plasmcan blown 5A fuse

[PatA]

i will try that joe, any suggestion for better video card?

[Joe Jones]

i will try that joe, any suggestion for better video card?

I am not up to date on the latest and greatest.

Joe

[adbuch]

... how do you test limit switches in diagnostic? manual activate them and what should i see?

r1.jpg

r2.jpg

[PatA]

adbuch nothing is showing?
i tested limit switches, both are registering back to plasmacam software
noticed both ends of table don't touch at same time on y axis therefore limit is not getting triggered,
also will work on x axis to get to more freely and less inconsistently.
has anyone ever seen motor to cause it to be cause of resistance to move freely ?
would i loosen up table to get it squared up or is there adjustments that im missing? to get y axis to touch at same time

[Joe Jones]

The gantry drive shaft has a gear at each end. Those gears run beneath gear racks installed into the tops of the rails, inside. The springs hold the drive shaft UP and engage the gears into the gear racks.

Pull the gantry to the HOME end of the table. Now press down on the HOME end of the gantry, which will pull the gear down and out of the gear rack on that side. Pull the gantry to the end of the table so both ends touch simultaneously, and then release the downward pressure on the gantry tube. The gear will re-engage the gear rack and the gantry will be aligned with the table legs.

You can also accomplish this by using a long flat blade screwdriver or other tool to press down on the small spring loaded lever arm that is to the left of the carriage and down low. Pushing this lever down against the spring will disengage the gantry shaft gear from the gear rack in the rail, and you will be able to change the angle of the gantry in relation to the end of the table, to make it parallel.

Joe

Joe

[adbuch]

adbuch nothing is showing?
i tested limit switches, both are registering back to plasmacam software
noticed both ends of table don't touch at same time on y axis therefore limit is not getting triggered,
also will work on x axis to get to more freely and less inconsistently.
has anyone ever seen motor to cause it to be cause of resistance to move freely ?
would i loosen up table to get it squared up or is there adjustments that im missing? to get y axis to touch at same time

Pat - both ends of the table need to touch at the same time (left and right ends of gantry). Either your table is out of square or you are off a tooth on one end of the gantry. You can measure diagonally across the table to check for squareness.

Have you ordered the Video Manual yet? Plasmacam is usually pretty quick about getting things shipped out, particularly the cd's.

As far as the motors, you should test them to make sure they are not damaged following the procedure below.

David

check motor windings.jpg

check motor windings 1.jpg

[PatA]

thx joe i will try that
also thx david you guys are great !!!!
david i have not cause shipping to canada is crazy , im going to get it shipped to detroit , was hoping to figure out everything and get all parts ordered on one shipping cost , your pics wont load they only say
" David
check motor windings.jpg
check motor windings 1.jpg " ?

am i doing something wrong?
thanks again
pat

[rdj357]

Here is fine - just not both for my poor brain to separate please haha

May need a different monitor and/or keyboard that can cause the crazy things.


Make sure gantry and carriage move freely and that the gantry is square to the rails so that the stops at each end touch at the same time. Check the limit switches in diagnostics

Pat,

As I posted here - the stops must touch at the same time or, as you noticed, it cannot depress the gantry limit switch. Like Joe and David have said - make sure the table is square corner to corner and then jump the gantry a tooth on the end opposite the motor until it is aligned and both stops touch at exactly the same time.

A couple rules of troubleshooting - Simple stuff first. Change one thing at a time.

[Joe Jones]

One more thing ... Use a length of steel rod, or a ruler, or whatever ... Slide it into the end of the rails and against the gear racks themselves. MEASURE the distance from the end of the gear racks to the edges of the rails. These two dimensions must be the SAME. If one gear rack is shifted slightly forward, it will be very difficult to square the table.

This of course ASSUMES that the gears at each end of the gantry shaft are aligned properly. If the gears are not in sync, then that is another issue.

Joe

[PatA]

thx guys i will try this soon , im away for work this weekend so it will be monday or tuesday i get to it thank you

[adbuch]

your pics wont load they only say
" David
check motor windings.jpg
check motor windings 1.jpg " ?

am i doing something wrong?
thanks again
pat

Pat - I would recommend upgrading your membership to Contributing Member status so that you can take advantage of all the features of the site. The cost is only $20 and the wealth of knowledge you have access to, photos, file downloads, etc. is well worth the minimal cost.

David

[PatA]

Ok I will. Still new to this and wasn’t surw what it all was about Thx

[adbuch]

Ok I will. Still new to this and wasn’t surw what it all was about Thx

Pat - here is the link for membership.
David

https://www.plasmaspider.com/memberupgrade.php

[PatA]

Thx David. I just updated and picked collection #1
Can’t wait to get cutting!

[adbuch]

Pat - you are quite welcome! Let us know if you have more questions - we are here to help. Now that you can see the photos we posted, this should give you a much better idea of how to proceed.

David

[PatA]

Little update. Table initialized and I can now control it. Figured out monitor rebooting when table moving. Was bad monitor
I ordered video manual. Hasn’t came in yet
New question
Got a noise when adjusting torch height.
Smooth going up but has ratcheting noise going down ?
Do I grease the threaded rod? How does black cap over threaded rod come off?
Tried to post video of it but won’t let me

[adbuch]

Pat - is it making the noise when initializing only or at other times as well? It will normally be noisy when initializing as the stepper motor stalls at the top of its travel. When adjusting the torch height, are you using the jog up/down buttons or rotating the control knob for fine adjustment? I have never yet had the need to service the Z motors on my tables, and I really don't know how the black cap comes off. But I do know that it does, since rail riser kit supplied by John Derby includes a longer threaded rod as well and the instructions explain how to remove and replace the black cap. Check to make sure the retaining nut at the lower end of the threaded rod is tight. If you power it down, and then move the torch holder up and down, do you feel any roughness while moving? Also make sure you have your Z-axis Motion Force When Moving set to 36 lbs.

If this is happening only when you are using the fine adjustment knob, then the encoder may be dirty. Here are some tips from Robert Johnson.

z encoder problems.jpg

As Robert mentions, lowering your Z rapid travel setting may make it less jerky.

As far as uploading a video, you would need to upload your video the Youtube, Google Drive, etc. and then post a link to the URL here.

David

From Video Manual

Check Z-axis movement.pdf