Probing Problem!

[kubotaman]

I posted this question in the message section but no one could help me. Maybe someone here can. Has anyone else had this problem? I am probing a small carving and it all seems to be going good. I leave the machine for say an hour or so. When I go back, the probe lite is going off and on normally but the carriage isn't advancing. I hit stop to see if it resets and then tell it to resume, but it doesn't help. I have even slighly moved the probe while it is going up and down but that doesn't seem to make the carriage advance. I have had this problem before but I thought it was a problem in my learning process. I called Shopbot help and was first told to make my X-axis move faster, from .2 to 1. I did that as told and both times the probe just completely stopped! It locked up the program and caused me to reboot to get back to work. I then recalled the help desk and was then told to upgrade to 3.6.5 which I did. Guess what? No help at all. My personnel opinion is the person that told me both times what to do has no clue as to why I am having problems. Anyone else had this problem, and if so, what was the outcome??? Thanks!!!

[bill.young]

Without seeing the piece you're probing it's hard to tell, but here are some thoughts.

*) What are your stepover values? If they are really small and the surface you're probing has sections with somewhat vertical surfaces or overhangs, even if they're small, the probe can't move over without re-triggering and can get stuck. Try making the stepover larger and see if that helps.

*) You might try increasing the "Surface tolerance" setting in the Copy Machine. It controls how far the probe lifts between probing points and again, depending on the shape of the surface that you're probing, sometimes increasing it helps to make sure that it completely untriggers between passes.

*) There have been some big improvement in probing in the most recent versions of the software, both in the responsiveness of input switches and in the probing routines tyhemselves, so upgrading was good advice if you're using an older version.

Bill

[kubotaman]

Bill here is the values that were set when my "Probe" just quit. The step over was .02, Surface tolerance was set at .2, probe depth set at .75, move speed at 1, and Z axis set at .375. How do these settings look to you? The surface of my pattern didn't contain any major ups and downs. It did not have any verticle "walls". I do belive my problems may be over. I reinstalled my "old" program version and upon opening up the "K" command my spindle started and guess what was in it?? Yep my $400 probe. The wires were broken and it spins at the same speed as the spindle!!!!!! I may not need to know how to use my probe since it may be broken. In my opinion I have spent way too much time trying to this this contraption to work and personally I don't think it is worth it. I am pretty frustrated to say the least!

[thewoodcrafter]

Wow!!
Sorry to hear that.

A few comments-
I think your step over is way too small.
I think it would take forever to probe at that step over. No wonder it hangs.

Probing 3D work can be a BIG pain. It is usually easier to pay someone to scan it and hand you the file. Brady does this.

Don't give up on the probe. It is really great to 2D work.

[kubotaman]

The stepover is what the tech said was okay. Who am I to know? I am trying to learn. That is what I mean when possibly the person giving advice, Shopbot, sometimes can't tell a person what is wrong.

[chuckster]

I feel your pain, Daryl. I started my router not once, but twice with the probe in the collet. Electrical tape is my new friend. It is a pain and takes time, but well worth it once you get the hang of using the probe.

[kubotaman]

Well guess what!! I got a call from ShopBot today and they told me to send the probe in for repair!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have to admit I was quite surprised! Maybe we have found a reputable company, I sure hope so. So many companies don't know you after they have sold you something!!!! I got it back together and it seems to be working. Maybe it had to be taken for a good spin to let it know who was boss!!??

[thewoodcrafter]

Man!!!

Now that is GOOD service.

[myxpykalix]

I broke mine 3 times, they fixed it 3 times. Turns out we had a wire crossed (installed by them) and finally figured it out.