CAMaster MC-2840 Problems and Solutions!

[Bryan Cowan]

Y-Axis motor problem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrqEJHgpv_Q

[james mcgrew]

Bryan, I had alot of troubles with my Camaster X3 when I got it which took months to figure out. Part of it was a Gecko hardware issue that Camaster and/or Gecko should have figured out before shipping, but the other issues stemmed from settings in Wincnc. These were basic motor settings, acceleration, speeds, etc. Frankly, Camaster did not seem to understand all of the settings well enough to optimize Wincnc to run their machines to their potential. Don't get me wrong.. it ran, but sometimes would lose Z or have chatter, etc.. all which can be fixed by Wincnc settings.

Things could be different now, and maybe they have optimized the settings for Mach3 when they ship their machines, but I would not assume that your Mach3 settings are optimized.

good luck, hopefully the hardware is fine and it's just some Mach3 settings.

the issue Eric speaks of was a gecko drive issue that ultimatly we found other machines and other manufacturers had or had already had the same problem, wincnc, gecko the fellows at camaster eric, myself and a whole lot of others worked hard to get straight. honestly it might have been possible for one of the hardware suppliers to have known this but i have been long convinced camaster was not the problem. i spent a great deal of time with eric on this as we have the same machines i have always been a lot more greatful for what happened and as a result we got a far better understanding of wincnc.

bryan you may have to tighten the slack on the "y" i had to do this a week ago on my "x" i have given you my phone number a couple of times over the last week and i may have given you my email as well but i have yet to hear from you, i do not think i can do this on a forum but there are others who may be able to help if you do not wish for me to help you, the fellows at camaster are some doggone good fellows who have gone the extra mile for many if not all of us, i have spent a lot of time with quite a few other machines and am still convinced i have the best machine and backup in them, any problem even eric's (which benefit all of us the 9 owners who got those geckos) was never ignored. as far as controllers and software owners are going to have to learn about the machines, and there software, learning curves are still going to be a pia for some and come like butter for others. (erics proficiency with software put many of us to shame) my learning curve was a real pain which took far more time and broken bits and wasted material than many i see now within our circle, i am going back thru the post and praying i told bryan to expect a learning curve both with software and machine as well as personal ability's, if i did not i apologize and hope we all warn those to new to cnc that these are machines and have an awful lot of moving parts some of which may have to be tightened up and adjusted , the real benefit here for me is the fellows in georgia

i may be wrong but bryan the motor set screws are not torx, please call the fellows in the am as here i am two years into this and i still need them, they have yet to let me down!! and that includes eric

jim

[Nicholas Bukky]

Bryan I don't have belt drives on my router..... I also WISH I had a camaster.
You may have worn the teeth off the belt by running it without the proper tension. Just a guess on that..May be stressing the drive components with impropper settings made things losen prematurely?? Again like Jim said there is a learning curve. I have had my router a little over a year and learn new stuff almost every day about settings or better ways to do things in general.(and still have a long way to go)
I have meet the guys from camaster and they have been willing to give me support on questions for my router and it didn't even come from them!!
(my company has little or no support be glad you didn't get one like mine I had to yell to get parts to fix it and finally after 3mos was able to test cut something)

Let us know how it goes

[Bryan Cowan]

i have given you my phone number a couple of times over the last week and i may have given you my email as well but i have yet to hear from you, i do not think i can do this on a forum but there are others who may be able to help if you do not wish for me to help you, the fellows at camaster are some doggone good fellows who have gone the extra mile for many if not all of us, i have spent a lot of time with quite a few other machines and am still convinced i have the best machine and backup in them, any problem even eric's (which benefit all of us the 9 owners who got those geckos) was never ignored. as far as controllers and software owners are going to have to learn about the machines, and there software, learning curves are still going to be a pia for some and come like butter for others. (erics proficiency with software put many of us to shame) my learning curve was a real pain which took far more time and broken bits and wasted material than many i see now within our circle, i am going back thru the post and praying i told bryan to expect a learning curve both with software and machine as well as personal ability's, if i did not i apologize and hope we all warn those to new to cnc that these are machines and have an awful lot of moving parts some of which may have to be tightened up and adjusted , the real benefit here for me is the fellows in georgia

i may be wrong but bryan the motor set screws are not torx, please call the fellows in the am as here i am two years into this and i still need them, they have yet to let me down!! and that includes eric

jim

I do have your number as well as other member's numbers. I chose to post the problems online for a few reasons;
1. It was later in the evening and I didn't want to call and disrupt you or your families,
2. Posting allows other owners who may have had the same problem chime in and offer their support and suggestions,
3. Posting allows me to post pictures and videos of the problem rather than trying to explain something that is foreign to me over the phone.

I do believe the Y-axis motor is held into place with torx screws. I had a T10 torx bit and it fit, but I need something with a longer drive/shaft to put the needed torque on them to loosen. I'm a little skeptical as the Y-axis motor looks as if it's already in it's fully extended position to put enough tension on the belt, but it's worth a shot; I can't use the machine until it's fixed.

[james mcgrew]

It's too late in the night to call. I know they'll chime in tomorrow....hopefully

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way bad mouthing CAMaster or their machines. I obviously haven't finished my learning curve and I'm blaming the machine for my own errors. I have been very satisfied with this CAMaster and hope to continue in it's glory asap.

bryan, my phone number is 803 518 2074, i will be in my truck in 30 minutes (7:25 am est) my hope is you will call me,

joey and i get instant messages when someone posts on camheads it can still take a few minutes to an hour to respond but we set this up for a reason, starting a new thread on the creek will only be seen by us at random like anybody else and unless we do that you are kinda on your own until we see it, i make my number public as one can get me up until 8:00 pm (i am married) on the camheads forum you probably will get a camaster owner quicker as many are not memebers of the creek and our goal is to give each other the best possible response and solution available. whatever your methods and motives are i cannot promise the quickest solution using this method here. generally if i cannot solve your problem i can get you to someone who can, i have every camaster owners phone number but yours and i have made an effort to obtain it.

edit: the camheads forum has a section called new cnc setup, my suggestion is you post there as well, i have no intention of editing your methods or feelings my focus is on the machines and thier owners

jim

[Bryan Cowan]

I meant Allen, not torx...confusing myself.

