Shopbot died

[g_hinton]

help please!! I was just cutting along and the shopbot just stopped lost all power. It is showing a e-stop pushed but all is ok with that. I opened the control box and I here a beeping coming from the power input and 1 green light on steady and 1 flashing. Any ideas?

[myxpykalix]

I'm not sure what caused it but you probably will have to start your cutting over.

To try to get it "unstuck" I would turn off the computer, turn off the control box then go over to your circuit breaker box and turn off the circuit that controls the bot.
By doing this you will loose all your file settings (not table base coordinates, ect.) but your file you were working on and have to reZero.

By doing this you should release the memory that is holding the info that is causing the confusion.
It will mean you have to start over but you will have to do that anyway. Try that and report back as to whether that fixed it. If not we'll have to get the sledge hammer out next......

[g_hinton]

Tried all that still no power even unplug the fan per frank at sb and that didn't work all it shows is e-stop pushed and they are ok nothing resets and of coarse it is Friday

[Gary Campbell]

Gary...
Check all the connections to the E stop both at the board and switch ends. They are a normally closed circuit, so any loose connection or broken wire will act as a stop.
Gary

[gene]

Take the e stop out totally Bypass it with a short piece of wire to see if this is the problem (FOR TESTING ONLY) This will help you isolate the problem if this is it or not On my bot sometimes i have to push the reset on the big grey metal box several times to get it to reset. Good luck , let us know if this works

[gabriel_mckeagney]

RIP

[john_l]

Ditto on all above. I had this happen once and my problem was that the wire to the Estop had been rolled over with a cart or something and ever so slightly broke and seperated the little wire iside. Being a "normally closed" circuit, any break in that circuit will cause the light to stay on. Best of luck.

[g_hinton]

Ok how do I jump out estop which wire. Jumps to what

[navigator7]

I'd like to interject an experience that happened to me in hope it might help Gary.
In my past life, placing concrete and other materials was my business. I bought a machine that worked fine initially but then one day, quit completely not unlike Gary.
This machine was worth $400K new.

8266
It was cold. Temperatures were going to plummet into the single digits when the sun went down. We had just completed a pour. I was cleaning out my machine when it quit. (No remote hydraulic controls) A troubleshooter by nature, I had a millions things in my mind but the standard procedure is start with the cheapest and dumbest thing and assume operator error. Nothing. Inadvertently, I moved the outriggers on the machine and mysteriously I got my controls back and departed the jobsite as temperatures were passing 12º.
I couldn't repeat the problem in the AM???
Many jobs went by before it failed again. Then one day.......Snowing, raining, the wind blowing, we couldn't stand up.....ugggggh!
We did the pour with manual controls which is like playing with nun-chucks.
So, now that I cant trust the machine, I take it out of service to test every circuit. A friends standing 8' away says....."Are those wires supposed to move?"
"What wires?"
"Those wires going to the relay you just pulled out"

Sure enough!!!! There were two wires going to the E-stop switch which I could pull out by hand. (There are about 6 e-stops on this machine)

HERE IS MY POINT:
At the factory, these two wires were thought to be installed correctly. The tinned ends go into socket and a screw is turned and when tight a drop of paint gets globbed over the fitting. These two wires were never secured so as the truck racked during it's duty, an E-stop wire would lose contact occasionally and Thats All Folks!
I learned later the previous owner from the Dakotas bought the machine new. They sold it quickly despite numerous visits by factory technicians to troubleshoot and isolate the same problem. After properly cleaning and tightening and securing my wire, the machine worked flawlessly. It only cost me a half gallon of R&R!

When I hear a problem like Gary's....everything is running fine then poooooof! Nothing. It reminds me of my own personal story.
You've checked the obvious........now you have to look where nobody goes for other problems. One loose wire is all you need.
Just the machine shaking can dislodge a loose wire....I've seen it happen.

Here is the circuitry that ran my machine which I assume to be similar to the ShopBot.


8267

[Gary Campbell]

Gary...
For a test to see if the light will go out..... Jump A1 to A2. B1 to B2. Numbers/letters may be slightly different. Also check/wiggle blue Wago connector that connects these to the board.

Chuck...
And this is relevant because......?
Gary

[navigator7]

Gary...how could you miss it?
One little factory wire easily overlooked can cause grief.
That his machine was running fine then quit tells a trouble shooter quite a bit.
Have I offended you with a parallel story from a different world?
Would you like me to delete my post?
Are you building a fence?

[Gary Campbell]

Chuck...
I dont question your intentions as anything but well meaning, I question the relevance. I question that you use the broken wire as a parallel or even segway into your other world. General information is often pertinent and relevant, but in this case specific information to allow a frustrated user to possibly troubleshoot an existing real problem would be best done by persons that have had hands on on both a machine and the specific problem at hand.

That said, Gary is probably feeling a high anxiety level due to a nonworking machine. To put yourself in his shoes, how would you have felt during your broken concrete pump episode to have a picture of a ShopBot posted as a solution to your concrete pump problem?

Had you actually assembled a ShopBot, you would know that most of these connections are user installed, not factory. There are some done by the factory and those fixes have also been mentioned. Please dont delete or change anything to please me, thats not your job. I dont understand your other questions, but have one for you. Did you order that machine yet?
Gary

[navigator7]

Hi Gary,
I acknowledge your point about relevance. My rant does lack specifics as it pertains to a ShopBot...no question. I believe it's very relevant to simple troubleshooting which is applicable to any failure of equipment.

Let me say this: I'm too windy.
Perhaps I should have said?: "Look for loose connections where you haven't looked before!"

It's boring and doesn't add to the discussion. I believe including background information makes for a better story. It wasn't a broken wire it was a connection buried and improperly installed from the get go. Like not torquing the nut on a rod bearing.

All the fingers and people that went into the construction of the Shopbot, including the end user may have contributed to the failure of the machine.
A "fresh set of eyes" is perhaps Gary Hinton's best tool at the moment? My post was designed to cause him to realize this and look at his machine from a third party point of view rather than on a desperate Friday trying to complete a project.

I'm a big fan of brainstorming. I have had my concrete machine broken. I've been totally clueless as to the next step. I have had information delivered to me in unconventional methods by third persons. Therein lies the values of many different inputs! As an example, a user here was getting inaccurate Z axis output on his machine. Much advice was given as to what could be done to remedy the problem.

I offered that perhaps more than one type of pinion gear was floating around the ShopBot factory and for whatever reason he had the wrong one? Sure enough! 20 teeth rather than 22, I believe???

I've never assembled a ShopBot as you suggest. But in your statement above, all of Gary's connections must now be suspect.
An excellent troubleshooting point! If a factory technician can mis-assemble my big $$$$ Telebelt brain box than certainly a user can improperly affix a connection. Wouldn't you agree?

There is not an hour that does not go by where I'm not planning and marketing for my ShopBot. I haven't placed the order but my ship is coming in!

Thanks for your patience.
;-)

[g_hinton]

Thanks for all the help after checking everything and talking to Frank at SB several times it apperars that the 24 volt power supply has gone bad.

[Gary Campbell]

Glad you got it solved Gary