[pagliaso]

Hello,

I am having a hard time diagnosing an intermitent problem with a CNC machine.

The machine is a Pro4896 4x8 ' from CNCRouterParts from 2014 but not very intensively used.

The problem is that I start the machine in the mornings, home it correctly, start the spindle for cooling, I have it cooling well for more than 30 minutes, and then starts the chaos of every day, and when by midday I have the time to return to the machine to do something, I start my toolpath, and Mach3 is believing the machine is moving, but the machine is not moving.

When I open the cabinet, I see that the PMDx-114 has no green led on it. I turn off the electronics, and power on the cabinet again, and I can see the PMDX-134 led is on shyly, but inmediately start to dims out, and the machine can't move.

The next morning is everything again the same.

I suspect it is a problem with the power supply, that is a AC/DC CONVERTER 48V 998W built by MEAN WELL. But as it is an intermitent issue, and I am not very good at electrics/electronics, I am wondering if the power supply has any feature that if it detecs a ground leak might disable the output.

Many thanks in advance for your help.

Kind regards from Spain,

Alberto

[Al_The_Man]

I never like the use of SMPS, Switch mode Power Supplies, especially for servo or stepper power, where a regulated supply is not really necessary, I always use a linear supply, they have proved much more reliable.
Al.

[pagliaso]

Hello Al.

Many thanks for your comment.

I have replaced like for like and it seems the machine is going well now.

Maybe I will send the old power supply to be repaired to keep as a spare.

I have been reading about the differences between Linear and SMPS and I see many advantages, but I am afraid to change anything that could render the machine inoperative.

Many thanks and kind regards from Spain,

Alb

[HarryC]

Hi Alberto,
You could ask your machine supplier about switching from Linear to SMPS.
They might be able to advise about electromagnetic interferences and RF interferences
They may even offer EMI filters, and RF shielding.

[Al_The_Man]

Hi Alberto,
You could ask your machine supplier about switching from Linear to SMPS.

It would be the reverse for the OP, he has a SMPS already.
I never use SMPS in any of my installations, especially for stepper or servo. Linear only!
Al.

[pagliaso]

Hello HarryC and Al,

Many thanks for your comments.

Yes HarryC, as AI pointed out, I already have SMPS. And sadly I gave up a long time ago trying to ask anything to my machine supplier. They were helpful at first, but maybe later they got tired of my questions trying to get this thing aligned and without looseness.

Many thanks and kind regards,

Alberto