[Bryan Cowan]

bryan, my phone number is 803 518 2074, i will be in my truck in 30 minutes (7:25 am est) my hope is you will call me,

joey and i get instant messages when someone posts on camheads it can still take a few minutes to an hour to respond but we set this up for a reason, starting a new thread on the creek will only be seen by us at random like anybody else and unless we do that you are kinda on your own until we see it, i make my number public as one can get me up until 8:00 pm (i am married) on the camheads forum you probably will get a camaster owner quicker as many are not memebers of the creek and our goal is to give each other the best possible response and solution available. whatever your methods and motives are i cannot promise the quickest solution using this method here. generally if i cannot solve your problem i can get you to someone who can, i have every camaster owners phone number but yours and i have made an effort to obtain it.

edit: the camheads forum has a section called new cnc setup, my suggestion is you post there as well, i have no intention of editing your methods or feelings my focus is on the machines and thier owners

jim

I'll be at my other job today and won't have access to the CAMaster until later this evening. Then it's Browns/Steelers time, so my time with the machine is really limited today.

[Joseph B. Chritz]

If the shaft on the Y axis is moving but the gear/pulley is not, look for a set screw holding the gear to the shaft. When you tighten it be sure to tighten it on the flat on the shaft.

[Bryan Cowan]

If the shaft on the Y axis is moving but the gear/pulley is not, look for a set screw holding the gear to the shaft. When you tighten it be sure to tighten it on the flat on the shaft.

This is only accessible by removing the y-axis motor and belt, correct?

[Joey Jarrard]

Bryan,
I have got a call from Jim this am. I also have left you a message this am.
Please call me on this matter and we will get the problem resolved. I know you are not with your router as you stated but we will be able to get you the info to rectify your problem. Like Jim I must say this to all CAMaster owners – I do love this forum but it is not our own, I do not monitor this on a regular basis, if any one has a tech issue please us the CAMheads forum as this will E-mail and IM me with every response. This is the fastest way to get service other than the phone.

[Bryan Cowan]

Bryan,
I have got a call from Jim this am. I also have left you a message this am.
Please call me on this matter and we will get the problem resolved. I know you are not with your router as you stated but we will be able to get you the info to rectify your problem. Like Jim I must say this to all CAMaster owners – I do love this forum but it is not our own, I do not monitor this on a regular basis, if any one has a tech issue please us the CAMheads forum as this will E-mail and IM me with every response. This is the fastest way to get service other than the phone.

Joey,

I got your message, thanks. If I have some spare time today, I'll give you a call. It's easier for me to access the forums/email throughout the day than chat on the phone especially when I'm not in front of the router.

I understand this isn't CAMaster's forum, but like I said earlier there are other people on here who can offer support (and they have) whether they have a CAMaster or not. If I wanted to get a hold of either you or Jim right away, I would have called. Everything I would have said on the phone I have said in this thread. I've also included pictures and video; something that in today's world cannot be done over the phone as easily as it is here.

[james mcgrew]

bryan since i have yet to speak with you or develop a relationship like i have with all the others then i will just vote for both

go steelers and browns!!!!!

our goal is to get you going quick, i run a large cabinetry shop and down time is crucial to me, untill late september i had two larger machines now that i have sold one i am more dependant on time than before and cannot wait until i get the machine joey and the fellows are finishing for me now! but believe it or not there are three in front of me so i will not get it till november. i also have to go to a job site but will take your call when you get ready, if you need replacement parts and warranty diagnostics i would call camaster this forum probably will not produce quicker results.
i would advise you not to dismantle or attempt self repair with out calling. you could easily compound your problem.

feel free to call, i promise i dont bite!!

jim

[Bryan Cowan]

i would advise you not to dismantle or attempt self repair with out calling. you could easily compound your problem.

feel free to call, i promise i dont bite!!

jim

All the facts on the problem are laid out in this thread. In my last video, you can see the problem. I don't have a problem with calling, but with the lack of time I have today and with all the information on the problem within this thread, I'm surprised you guys keep pressing the importance of a phone call. Call me new school, but it's better/quicker to get the opinion of a forum than calling a single individual.

If that machine was my life support, my 8-5, you betcha I'd call anyone and everyone who gave me a number. But since I'm not in front of the machine, I can't do anything about it if I were to speak to someone on the phone. Posting online will give you and others time to respond (if you wanted) without putting you on the spot and interrupting what you were doing prior to me calling.

Oh, and go Brownies!

[Guy Mathews]

Well the Y axis gears have completely stopped working or shall I say it no longer moves in the Y axis. I took video and am in the process of uploading it to YouTube. The bottom part of the motor is spinning as well as it's making its usually noise, but the gear on top that would turn the belt is not moving.

Machine has just been rendered useless.

Sounds like the set screw that holds the gear to the shaft is either loose or has stripped the shaft.

[Eric Mims]

yea, it seems strange that the belt, which looked tight enough, wasn't catching. Either all of the teeth came off the belt (which you'd see on the ground) or the gear that's attached to the motor is spinning freely on the motor shaft.

but that issue seems different than the Z stall. when you figure it out, be sure to post an update.