Power problems

[crash5050]

So, today I applied powe to my shopbot. I installed SB3 on my laptop and plugged in the USB hub. All was well, winderz found the new device and said the device drivers were installed.

Great!, So I thought, I turned the big red switch to power on the control box, pfffft, nothing, nothing but a green light where the USB plug was plugged in. I opened the box and found this little slider switch and slid it to the right, and boom, all the motors powered on, but I let go of the switch and it slides back left and all the motors power off.

When I start SB3 it says that it appears that the shopbot tool is present, but the control box is not powered on, but I know dang well it is powered on, cuz I turned the switch.

Is there some majick switch I gotta throw inside the control box to start it the 1st time?

[Brady Watson]

Where is this 'little slider switch' located in the box? Post a pic...

You are running a Standard with the aluminum RBK box, right?

-B

[crash5050]

Attached are pics of my control box and the solenoid that has the slider switch.

[Brady Watson]

You have incoming power in the wrong spot. It needs to get wired to the top side of the power switch...You NEED to read the control box wiring diagram for your tool. It should be in a 6x9" Manila envelope. SB recommends that a licensed electrician do the high voltage wiring for this reason. Stop messing with the sliding switch...

The bottom of that contactor is where you will wire in your router so that it can be turned on & off via the control software. READ THE WIRING DIAGRAM!!! Nobody wants you getting hurt.

-B

[crash5050]

I didn't wire any of that stuff, that is the way it came, all I did was plug up the power to the wall. I was under the impression that SB would have wired it correctly from the factory.

[Brady Watson]

The bottom of that contactor is an output, for sure. It is meant to be hooked up to your 110v router.

ShopBot does not ship RBK boxes 'ready to plug in' - they ALL need to be hard wired to the power switch.

Now hurry up and get it running already without zapping yourself! :D

-B

[crash5050]

That's BS, if it is wired backwards, then they wired it somehow, because I surely didn't.....

I will have a conversation with SB tomorrow, 13K for a router, it needs to be right.

David

[Brady Watson]

I agree - call them in the AM and get it straightened out. There should have been a female plug on the end of that whip for the router to plug into. Are you saying that it was a male plug ?

-B

[crash5050]

The power cord that came out of the bot, to the wall was female, I removed the plug in type connectors and put on the twist on type connectors. That cable was about 20 feet long. There is another hole in the box with no cable at all in it, I suspected that is where the router would come in, but I would have to cut the ends off and hook it into the board.

Did I plug the wrong wire into the wall? that could be a problem, I reckon I need to look at that diagram a bit closer to see if I have screwed something up before I go blaming SB. Naw the heck with it, I never screw up, it is all SB's fault :)

David

[crash5050]

One other Question, the Z Zero Plate has a connector on it, is that used for additional accessories like a probe or something like that? I couldn't find a place to hook it up.

David

[Brady Watson]

Yes - that connector is for the probe. Pull the f looking Wago tool out of it (if present) and scotch tape it to your SB binder before it gets lost.

Can you post a pic of the plug that was on the end of that whip?

-B

[crash5050]

it was just the standard 115v 15 amp 3 prong plugin. I am betting that I need to run a new wire to the wall, and put that one back the way it was.

David

[Brady Watson]

The power cord that came out of the bot, to the wall was female, I removed the plug in type connectors and put on the twist on type connectors. That cable was about 20 feet long. There is another hole in the box with no cable at all in it, I suspected that is where the router would come in, but I would have to cut the ends off and hook it into the board.

Did I plug the wrong wire into the wall? that could be a problem, I reckon I need to look at that diagram a bit closer to see if I have screwed something up before I go blaming SB. Naw the heck with it, I never screw up, it is all SB's fault :)

David

OK - that makes sense. Put the female back on that cable & plug your router into it...which you should have already done when running wires through the KabelSchlepp. I would have been very odd for SB to put a male plug on that line since they don't stock them in the assembly area!

Take the twist lock and your own cable (just like the one that goes to the router whip) and run it through the control box hole using the black Hayco ferrule provided in the bag with the dust proof wire hatch grease. Then you can plug that twist lock into your incoming power & you *should* be OK. Read your wiring diagram to verify everything is correct before you energize the box.

-B

[crash5050]

Roger! Thanks for helping me clear that up.

David

[crash5050]

Brady, et. al. The bot is powered up, and I can use the keyboard to jog the machine the full lenght of the xyz axis'. I think all I have left to do is zero the machine coordinates, set the prox switches and lay down the bed, plenum and surface the spoilboard.

Brady, thanks for helping me out lsat night. RTFM, I know, but it works now.

David

[dana_swift]

You have more to do-

Square the system.

If you dont, when you command a square you will get a parallelogram. Follow the instructions and square the table. Then put on the spoilboard and surface it. Check the distance traveled is actually what was commanded. If not, the unit values need corrected.

You are much closer tho-

D

[crash5050]

Dana,

Here is what I did to square the table.

I put the whole thing together, with the bolts loose. I then measured the distances between the beams according to the blueprints, laid a square against them to make sure they were square with the rails. Leveled the legs with the floor of the shop, then leveled the rails along the X axis. I then took my tape measure and measured left corner to right corner of each of the X rails, nudged, pounded and pushed until both sides were exactly the same distance between points. I took som twine and tied it tight to each corner so that I could see if anything moved while I was tightening up the super structure.

After tightening everything up, I re-measured, and they were dead on, measured the distance between the rails at 4 points along the X axis, and used a laser to make sure the rails were level.

I think it is about as square and level as it can be, the V rollers are perfectly centered on the X rails, and it moves smoothly. The only thing I am worried about is that I may not have enough bite between the pinion and the Z rail. It moves easily by jogging it, but I have not had it under a load yet.

I am a former Mach3 user, and the calibration tool on that thing was easy, I am not sure how to set the 0,0 point on the bot, and to check that the distance traveled is the actual distance the machine thinks it traveled. But I have the book. RTFM, Right?


David

[dana_swift]

I check square by having the bot make 4 small pockets in a square. The distance between pockets should be exactly what was specified in the cut file. The diagonal distances should be the same. You decide what tolerances you can live with and stop when you have reached them. If you work just a little bit, the bot is accurate to better than 0.002, with material spring-back and bit flex not accounted for. When you get good at using your bot you will be able to reach 0.002. As to zeroing the bot, move it to where you want 0,0 to be and Z2. You can ZX, ZY, and ZZ all seperately or Z3 and get X, Y and Z all at once. The move commands are the same MX,10 moves X 10 inches to the right. M2,5,8 moves X to 5 inches and Y to 8 inches relative to 0,0. Its all real easy. When you get set up you can use C3 to find the corner of your table using the prox switches. (Adjust the bolts in the channels until it finds the correct location.) Then C2 to use the Z-Zero touch off plate. Yes its all in the "Fine" manual. D