Hi Guys,
I've been doing work on my chinese cnc machine for about 5 months now and have run into a problem. I use a 6040 with a prt 1500w controller and custom made exhaust shoe with mach 3, which up until recently was working fine to mill my windsurfing fins from g11 and carbon.
I'd been watching the roughing stage, then the final cut, and went inside to grab another coffee. While I was inside, I noticed a change in tempo, then raced back out to see that the spindle had dropped down onto the job, the exhaust (dust shoe) had filled up and was smoking and the dust bag in the vacuum cleaner was quite clearly full.
I had no idea about identifying problems at that stage, and probably still don't, but thought that the stepper motor had failed. Undid the motor and connected it to the y axis and found that it worked. Then I thought that the stepper motor controller was shot, but couldn't isolate the problem. So, I tried the break out board next and found that the z axis didn't work on the bob but the other two did. I guessed at that stage that the stepper controller and the bob had had it.
I could not see anything wrong with the pcb inverter or power unit, so I went online and ordered 3 new stepper controllers, a new break out board and a 76mm 3A motor (with 1.8nm instead of 1.2) hoping that Tim the tool man actually made sense. My question would be, could this be a viable option, or am I trying to make a silk purse from a sow's ear? Is there a unit that would be more reliable, knowing of my shortcomings with electronic circuitry?