Denford Software & Machines

Hello folks, I'm in trouble again.

My Novamill is randomly tripping and requires to be reset. It happens under all conditions and does not need to be actually running a programme.

It has been converted to Mach3 and whilst I'm still using it, it is becoming a pain.

Any ideas?

I have not been able to attribute the problem to any external source in fact the whole county could be doing nothing and it would still trip.

try disabling major items one at a time, spindle drive, axis drive, and see if the tripping stops.

Cheers Tom.

What is the best way to "disable"?

BTW, I would also say that it is getting worse, if that makes any difference to the diagnosis.

fuses

Thanks, will do some testing.

I ran the machine today and established that it does not trip if the spindle drive is isolated. (Lucky shot)

I began by running it normally, a couple of times, on a programme that should last just over an hour. On both occasions it tripped after about twenty to thirty minutes.

I then removed the fuse, F1, and started the programme again. This time it ran without a hitch. I then left the machine idle for around five hours and again there was no problem. The machine was still functioning properly, albeit without a rotating spindle.

Exactly what this means I’m none too sure.

Hi Clive, What trips? Does it just freeze, trip a curcuit breaker?

do you have speed control of the spindle

It behaves as though the E-Stop has been pressed.

It is running Mach3 and when it trips I have to click the system reset button. If it was in the middle of a sequence I scroll back the programme to a suitable point in fresh air and do a "run from here".

@ angel-tech I have speed control under normal circumstances but when it trips I have nothing. I have sometimes had to click the "reset" button on the spindle drive when the machine first boots up. This is because is seems to want to rotate very slowly and it ignors the S**** comand in the code and continues to rotate slowly.

I want to test something else today. To keep the cabinet warm in the winter I have a low watage light bulb inside the cabinet, powered by the incoming 240v. This hangs down in front of where the spindle drive is located and I'm wondering if it is causing an EMC issue. I shall remove it and try putting the fuse back in.

you should have the machine off when the computer is booting, and only turn the machine on when mach is showing on the screen

@ Tom

Yes, I always wait for the PC to finish loading Mach3 before powering up the machine. It's when I do the hoovering!

When I removed the lamp from inside the cabinet I believe that the live terminal may not have been tight. It jolly well is now!

I have placed a low power heater on the floor of the cabinet and powered it from outside. I shall check it soon to make sure that I haven't melted anything.

The spindle fuse is back in and all seems to be running as it should. (crosses fingers!)

sounds good Clive

Thanks Tom and Martin for your responses.

I have another question now but I shall start a new thread for that one.