Z axes Not moving

[jwa1156]

Used VCarve to place hold down locations for screws
Ran the tool path and placed the wood screws it desired location.
When I ran 2nd tool path it ran the hold down one again and
bit against wood screw you know. thought I had hit the wrong file by mistake
installed new bit and out of caution ran the 2nd file with no bit made sure it was correct file again it would have drilled the screws.
deleted all the files in this particular job and just recreated the job and files.
Then today did the zeroing x&y ok Z zeroing ok, ran file again for caution sake with no bit.
X&Y axes worked ok the z axes and spindle did not move.
I saw an error msg in the vfd
I stopped the machine and used the ShopBot3 easy control movement keys and x&y ok z would not move
tried to zero z with plate I would not move
Any ideas and help

thanks

[scottp55]

Hang in there Jerry. I'm sure people will help soon. Haven't seen THAT one before, But did manage to Mangalate my .25 1F upcut Onsrud yesterday because we drove a screw at an angle to catch the spoilboard and forgot about it(out of sight out of mind-we couldn't figure that one out until we tried to get our 24X30" workpiece off and it was still being held).
Have you tried resetting to your default values(UR)? Any chance of static or computer glitch screwing your settings? Going to have to be somebody better than me I'm afraid. SB support maybe? Hope you get it straightened out quick.

[scottp55]

Oh, what was the error message. LV?

[Initial Sound, LLC]

My Z stopped moving as well. Noticed the software was sending the command, the Z was moving on screen. Checked Z driver and light wasn't on. Switched Z and B Driver, Z worked perfect. B "Bad Driver". The led remained off on the G202 Driver.

Anyone have a G202 to sell?

Does anyone have a suggestion?

Should I switch out the electrolytic capacitor or some other components in the bad G202? Has anyone had success servicing these units?

I'm waiting to try Gecko's application engineer department.

Extreme delta t is a factor in this situation. I had cold (-20 F; 0 F) ambient operating temps this last season.

Should I use a G203 and build an digital invert circuit?

[Brady Watson]

Should I use a G203 and build an digital invert circuit?

Wait to see what Geckodrive says about your drive. I would not put a 203 in there with an inverted signal. You'd be asking for problems. If you plan on keeping the tool for a while, invest in a set of G203s and pull all of the 202s, as they seem to get flaky after a while. If you do this, you'll have to swap the common jumper on the board...of course you can just replace the bad 202 and move on.

Now is an ideal time to go over your motor wiring from the control box to each motor to make 100% sure there aren't any loose connections, shorts or anything else that will smoke a drive in short order.

-B

[Initial Sound, LLC]

Thanks again B!

Have the bad one going to Gecko and a new one coming in with the spare to follow.

Lesson learned: Don't use tools in -20F ambient. The electrolytic caps are rated to -40C. After the drivers heat up, condensation could simply short electronics.


The G203's work with my board by changing a jumper? Would I need a different power supply?

I'll need to look into that.

[Brady Watson]

The G203's work with my board by changing a jumper? Would I need a different power supply?

I'll need to look into that.

No problem. If you are worried about the temps being too low, I am sure you are crafty enough to setup an incandescent heater to keep the components warm...

Yes, you can change the common on the 4G board via jumper with the caveat that ALL drive's commons are the same. It would be nice if individual common jumpers existed, but the Alphas don't have that option either.

You can use the exact same power supply - or upgrade it if you need to. Later 4Gs used a 63v rectified DC PS; earlier ones were 50v. Higher voltage = higher top end & more top end power (moves torque band up...to a point). The 63v has enough headroom against the G20X's 80v limit for times when back EMF comes into play, like decel and carefully moving an axis by hand...

-B

[scottp55]

Jerry, Did you contact Shopbot support and get it resolved? What was the problem With your Desktop? Seems like thread got off your problem.

[richards]

The G203v stepper drivers are my driver of preference, but I've used the G202 without any problems. Geckodrive.com still sells the G202 for $144 each plus shipping. Click on Products/Stepper Motor Controls/Legacy Products.

The G203v uses Ground as common and requires a +2.5V to +5 volt signal. The G202 uses +5 as common and expects the signals to be 0V. As Brady said, the controller board expects all drives to be either +5 common or 0V common.