[wblewis1964]

Hi,
New here so sorry if not posting in correct area.
I looked back about 10 pages yesterday but did not see this covered.

I run an ez-Plasma branded machine.
It has an 8x10 water bed, plasma and oxy (I cut up to 2" regularly)
V-Carve ver 7.508
Sheet Cam TNG 5.0.14
Easy Router Mach3 ver 3
Hypertherm powermax 125

I had issues with bevel cuts,but after I took the torch completely apart, and found lose screws and the main cable in a twisted bind, that has all but been eliminated.

My current problem is on hole cuts. I am getting flat spots at top and bottom. Where the Y axis should slow down and reverse direction, you can actually see it come to a complete stop, then reverse direction.

Any ideas?

Thanks.


Picture is hole in 1" plate. Notice top and bottom flat spots.

[bhurts]

Most likely it's backlash. Does the machine have a way to compensate for this?

Ben

[noxa]

Hello, the problem you have is backlash in the X axis, you must check that all the screws holding the X axis pulleys are pressed...

[wblewis1964]

Thanks to the hints, I think I may have found the problem.

My Y axis "gantry" has a step motor on both sides. They are independently controlled but are in "sync" to work together.

I was feeling around, moving things, listening.... I noticed the motor on one side has a whirring type sound when turned by hand, like everything is good. But the motor on the other side has slack and "clunks" when I rotated the gear back and forth.

So later this morning I will place a call and see if I cant get the tech out here.

Thanks for help.

[wblewis1964]

Just an FYI for those interested.

It turned out to be loose set screw on the gear to drive motor shaft.

Thanks

[Torchhead]

And it will happen again. perhaps on that axis , perhaps on another..

[wblewis1964]

Yep, the company said to use red LocTite, but the "maintenance" man decided since it didn't have it to begin with, it didn't need it now.
I'll probably out some on later, when he isn't there.

[Torchhead]

What works better and is better is use the Loctite cylindrical retaining compound (like 638 or 641) on the shaft itself . Since we switched to that we have not had a single loose gear or pulley on any of the machines.