No Actual Movement

[marshawk]

Hey folks,

I have a strange problem. One of my machines stopped working last night. The funny thing is that the computer didn't know it. When I try to move any axis, nothing happens, but the position numbers scroll on the computer screen as if the shopbot is moving. The control box powers up normally and the green lights are on after the firmware boots. When I try to move the tool using the "K" command, the yellow light for the driver comes on and goes off when I take my finger off of the key. Input and output commands work normally - I can use the "SO" commands to turn the routers on and off. I get no reading from the 48V connector when trying to move. The CPU power supply outputs the correct voltages.

Question: Is the 48V PS bad?

Any and all help is appreciated.

Chip

[ron brown]

I would check that out first. As I understand it, the board is powered by 5V and the motors by the 48V (or 24V on older machines). I think you would get those symptoms with bad 48V Powersupply.

Ron

[marshawk]

Sure enough. The green light does not turn on on the PS and the fan does not go "whirrrr".

I am changing it out with our other broken control box's PS.

Thanks Ron,

Chip

[marshawk]

The only place that takes web orders for these power supplies is a company called PowerFactor. It seems that they sell Mean Well power supplies exclusively. The price for one is $205.00.

Does anyone know (#1) this company, (#2) another company that sells Mean Well products and cheaper?

Thanks,

Chip

[marshawk]

Belay my last!

Grant called before I could do serious damage to my machine and told me to take the 48V connector off of the board to see if the PS was protecting itself.

Yep...sure was...

Thanks Grant!

Chip

[ken_r]

I have been having a similar problem my machine, When using the jog home command it only moves about a 1/4" on the Z axis but says that it has moved 1". (This is using the K panel) If I type in a distance to move the Z axis it will go t the right height. Today the machine just stopped and nothing moved except the numbers on the SB3.
I am not sure of what the 48V connector is .
Can someone explain?
thanks in advance
Ken

[Brady Watson]

Ken,
I am assuming that this is a PRT machine, correct? If so, the 44v connector is just about in the center of the control board. It is the power supply that sends juice to the motor drivers. Turn off the control box 1st! Pull it off the board, turn on the control box and check it with a meter to verify that you are getting 44v. If so, turn OFF the control box, wait 1 minute and plug it back in.

It is highly possible that you have a poor connection at the Wago connectors (motor cable connectors) and that you may have shorted out the connector and toasted a motor driver. The software sends pulses to the board and doesn't know that the DRO is going up and down and the motors aren't moving.

Start with the simple things, like restarting your computer and resetting the control box. Sometimes weird things happen and a restart cures it. Then check your connections and check voltage on the Meanwell 44v power supply. Also check for 5.4v & 11.7v+ on the computer type power supply. On the 4-connector molex plug (like it goes into a computer drive) the center 2 black wires are ground. The outer 2 are 5 & 12v. Make sure you are getting those voltages there. Also make sure that the cooling fan on that PS is running.

I would then check the board itself. Look for burn marks near the motor cable connections. You may have fried a diode. You may also want to remove the board from the case and flip it upside down and look for brown/black burn marks as well. These are tell-tale signs that you have burned out a driver. If this is the case, you will have to send it to ShopBot for repair. If you have burned a driver, I would recommend checking and re-seating every Wago connector on the tool to make sure that I had a clean solid connection.

Hope that helps!
-Brady

[ken_r]

Thanks for the information Brady, the good thing that I like about this forum and its consistent followers, is that if it is'nt the exact problem solved you are sure to learn more about the machines in general.
Thanks again Brady I will check the advice that yo have given.
Ken