Post by nealc on Feb 19, 2016 16:34:32 GMT -5
I’ve had my WD-1 for several years now, but it’s seen very little use. Now that I’m attempting to use it more seriously, it’s started randomly destroying my work pieces. Specifically, the pockets I’m routing will start shifting in +Y. Not gradually, but all at once. This has happened 3 times now, and each time was on a different .tap file that had run successfully on the same PC/SW/WD-1 setup within the past week.
The first two occurrences happened after I’d walked away from the machine during a cycle. The latest time, however, occurred while I was watching. Based on what I see in the first two results and what I witnessed today, I believe it’s dropping a significant chunk of steps in –Y during a G0 command.
I perused this forum last night but couldn’t find any threads that seemed to describe the same issue. I did, however, come away fearing that my carriage may be binding as it traverses the gantry. I disconnected the carriage from the Y drive screw and moved it back and forth by hand. There was no hideous binding, but it definitely had different amounts of resistance at different spots on the gantry. There was obvious gunk here and there, so I clean all bearing and V-rails thoroughly. The bearings might be too snug (based on another thread I saw), but it as least the carriage now moves smoothly with consistent and relatively-low resistance.
Believing that I may have “solved” my issue, I reassembled everything and tried again. Less than 60 seconds into my first run was when it happened for the third time. Although it happened very quickly, I didn’t notice any change in motor sound that might indicate binding, and I didn’t notice any visual glitch in its movement. It simply didn’t go where it was supposed to.
Because I wrote this particular .tab file by hand, I know exactly what it was supposed to do at the point where the error occurred. It raised up to a safe Z, and then performed a G0 to rapid move in -X and -Y. It should have moved nearly 5” in -Y, but it only moved about 1.8”.
Could my acceleration be set too aggressively? I haven’t altered any of the Mach3 settings that were initially recommended, but I’m not sure what else to suspect.
The first two occurrences happened after I’d walked away from the machine during a cycle. The latest time, however, occurred while I was watching. Based on what I see in the first two results and what I witnessed today, I believe it’s dropping a significant chunk of steps in –Y during a G0 command.
I perused this forum last night but couldn’t find any threads that seemed to describe the same issue. I did, however, come away fearing that my carriage may be binding as it traverses the gantry. I disconnected the carriage from the Y drive screw and moved it back and forth by hand. There was no hideous binding, but it definitely had different amounts of resistance at different spots on the gantry. There was obvious gunk here and there, so I clean all bearing and V-rails thoroughly. The bearings might be too snug (based on another thread I saw), but it as least the carriage now moves smoothly with consistent and relatively-low resistance.
Believing that I may have “solved” my issue, I reassembled everything and tried again. Less than 60 seconds into my first run was when it happened for the third time. Although it happened very quickly, I didn’t notice any change in motor sound that might indicate binding, and I didn’t notice any visual glitch in its movement. It simply didn’t go where it was supposed to.
Because I wrote this particular .tab file by hand, I know exactly what it was supposed to do at the point where the error occurred. It raised up to a safe Z, and then performed a G0 to rapid move in -X and -Y. It should have moved nearly 5” in -Y, but it only moved about 1.8”.
Could my acceleration be set too aggressively? I haven’t altered any of the Mach3 settings that were initially recommended, but I’m not sure what else to suspect.
