 things.

1) You may have missed this in the documentation or your SB training.
2) It is better to be lucky than good.My Dad always said I was born lucky, and he's right.

Other thing is..
most of the cut files we generate for the ShopBot are kinda small, under 10-20 k. ?
-and that entire chunk of data probably gets sucked into the SB memory right away
with no need for further looking at the cut-file on the USBkey?


Now I've said that,
I recall back in the early days --2001-- of running SB Control Software 2.29 via Win.98 :eek:
I remember the cutting process halting briefly while the computer absorbed the next chunk of numeric data.

John Forney was with us at the time, and explained what was happening
but beyond momentary stoppage, nothing else seriously unfortunate that I can think of!

In those days we were using a small old IBM Thinkpad laptop as our dedicated control computer.
It died eventually, and was replaced by a small second-hand HP computer tower
that has worked v.well ever since!

Just a month ago, I wiped the HP's hard drive, installed mini-XP
and then SB v. 3.4.27 on top of that, and have enjoyed a very stable control computer ever since!
SB 3.4.27 is the latest greatest for a PRT-96 of our vintage..

..................................


But now you've spoken about the need for No Background Processes
I must have a closer look at our control computer
to see what Startup and other crapola can be eliminated.

[Gary Campbell]

David...
The older versions (without the previewer) of SB3 were more forgiving. That said, there is no reason that I would take the risk that any software that would look for an update or ink level or any other scheduled task for that matter, would interrupt or disrupt our cutting. Even Adobe reader, which I like to have on the control computer, needs to be set NOT to check for updates.

As far as the USB thumb drive usage goes, SB is one of few CNC control softwares that uses USB to communicate with the machine. The current alpha's are running very close to the max thruput limit. This may be what makes it more sensitive to both backround process's and sharing of the usb bandwidth.

On another note, I need to find another copy of miniXP. Can you email me a link (address in red in signature)? I wish to test an Intel Atom mini itx board mounted in the control box. MiniXp would be perfect for that. I had one, but is lost in the maze.

Thanks, GC

[dhunt]

On another note, I need to find another copy of miniXP.
I wish to test an Intel Atom mini itx board mounted in the control box.
MiniXp would be perfect for that. I had one, but is lost in the maze.
My local techie friend gave me the Mini-XP installer years ago
on a CD/DVD/whatever, so I don't know where he got it from
..BUT I just Bing'ed it, and got back a load of possible download sources!

Suggest you submit the phrase Download MiniXP like I did
to Google or Bing --and choose one of the several possibilities?

[Gary Campbell]

David...
I have tried that, and like you the search returns an unlimited number of results. Unfortunately, none really panned out. Thats why I asked. I had one "back in the day", but I must have tossed it. In the long run it may be better to build my own similar version of Win7 to run on the mini board. I plan on putting these inside the SB controller box.