Need a ShopBot Doc for TN house calls!

[OutsideHollywood]

I'm trying to find a Shopbot Master than I can hire to come to our shop and give our 2006-era PRT Alpha a check up, perhaps a tune up, and possibly an upgrade plan. We are in Centerville, TN, a few hours west of Nashville.

This particular Shopbot has been making a few hundred kydex holsters every week for the last two years, and is starting to develop some electrical eccentricities, like the occasional driver error (usually on line 16 or 17 of a part file), which we fix by restarting, messing with the USB cable, checking connections on the control board, etc.

I'm not sure how many hours the previous owner put into it, but it's still set up the way that the he originally built it. I've done lots of experimenting and troubleshooting and reading forum posts over the last 24 months, but I don't have anything to compare this machine to, and I really don't have any idea of how to look for underling problems.

Under normal circumstances, I'd enjoy solving this mystery on my own, but I'm juggling so many projects at the moment that I really don't have time to dive into it alone. Also, since this is still our main production machine, I want to minimize its downtime. I think it's time for an expert to look it over and see what we might be doing wrong.

Shopbot is willing to send someone to us, but since we're a long ways from Durham they suggested I try to find a someone on the forum first. So, is there anyone nearer to middle Tennessee, who knows about older Shopbots and would like to visit our shop? We are very eager to get help and to make it worth your while.

Thanks!

[bleeth]

I know the machines from that era well and can help you with an upgrade plan, as can Brady, but I'm too far to stop by.
If you send me your full specs, including motor models, pics, router/spindle etc. via email or PM I' can give you some ideas there.
Sound like you're possibly getting a com hiccup. Could be anything from a worn out cable to a driver or board issue. Like any intermittent, it can be frustrating to troubleshoot.

[coryatjohn]

I'm in Memphis and might be willing to share costs for a ShopBot person if you want to go that route. I have a 2013 PRS Alpha and would like to update it to the latest firmware and all but am loathe to do it myself as everything is working perfectly at the moment.