Hey for those electronic guru's

[Craig Matheny]

On my Epilog the unit is doing some weird stuff and we have narrowed it down to the mother board.... However I am not sold yet...
Here are the symptoms powers up part way will not engage the laser circuit turn power on and off 5 sec pause and the unit will some times start. Now here is the kicker all voltage is clean and good to and out of the power supply so I know that is not the issue. So after this going on for about 2 weeks it stopped the lights come on but no engage of the system. So I called Epilog had a board next day aired to me sat delivery $$$ so about 4 hours after the order was placed on Friday I decided to take the mother board out and what did I find, on the back of the board around what acts like a reset switch tons of dirt, dust and grime. I have seen on my desk tops in the warehouse that when they get dirty the act up plus to my memory once a component is bad it is bad unless it is a switch or relay of some sort that make some form of contact.

So the question I have is does my theory sound solid that the issue I had was the dirt around a bunch of connectors shorting out the board to a degree.

[Dan Hintz]

So the question I have is does my theory sound solid that the issue I had was the dirt around a bunch of connectors shorting out the board to a degree.
Is your theory sound? Absolutely.

Is it your problem? Possibly, but no guarantee. A lot of partially-conductive gunk has to build up before you would see problems, but it does happen.

[Craig Matheny]

Dan this is on the back side of the reset switch I had to take a paint brush to remove the build up, the back side of the reset sits inside a hole where all the air goes by. Prior to cleaning the reset button did nothing now it is clean and it resets the machine it seems it was shorting in the reset position now that it is clean all works. I guess the other question is solid components like resistors regulators caps and ICs once they break they are broke only contacts can give random issues in theory correct?

[Bruce Volden]

Craig,

T-shooting electronics is much akin to a doctor diagnosing a patient. By that I mean, everything depends on as much detail as you can provide. When you turn on your machine (a working machine) you should become intimately familiar with the boot up of said system. When something is not correct you will immediately be aware--at least for that part. Everything that happens downstream of boot up calls for further familiarity. The techs @ Epilog(or anywhere) can only "guess" at what could be wrong from your symptom descriptions and also by having you perform some of the tests they will walk you through. Be aware also, that on some mobos are "idiot lights" that indicate system status--you should learn these also. But in short, yeah, electronics can and will do some weird stuff. I'm glad you checked for clean power etc. I wish I could help with your problem 'tho.

Bruce

[John Noell]

... only contacts can give random issues in theory correct? Not in my experience. As it was explained to me, the internal conductors in a chip can be slightly defective and depending on temperature and current they can work intermittently. I just worked on a computer motherbaord with an intermittently bad BIOS chip.

[Dan Hintz]

I guess the other question is solid components like resistors regulators caps and ICs once they break they are broke only contacts can give random issues in theory correct?
Solid-state components (ICs, caps, transistors, resistors, etc.) can be degraded rather than outright fail. Degradation can come in the form of reduced temp/electrical specs, random operation, and so on.

[Doug Novic]

Craig,

I have been involved with a lot of electric components and PCs in dusty environments. Some really dusty environments. I learned that when there is an accumulation of dust on a mother board all it takes is a humid day to really mess things up. Dust is loose and absorbs moisture easily. Humid day and all of a sudden things go weird. Voltages and resistance varies and components do not work right. Especially Fanuc controllers and motherboards. One plant I was at we established a "blow out" day every week. Everything was shut down, electric shut off to the CNC equipment, operators wore ground straps and opened the cases. Then they blew out the dust even if there was no dust to be seen. Dry air, low power. End of weird issues.

So I have to agree with your theory... whole heartedly.

[Craig Matheny]

Well it has been 4 days and no issues (hope I didn't jinx myself)