Losing connection during zzero

[jbworden]

I'm having a strange intermittent problem. Every now and then when I initiate a zzero the router starts to move for maybe 1/2 second then stops and I get a connection error on the computer. The only way out of it seems to be to power the controller off, shut down SB3, then start everything up again. Just cycling the controller off and on then telling SB3 to retry does not resolve the problem. SB3 just hangs.

This only happens maybe once a day and usually only during a zzero. I have, rarely, seen it occur during a manual jog operation but never during an actual production run.

Any ideas? I'm running a PRT96 standard and yes everything is well grounded. I'm pretty careful about not touching the Shopbot or the table when I start one of these just to make sure I'm not causing a static arc. Doesn't seen to make a difference.

[khaos]

Some ideas ...

Are you running an email program on the box having the issue? I have noticed that while checking for email my pc is momentarily nonresponsive on any networking ports. Including USB. This is fairly normal and you may see the same type of issue when the pc is 'looking' for a network drive or a printer, or spinning up and external drive...

[jbworden]

No. It's a dedicated computer running Windows XP Pro with all the updates. I wiped the hard drive on this system and rebuilt it when I put it on the Shopbot. It's not a real fast system but it's not exactly a clunker either. It's connected to the controller via RS232C.

No problems at any time other than when starting a zzero. It just did it to me again this afternoon.

[ljdm]

I have an intermittent problem kind of similar to that. Every now and then, after zzeroing, I lose connection. Have to shut down, lose x,y, etc... no real pattern, just after doing zzero sometimes. Gremlins, I guess.