Memory Issues in Controller ?

[Saliskor]

I have been machining lithophones and have run into what seems like memory problems ?

My lithos are typically cut with a 1/32 ballnose, and range in size from 5 x 7 to 7 x 9 and 12 x 12.

The line number is typically a little over 1,000,000. The latest was 1,150.000. Although the 5 x 7 finishes fine, the other sizes tend to run into problems. One minute they are running fine, the next the program just completes. The screen is normal, - it's just sitting there waiting for the next job. No errors, nothing. The routers just stops as if I had paused the job, and no errors in the controller software. Since the job shows complete, I have no idea how many lines have completed, but the current seems to have stopped at around 800,000 lines.

I have been able to get around it by starting the job first from the bottom corner, then creating a second toolpath starting from the top opposite corner, but that sometimes leaves a line, probably because of a change in temperature from the plastic ?

Anybody have this issue and a fix ?

Rick

[4DThinker]

All I can recommend is getting a larger capacity SD (or microSD) card for your controller. If your jobs get half done before quitting then double the size.

[jeb2cav]

I wish I had this written down - I've run jobs that size on the 'original' SD card. How big is this tap file on disk?

In addition to having too small an SD storage as 4D points out, it could also be an SD card that is poorly seated in the control box and/or it needs reformatting.

After you load the tap file - if you can scroll 'to the end' then those lines are on the card and ready for use.

This type of error - running fine and then ending - can also be caused by a power fluctuation or noise (from my perspective and experience). We've also seen that faster is not necessarily better suited for the electronics in the Shark Control Boxes - at least prior to Mako/HD 2.0 timeframe.

Some posts on the SD card aspect of this that may be helpful -

http://www.cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=950
http://cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f ... 4832#p4832

[Saliskor]

Well, the files are only about 32k each, so I wouldn't,t have suspected a sd card issue, but I'll definitely try a larger card and see where that goes. Thanks for the responses!

[jeb2cav]

So I agree for what it's worth - it's probably not a card size issue - but possibly related to the card. Again, reseating the card, possibly reformatting, and ensuring no electrical interference in the system may resolve this.

The size of the job may be a red herring - it takes longer to run, more opportunity for electrical interference to occur (if that is running around in your setup). Likewise, if the card not fully seated, longer job, more opportunity over time for a goof to occur as a result.

[4DThinker]

You might also make sure the PC running the job has anything that will time it out turned off. Energy saving settings and screen savers should all be disabled. You won't be the first one here who had long job problems all stop when they disabled all I mentioned.

[Saliskor]

Problem solved. It was a simply matter of adding a larger SD. I put in a 16 gig chip. Just finished a litho with almost 2 million lines (54 megs). No problems.

As for the possible power loss issue. We have a lot of thunderstorms here lately. I added a UPS to ensure no blips, and now I can run it through storms without fear of losing my settings.

Thanks for everyone's help.

Rick

[GullyFoyle]

What size and type of UPS?
I have a couple on the pc's servers, and Makerbots.
But am uncertain what to use for CNC.
UPS is really only designed for short term battery operation, just enough to safely shut down equipment. And there seems to be quite a few variations on load runtime on battery backup.
Thank You

[Saliskor]

Not a large UPS really, an APC 1350. It's more than enough to run the Controller, laptop and the shark HD with a Dewalt Dw616 router. We've had a lot of thunderstorms in the area lately, and a bump in the line causes the cnc to lose it XYZ zero. It's impossible to restart a litho without the proper zero. So if the bump occurs, the systems keeps operating. If the power goes out, I have enough time to stop the job and return the router to x0y0z0 and I can rerun the job when the power returns