GCC Explorer Owners? X Origin Problem?

[JB Lynn]

Hello Everybody :)

We're trying to get our recently purchased but lightly-used (2 years old) GCC
Explorer 30 Watt Machine (38"X20" Table) to work properly...MANY new
parts including table screws, X Motor, Lens, X board/cable etc. etc.
It's a looooooong story about it needing all of the above but it's
now
just about perfect except for the following problem!

After powering-up and initializing, the machine always goes back to
the 10.5 X position...that's right, will not go back to the 0 X
origin
or extreme left. Have confirmed that Carriage Lock is (OFF), have
done (USER RESET) and (SYSTEM RESET) and of course attempted to do an
Origin Set but while in Origin Set mode and still cannot get the cutting head
to move to the left (or towards 0) beyond the 10.5' inch mark with the arrow keys; What
could be the problem? Maybe wrong firmware (for a smaller machine)
or
is there some other software setting done at LCD that will fix this?
Could it be a mechanical problem or adjustment? NOTE: If I manually
push the head to 0 X position while the machine is off, when it
repowers it will stop at the 29 inch X position! Basically, it seems
like it wants to start or stop about 10.5 inches beyond or shy of
either X extreme (left to right), hope this makes sense? Finally, we've noticed that the LCD shows (- negative X) coordinates while the cutting head is at the 10.5' X home position (on table).

Thanks in advance for ANY help, Regards, JB
PS: about the only thing not yet replaced is the Motherboard, any chance this is the culprit? Again, this is NOT the latest explorer, it was built in late 2002.

[Kevin Huffman]

Hello JB,
Firmware is most likey the problem. Either the wrong one or a corrupt version. I don't think it is wrong firmware. The only other three firmwares that can go on this machine have table sizes of 11.8x8.25, 25x18 and 50x36.5. None of these would give you a table of 10.5.

What you can do is check the firmware name/version on your machine. Let your machine intialize, Hit F4 for your Function Menu, Hit your down arrow until you get to Machine Information, Hit Enter, Hit your down arrow for more info. It should tell you Firmware : Version 3.07 and FPGA : V2.7. If it doesn't you will need to download and install the newest one. Even if it does say the newest version I would reload it to see if you can use your whole table.

Firmware isn't the only thing that can cause this. If your motors aren't reading the correct number of steps, it can be off. If the mainboard isn't recieving the correct number of steps that the motor is taking it will be off. What you can do is enter the self diagnostics and test each part of the machine. Turn your machine off and Hold the Auto Focus while turning it on. When it intializes it will allow you to test each componant and see if which one is causing the prolbem.

Let me know if there is any other help I can offer.

[Rodne Gold]

Im sure I once had a problem like that cos we installed a Y motor instead of an X one? You might have put in a motor from another machine , wrong axis?
Try this too , manually move the head to home and switch on ,or failing that manually move the head to the lowest right hand side of the table and switch the machine on. Check all your limit switches too.