Y axis not responding

[coryatjohn]

I have a PRS Alpha, about a year old with a 4hp spindle. I run the 3.6 version of ShopBot software and haven't upgraded anything since I installed the machine.

Today, I started the machine like normal, did a C5 and all that went normally. Then, I did a K and tried to move the machine. Immediately I got an error about the "X axis beyond software limits." I noticed at that moment the X and Y axises were messed up and it was obvious the machine had lost its place.

I used the "Ok" option, and moved the X axis to change a bit. When I tried moving the Y axis, all I got was a hum and the computer showed the Y axis moving from -48.5 to 97 in a second. The Y axis didn't move. The Z axis is working normally, or appears to be anyway.

I haven't had a single problem up to this point so I haven't had to do any trouble shooting. Basically, I assembled the machine, plugged in the computer and have had not problem one since then. The machine isn't burning up the wires with productivity but it's been run at least 15 hours in the last week.

I turned everything off (breaker for everything too) and back on. No help.

Any clues as to what's going on?

Here's a link to a screen print of the message:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1B-djDaULCQvFtue5xsj7jkkDvrvjPIs7HWaq6nZ8Ids/edit

[gc3]

sounds like comms issue

plenty of info on the forum of what you describe

[srwtlc]

John,

I think the problem is your choice of color scheme. ShopBots don't like green, they work best with blue ones. ;)

Try turning off 'File Limit Checking under 'VL' and then if the machine location is not actually way out where the DRO's say it is, give it a Z2 and then see if you can move it around a bit. If that works, do a C3 to home it and reset the table base coordinates. It that fixes it, you can turn 'File Limit Checking' back on.

Don't forget to load up a ShopBot blue scheme then too. :)

[myxpykalix]

You might try switching out your connection for your Z and Y just to eliminate the possibility that it is a wire. If it then moves the Y (a Z command) then you can eliminate the possibility of a bad wire. But don't forget to switch it back!:eek:
If that's not it you might want to open your control box and see if this thing scampers out....:eek:

[coryatjohn]

Thanks. I'll give those suggestions a try. Curious how it could be working one second and not the next. I hope it isn't a controller board.

[coryatjohn]

I swapped cables (at the controller) between the Z and Y axis and the Z stopped working and the Y started working.

I guess this means there's a problem with the Y controller. Bummer. Next call is to ShopBot.

[coryatjohn]

I got a response from ShopBot and it turned out to be the Y unit value had been whacked. It was 2 and not 2 thousand something. I fixed that value and now things are working again.

Thanks for the assistance.

[srwtlc]

Good! Pretty strange for that to get corrupted. :(

[myxpykalix]

YAAAA!!! Doesn't it feel good when something gets fixed and you go....PHEWWW! Thank goodness:D

[Ajcoholic]

I got a response from ShopBot and it turned out to be the Y unit value had been whacked. It was 2 and not 2 thousand something. I fixed that value and now things are working again.

Thanks for the assistance.

John, jfyi... Last fall I had a similar thing occur. One day I had a few power drop outs where the power went dead for a few seconds and then came back. I was running something, and after the power came back, one axis (x or y can't remember) was funky and wasn't going to the proper location.

In 20 minutes on the phone with tech support, he walked me through the settings and somewhat deep into the parts I never even looked at, some values were all messed up. Reset to the correct values and been fine ever since.

I figure something happened with the power dropping out, but that might have just been a coincidence. Who knows..

Tech support, the few times I have needed it, has been awesome.

[coryatjohn]

>> through the settings and somewhat deep into the parts I never even looked at, some values were all messed up.

I never had to look at any of those values before. Everything always worked so I never had to do any trouble shooting. Now I know a little more about the machine and if that ever happens, I know how to reset it.

I got my support through email. Excellent response time. Correct answer on the first go. Can't argue with that!

[khaos]

Now, export all of your settings. Option in the SB menu and save that file. You can use it to do a quick refresh in the case of any future weirdness. :)

ref: http://www.shopbottools.com/ShopBotDocs/files/Backing%20up%20your%20SB3%20settings%20and%20value s.pdf

------------------------------------------------------
Personally I back it all up when I bring my cut files out to the controller machine.

In summary:

1. I copy the cut files only to my flash drive from my design computer with ShopBotCopyCutFiles.bat files that are newer on the design computer are copied after checking for a file called SB.ico exists. Don't want to copy to the wrong device.

2. When I get the flash drive to the controller computer I run the copy.bat file and that copies all cut files that are newer to my projects folder. Then it copies my entire SBParts folder to the flash drive.

3. Remove flash drive and I have backed up without pain. :D

This is the plain ol batch file called ShopBotCopyCutFiles.bat on my design computer. "ping 127.0.0.1 -n x > nul" just makes the screen stay open for me for x seconds to confirm what happened without a special sleep.exe. :D


@Echo off

IF EXIST E:\SB.ico (
SET BakDrv=E:\
) ELSE (
IF EXIST F:\SB.ico (
SET BakDrv=F:\
) ELSE (
echo SB Missing. Aborting COPY.
ping 127.0.0.1 -n 3 > nul
Exit
)
)


ECHO.
ECHO Copying Cut files Up ShopBot transfer stick
IF EXIST "C:\source\aspire\Projects" (
xcopy "C:\source\aspire\Projects\*.sbp" %BakDrv%"\" /S /F /D /H /R /Y /C
) ELSE (
echo C:\source\aspire\Projects
)


@Echo.
ping 127.0.0.1 -n 6 > nul

And this is the copy.bat file on my flash drive:


xcopy e:\*.* C:\SbParts\MyProjects\*.* /Y /S /D

xcopy C:\SbParts\*.* e:\backup\*.* /Y /S /D /EXCLUDE:ex.txt

@Echo.
ping 127.0.0.1 -n 3 > nul

The contents of the exclude file ex.txt are


C:\SbParts\MyProjects
*.log
C:\SbParts\PartWizardPosts
C:\SbParts\PartWorksPosts