I've been successfully using my Shark HD Pro Plus HD for several months and was carving out some simple lettering in a 0.250" thick piece of alder. I set a carving depth for the lettering at 0.120". The 1st two of 12 letters carved out beautiful then all of a sudden on the 3rd letter the router took on a mind of its own and plowed right thru my wood and into the table ruining one of the tracks and part of another track before I could get to the machine and stop it.
I was reading a post from a couple weeks ago where somebody mentioned the same problem. This is totally messed up, who can I contact to get a replacement rail and what the heck was this uncommanded G-Code input all about?
My CNC Control Panel had version 1.5.0.23 when the problem occurred, afterwards I upgraded the software to version 1.5.0.23c. Does anyone know if version 23c fixed the uncommanded G-Code problem I just expierienced? What was fixed between versions 23 and 23c?
Is this damage covered under warranty, who do I contact for repair?
I had the same thing happen to me, I worked with New Wave support and found that my feedrate was to high I had it set at 100%. After slowing it down to 50%, I haven't had the problem again.
I contacted NextWave support at (419) 491-4520 and they confirmed that lowering the feed rate from 100% down to about 50% should fix the problem. Feed rate can be adjusted from within VCarvePro from the "V Tool" "Edit" button or directly from the CNC control panel software using the FRO slider.
Support also said that since I was using a dust collection boot it should be properly grounded which it wasn't. He said to attach a grounding wire from the tip of the hose down thru the grounding stud on my dust collector.
Hopefully this prevents a repeat of my previous disaster.
I just ruined another expensive board as the G-Code ripped thru my project and tore into the aluminum table. My 12-letter carving now went balistic when it got to the 5th letter instead of the 3rd letter. I even lessened the flat depth from 0.120" to 0.080" but still the Z axis took on a mind of its own.
So much for the advise of lowering the feed rate; at least I now have a real cool and expensive paper weight.
I'm standing by waiting for a reply from either Rockler or NextWave...
Sorry you are having problems. I just recieved my shark hd last week, havent cut but to small signs just to practice and learn the machine and software, i sure hope this is not an issue on all their machines. Keep us uptodate on your solution, I hope you get it fixed soon. Glad you shared about the grounding, mine is not grounded either. Did he mean ground from the tip of hose at shark and back to the collector? If so that will be a long run for me.
I've had my CNC for 3 months and it's been working totally awesome until just 2 days ago. Something is obviously defective; I'm thinking it's a circuit problem with the controller box and something is overheating and causing the G-Code to not run properly.
On grounding the system there's several ways to do that. Static builds up anywhere airflow passes over/thru the plastic parts. Starting from your dust collector you should run ground wires thru the hoses to all hose termination points. My collector has several grounding studs for attaching the copper wire so I already have ground wires all the way to the hose disconnect going to my CNC machine. All I had to install was a small 4-foot section of wire from the dust port pickup to my disconnect point 4 feet away.
I doubt static buildup was the cause of my problem; I think it's coming from the controller box circuitry as a result of overheating.
What really stinks for me is I have numerous new customers all wanting plaques and door signs, etc. and I can't deliver because of this major disaster of a problem...
The first thing I'd try is swapping out the USB cable with one I know works in a different setting or is new. It could be an intermittent fault in that cable.
Over the last couple years I've also read about instances where things were great, and then went south. In non-HD and ProPlus cases that can sometimes be grounding related - and static build up with the change of seasons. In some parts of the country though, it is less about over heating at times, than it is about moisture buildup (humidity). You may want to take the control box into the AC for a day or so to dry it out, and then put it back into service and see if the intermittent failures occur. If they don't, this may be it. The cure for me has to been to run a small fan in the area to not only maximize heat transfer, but lower the opportunity for moisture build up.
Somewhat of a guess, but might be worth a try.
The other thing to look at are the connections at the motor. Some folks have run into a situation where a loose connection finally started resulting in intermittent contact with time. If the failure is always associated with a given axis, look there first.
Lastly, you can get this with power surges and intermittent on/off conditions in your power (from my own direct experience). In my case, I chose to purchase a UPS power conditioner that also has a battery in it. Now, this thing will run about 10 minutes with no power coming in - but that's not the purpose. The purpose is to provide conditioned power to the computer and control box, and to provide power when I experience the on/off from the power supplier here in my area.
Hoping one of these will cure your problem. When you do solve it, please post so others have an idea if and when it happens to them.
Thanks Joe, I'll look into some of your suggestions.
I'm in a fairly dry and mild humidity environment so I doubt moisture and ambient temperature are a problem. Being an IT contractor for the USAF, I also kind of doubt that a bad or poor connection with the USB cable is a problem (even though I woudn't necessarily rule that out). A loose wire totally makes sense (at the servo or RS-232 connectors) and so does a problem with the control box as in perhaps overheating or sawdust buildup, etc.
I've contacted both Rockler and NextWave, but with the weekend I won't hear any responses until sometime Monday I hope.
I will continue to tinker with various TAP files in an effort to try and exactly duplicate the error but I am realy leaning toward some sort of problem caused by overheating or perhaps vibration. There doesn't appear do be anything wrong with my TAP file(s), just at some point 5 minutes or so into the running G-Code, all hell breaks loose on the Z axis.
I will definately post a reply when my problem is resolved.
For the last 3 months I've been operating my CNC Shark using a Panasonic laptop plugged into the control box from a side workbench. Behind my laptop I had a Dewalt battery charger and the AC power adapter for my laptop (see attachment). What I am guessing is that some electromagnetic interference (EMI) was propagating from one or both of these electronic devices into the USB cable. I must have somehow inadvertantly moved the USB cable too close to these components within the past couple of days.
I removed the battery charger and placed the laptop AC power adapter as far away from the USB cable as possible. I also set my feed rate back to 100% and reran my G-Code. I had two successful runs of code (about 15 minutes each) with no errors.
I also opened up my control box (see attachment) to look for obvious signs of trouble and discovered that the "-V" black wire attach screw was loose. I don't know if this could have caused the stray input signals. I also removed and reconnected the 3 RS-232 connectors just to make sure I had a good secure connection.
Importatnt Safety Tip: ENSURE USB CABLE IS NEVER IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS WHEN RUNNING G-CODE!!!
Hopefully this is the last (negative comment) you hear from me on this subject!
Some really interesting finding! Thanks for sharing all of the details. Also interesting to see the solid state relay that is being use presumably to turn on the router on the HD. I think that may be the culprit of the guy that is having trouble turning on a PC 690 variable speed router.
Roger
CNC Shark HD ~ Control Panel 2.0 ~ Windows 7 & XP
Located in West Tennessee near the Tennessee River http://www.eaglecarver4.com
Importatnt Safety Tip: ENSURE USB CABLE IS NEVER IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS WHEN RUNNING G-CODE!!!