[jason snyder]

It's acting weird....

no matter what when i try to jog the machine with the keyboard in both Y+ or Y- direction the gantry always goes in Y+

it also just started losing steps....it's never seemed to do this before.....I'm really not sure where to begin...

I'm tempted to just order some newer electronics.

[jason snyder]

wow....??? Anybody?? LOL

No ideas?

[aarggh]

Ok, is this a 6040 bought from Carving CNC or via Ebay?

If the latter, then you can safely assume the TB6560 driver box that came with it is the infamous bluebox controller rebranded to look like the one Carving CNC supply and is garbage. Throw it away, get a G540, and never look back.

If it's a Carving CNC, then start looking at all the wiring connections, swap the axis around to see if the fault follows one particular axis. Make sure you have ONLY a star style ground for everything, that is, one single point is where all the grounds run to.

Look at the cabling on the spindle, noise from this is a common problem, does this controller require a USB connection for the logic? Are you using a too long USB cable, or have you plugged it into a port that's not delivering the full 500mA? This is a common problem for USB breakout cables going to the front computer panel.

Basically if it's a genuine Carving CNC, then you have a noise or controller fault problem, if you have a rebranded bluebox sold as a Carving clone, then not working intermittently is how it works and it's performing as expected. Again, if so, throw it away and get a real controller!

cheers, Ian

[jason snyder]

Thanks a bunch for the reply Ian.....I do have a true Carving-cnc 6040Z-S80 machine / yoocnc equipment....it appears one of the stepper drivers has gone bad

No worries though...I'm going to order a Gecko G540 and some shielded wires and I should be all set...thanks again for the help!

[aarggh]

No problem, I've never heard of anyone regretting buying a G540 and you'll absolutely love the difference, but it seems a shame to just ditch the old controller if it's one of the genuine YOOCNC ones. You should at least be able to sell it anyway as once you've used the G540, you'll never want to go back to the old controller.

cheers, Ian

[jason snyder]

just got a message from Carving-cnc.com

[It's a small problem. Y-driver board has problem, the ‘PC900V optocouplers element’ burnt , you can buy a ‘PC900V optocouplers element’ to replace it.
Or buy a new driver board YOO335 from us , see here :
]404 Not Found 1 - carving-cnc.com

mega bummer replacement card is only $25 but shipping is like $50

may as well just get the Gecko and be done with it. Atleast there is some support here in the US for the Gecko stuff.

Cheers,
Jason

[aarggh]

Wow, that's possibly the first time I've heard of an opto-coupler on these boards going! That's kinda strange as under normal circumstances they're pretty bullet proof, I wonder if that means there may be a design issue potentially with the Carving controllers to some degree, although clearly it's not the norm as you just don't hear much about their units failing.

If they're sure the opto is the issue, buy some replacement parts off Ebay for a few bucks, and sell the controller would be my advice:

2X Sharp PC900V Digital Output Photo Coupler Opto DIP6 170mW 15V 5KVRMS | eBay

For an opto to go though, is usually an indicator of an issue somewhere.

cheers, Ian