[crudolph]

Hello,

Last night my spindle worked just fine when I needed to surface some material. Today when I came in (the machine wasn't turned off) and started working with some new g-code I cannot get the spindle to kick on via M3 or M4. Using the controls in PathPilot do nothing as well.

If I turn my spindle to manual mode and kick it on -- it works just fine. The speed control works just fine as well.

I've rebooted and tried simple commands and still nothing.

Does anyone have any suggestions for troubleshooting?

Thanks,
Chris.

[bevinp]

Sounds weird. You could try cycling the spindle door switch but that should be OK since manual works.
Is there anything in the Manual (for your series)?
Ask Tormach.
Good luck,
Bevin.

[tmarks11]

There is a troubleshooting chart in the (most recent) 1100 manual starting on page 202 for spindle failure. But it largely does not apply, as it is troubleshooting failure of the spindle to operate in both manual and auto modes.

My only thought is that you might have a loose connection from the auto/manual switch, so it is permanently stuck in manual. This seems unlikely. With the switch in AUTO, check if the manual START/STOP controls on the control box operator's panel function (which would indicate a faulty AUTO/MAN switch).

[kstrauss]

How about a loose connector/broken wire in the cable between the Mesa card and the control board in the mill? There is a ribbon cable at the bottom of the control cabinet that uses IDC connectors plus the round external cable. I've had similar problems on my 770 that were cured by removing and re-connecting the cables.