[vcustomshop]

This is my first post, although I have learned much on this site about 3D drawing and design in Bobcad v24 & Rhino 4, on my quest to design my guitars and related parts. I have learned a bunch, and thank you for having me!:cheers:

I own an 2007 K2 CNC 3925G, I bought it used and have had a great time learning over the past few years. I has worked fine up until today!!

When I booted up the system this morning, the DRO's in Mach 3 moved but the motors did not. Then the emergency stop (in mach) was tripped. I double checked the reset on the controller and it was not tripped, I reset it anyway. Then reset in mach.... again DRO motion, motors did not move followed by EM stop in mach.

I rebooted PC... no change
I changed PC's thinking the parallel port had gone out.... no change
Back to original PC, loaded mach and went to diagnosis screen. The the home switches on 2 axis and the EM stop lights randomly flash.
I then manually flicked each of the switches several times, as well as the EM stop..... There was no change, and they did not light any of the leds in the Mach screen when I flicked them.
The motors tick as normal when I first reset the control box, and continue to tick like nothing is wrong thru all of this......

My plan for today was to install Big Tex's Blue Screen w/probe. So I did install this right before all of this went down. But I went back to my normal screen set thinking that would undo any wrong. I did not test the motors prior to the install, so I don't know whether it's software or hardware. However with the PC unplugged from the controller, I can turn the controller on and reset it and hear it engage, push the EM stop and it doesn't fault out. Also if I press a limit switch, it will not fault out at the controller!!

Any ideas?

[Walky]

What is your debouncing setting on Mach3? (in General Config)?

Perhaps it's interference or a wiring problem, that would explain the switches randomly triggering.

[louieatienza]

I would check to make sure the pins for the motors, estop, and linits are correct on the ports and pins config screen. Really, you should make a copy of your xml file and keep it somewhere safe, just in case something like this happens...

[vcustomshop]

Thank you for the fast response......

I went straight to the machine this morning and booted it up as normal so I could answer the questions that you have asked...... and..... wait for it.... It is working normally!!!! *@#%* thing

I even loaded the Big Tex Blue Screen and it works fine.

Yesterday I cracked the case on the controller, checked for smoked parts, checked and tightened every connection inside. Cleaned with Deoxit all external connectors, and tightened screw connections, with no change!?!?!

After thinking about it last night, I said that I put in a new PC with no change and that was not correct. That was a new install of Mach that had not been setup at all and had a permanent E Stop condition..... no pins were lighting but that one.

Arrgghh!!

[vcustomshop]

I doesn't seem like the Gecko Drives would be acting up.

But the K2 pwr supply/parallel board would be the culprit?

Can I just buy an aftermarket controller to use with my Gecko drives? It would be nice because this K2 doesn't allow you to tap into any available pin's for probes and stuff....

[vcustomshop]

Walky.... I see what you mean about the debounce. Mine is set quite high 2500. I read that high settings like that can give you switch issues if there is additional RF or noise in the area. Should I set it down to 1000 and see if all stays well?

[vcustomshop]

louieatienza..... All the ports and pins were correct.... and thanks for the backup reminder. I made a Mach 3 BU folder and copied the xml file and my macros folder..... Thanks