Hello Forum,

I have had my 1100 PCNC for 5 years now and had several issues with the X axis limit switch. Today it stopped working and I wanted to share what was the immediate solution for my machine. I had been making a part in the morning (2 hours op with coolant) and then came back after lunch to make another, different part. I had shut the machine completely down as we are prone to thunderstorms in the afternoon, where I live and the power can go out for a brief period. Long story short, when I went to run the X Ref on start up, my machine ran to the end of the X travel and then there was a terrible grind/hum from the Mill. I stopped the travel with the keyboard and tried to figure out what was wrong.

Long story short there was coolant in the box that houses the X axis limit switch. I shut down the machine, no power, removed the limit switch and blew compressed air through it from all sides. I put some machine grease on the plunger and wired it back up but did not reinstall it. I rebooted the system and then asked Pathpilot to Ref X axis and I then pressed the plunger of the limit switch down and it stopped. Put everything back together and it all seems OK now.

No idea what is the best way to keep coolant out of the switch. First time in 5 years this has happened. The switches cost like $7.00 USD on eBay plus shipping. No idea what they cost from Tormach cause they are closed for the 4th of July weekend. (Good on them!). Hope this helps?

Cismontguy