[beanbag]

Hello folks, long time no see.
The communal-use Tormach we have is busted.
It was working fine for a long time, but when I came up to the machine, it had a problem where if you jog along the x axis, at some point the pitch of the machine suddenly increases, and then if you try to jog right, half the time it moves right, half the time it moves left, and half the time it just gets stuck. (I realize this sums up to 1.5x, haha)
This doesn't always happen but is rather random.
If using the jog wheel to move it slowly, it will sometimes get stuck and just grumble.

I don't believe any changes were made to the computer program, nor adjustments made to the machine. I also suspect it might not be a gib problem because the onset is sudden and random, and would not explain the backwards movement. Well, I checked the gib screws anyway, and the left was kind of loose and the right one didn't seem like it could be tightened any more. (I think to loosen the gib means loosen the left screw and tighten the right one)

One other thing I might add is that often the x limit switch gets busted, so when people try to reference the machine, it jams the table into the stops. I don't know how bad that is.

Thanks for any suggestions (besides having the staff call Tormach in the morning)

[SomeWhatLost]

if it is random and sudden, I would look for a simple loose wire/connection somewhere...
(note I have no Tormach specific knowledge of this, but just for any electrical device that starts having random issues, it is almost always traceable back to a connection somewhere...)
if that loose connection is is in a high current path, that can cause heat/spark/melting type damage at the loose point, so you will want to trace it down asap...

[sperman]

Does it always get stuck at the same point? It sounds to me like the ballscrew thread is damaged. If moving fast, the motor can power through it, but when moving slowly it causes the motor to stall. I would remove the motor and try to turn the ballscrew by hand, traveling the table through its entire range of motion.

[philbur]

It might be the shuttle jog controller. Have you tried running it back forth under gcode.

Phil

[RickPflimlin]

Mine started doing this and it was just a loose wire. It was the wires coming from the X motor into the control box, the green connector snapped into place when pushed and the problem went away.

[neilw20]

Look for loose or soldered wires.
Soldered wires can break inside the insulation.
The cable to the X axis flexes continually. Broken inside? Probably.

[SomeWhatLost]

so, just curious, but it has been a while...
is it fixed? what was the issue?
just like to find out how this story ended, could be educational...

[beanbag]

I dunno what is going on, since I left it up to the staff to fix. I suggested to them it might be a broken wire, but somebody said it was due to a blown transformer. Then they ordered another transformer, and it blew up right away. Sorry, I have not looked at it myself since the original post. Since it's not my machine, I decided to stay out of the way.

[neilw20]

ahah.
Something blown up? Have they been fiddling with an oscilloscope?
It is on line hot wiring, and if you even short the doors switch or readout to ground you will blow something up. Seen it all before.