jeb2cav wrote:One additional lesson learned - the probe apparently needs to be "broken in". Brand new it will end up in a "dead zone" state where as the probe internal sensor is not getting any feedback, the probe remains at z0 - and of course the scan continues (and is junk from there on out). I'm told 30-60 minutes of use with the operator tapping it when it gets in this state will be all that is required to "break it in."
So, you may not have a broken probe, just one that needs some breaking in.
I'm having the same issue with my probe--every now and then, it either returns to Z 0 or sticks up high for a little while, ruining the scan. I saw that Rockler ended up replacing Joe's touch probe--did this break in time turn out to not be the case after all? I'm just not sure if what I'm seeing is normal for new probes or whether I need to give Rockler a shout. I have about 4 hours of time on the probe at this point.
The second touch probe I received needed almost no break- in. After about an hour's worth of scanning, there were only 4 dead zone incidents in the files. While running a scan about 8 hours into use, I had one more incident of no response and resulting poor data, but the following 10 hours no problem. The other interesting thing with what appears to be a probe as designed is that it did come back to life so to speak within 15-20 steps. This of course could of been the result of vibration - but in either case I did not end up with large chunks of the scanned image at z0 (flat). I finally asked for a return after going thru 12+ hours the first time with the results you're having. I don't know if there's a recommended maximum or minimum, but clearly the probe can behave as advertised - and there may be more than one Yugo in the lot. And it can/should work within 30/60 minutes according to the manufacturer. I wasn't happy about the last dead zone scan well after this break in period, but it only happened once and given the nature of the device and the price, I can live with that. So, with a working probe, I've ran ~18 hours of scans at a 0.005 step (pretty small), and only had to repeat ~2hours of that. From the sounds of your situation, I think you're in a good position to ask for a replacement/return.
Thanks Joe--I think I'll try another long scan this evening and see what happens. If it still sticks, I'll probably get hold of Rockler and ask about a replacement. The probe seems to work very well where it works, but it's discouraging to make it almost to the end of a 3 or 4 hour scan and have it stick.
On a related subject--does anyone know of any kind of good editing software for going into the .stl files and correcting the little goofs when they do occur?
A quick update--Maybe I was too impatient, or maybe it just took posting about the problem before things turned around. But whatever the reason, tonight I tried a scan that was about 2 1/2 hours long and the probe didn't hickup once. The output file is beautiful--it's definitely capable of good quality scans. I'll try a few more before I say everything is good, but if I can keep getting the results I did tonight, I'm a happy camper.
For what it is worth, I never did any sort of break in, and have not had any gaps. I am currently near the end of an 6 hour scan and still going strong. I'll let you know if there are any issues.
Well, the new probe arrived yesterday and I have about 4 hours on it right now. Rockler was great in getting it to me quickly, I might add. But, I'm beginning to get pretty frustrated. The new probe is failing more frequently than the old one so far. Over the course of a 4 hour scan, I've had at least a dozen failures and might have had more if I had been around to flip the probe to get it out of the Z-0 mode quicker. Flicking the probe always gets it back, so I don't think it's a wiring or controller issue.
Is there some special way that I need to break these things in? I don't know if there is a batch of bad probes out there that I've managed to hit twice, and from the one good scan I've gotten, I can see that it is capable of working well. But with the failure rate I'm hitting, I'm beginning to wonder....
Unfortunately, I'd ask for another one. I think these things either work well, or not well. The break in as described by Tim on the phone sort of made sense to me. But, after seeing the performance of a "good one", I don't think an break in of more than an hour is or should be a requirement. You could always ask Rockler for another one...
The problem is when it works well, it really works well - and is worth the price.
