X not working

Questions/answers/discussion about initial setup of your CNC Shark

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JimRochester
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2016 6:05 pm

X not working

Post by JimRochester »

I have a standard bed Shark I picked up last year. Haven't done a ton with it but it has performing fine. Last night I had a project jump the clamps and naturally made a mess. Today I tried to rerun the project but even though the piece stayed put the machine did cut the project cleanly. It made secondary cuts about a half inch from the first. I tried running the project a third time but now the X won't move. I can move the router side to side manually. Also when I push the jog button on my shark operating program, it shows the X point moving but the router doesn't move on the gantry. One other point. Not sure what they're called, but the electronic unit on top of the router for Z is warm, the one at the end of the bed for Y is warm but the X is cold. I tried removing the cables and reinstalling. I tried turning everything off and starting back up. I have a show in 4 weeks and crapton of projects to make. Any help is much appreciated.

Rando
Posts: 757
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2015 3:24 pm
Location: Boise, ID
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Re: X not working

Post by Rando »

Jim:

Sounds to me like a dead driver board for the X-axis.

To check, swap the X and Y axis cables, and see if the X-axis motor can be moved (using the Y axis jog control).
If the motor will work, then it's in the controller box. If when you swap the cables, the X still won't move, then it's more likely the motor. But, motors are pretty hard to break.

Thus, My money is on the controller being broken. Depending on which controller box you have, it might be just a replacement driver board, not the whole electronics. Whether you can do the repair yourself, or you want to send the controller in for service, well that's up to you. Hopefully NWA still has parts :D.

Hope that helps

Regards,

Thom
=====================================================
ThomR.com Creative tools and photographic art
A proud member of the Pacific Northwest CNC Club (now on Facebook)

JimRochester
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2016 6:05 pm

Re: X not working

Post by JimRochester »

Swapped cables and the side to side worked fine but the front to back did not respond. So that means the controller is bad. What is the warranty on those things? It's only a little over a year old. Do I need a new one from next wave or are there others?

Rando
Posts: 757
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2015 3:24 pm
Location: Boise, ID
Contact:

Re: X not working

Post by Rando »

JimRochester wrote:Swapped cables and the side to side worked fine but the front to back did not respond. So that means the controller is bad. What is the warranty on those things? It's only a little over a year old. Do I need a new one from next wave or are there others?
Well, at least we've narrowed it down a bit more. Sounds like the best and easiest is going to be a direct NWA replacement. Send them the box, let them deal with it, you just plug it back in.

As for other branded controllers, they motors all just stepper motors of normal parameters, and so would work with any normal controller. They don't have the rotary encoders that closed-loop systems have, so a controller requiring them won't work. You'll mostly need the same or directly relatable numbers used to set up the NWA control panel too (Ctrl-G, Password: 787).

But, once you replace the controller, you then are going to be faced with getting--much less learning--new control panel software. Not impossible, but non-zero effort too.

If it's just a year out, they might extend the warranty to get you back up and running; gotta call them and find out.

Regards,

Thom
=====================================================
ThomR.com Creative tools and photographic art
A proud member of the Pacific Northwest CNC Club (now on Facebook)

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