Brad Bernhart
07-08-2013, 11:17 PM
Hey,
I just bought a used 2003 Epilog Legend 32EX the other day. It was working when I made the purchase. It was working when I got it home and made a few samples. All good so far. I decided that since it was a new machine to me, that I would follow the instructions for cleaning the machine. I cleaned off the rails (x and y axes) then put the lightest coat of grease ever on them as detailed in the manual. Then I turn on the machine and jog the carriage around using the arrows next to the LCD to spread the grease. I own a CNC router and perform this an a pretty regular basis so I wasn't anticipating any problems. Everything is by the book so far. I admit that I didn't know about the encoder strips and their sensitivity to any foreign particles such as grease at the time of the cleaning, but I do now and confirmed that I did not hit the encoder strips with any grease.
During the jogging, I maxed out the carriage in the y-direction and at exactly that time, I heard a thud. That thud I assumed was just the carriage hitting the bumpers at the end of the axis. Maybe it was, but from that exact moment on... my LCD screen is white all the time with no text. Also, I don't get the beep or the small x/y adjustments on power up that I used to either.
I have talked with Epilog and in about 3 minutes of conversation I was in for a $995 motherboard. My motherboard still shows 4 red lights, but apparently it's somewhere else on the board. I just received the new MOBO today and installed. Now I get the beep and the initial axis movements, but the LCD is still white always.
Now, I totally understand that my machine is 10 years old and stuff needs to be replaced some times. I am fine replacing the mobo and whatever else if needed. It's the nature of buying a 10 year old machine, but it's troubling that the previous owner replaced the mobo a year ago though. The previous owner also replaced the LCD panel a year ago. Now both are on the fritz and I'm already in a grand because warranties on parts are not transferrable from one owner to another.
So...
a) did I do something wrong?
b) Is their something wrong with jogging to the max in the y-direction or was that just some fluke? My CNC has limit switches that don't allow the carriage to slam at the end of any axis.
c) are these machines actually this finicky?
d) when they do break, is it typical to throw money at them with new parts until they work, or are there ways to work on them?
Frustrated!
Answers to the above or experience with similar issues would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
I just bought a used 2003 Epilog Legend 32EX the other day. It was working when I made the purchase. It was working when I got it home and made a few samples. All good so far. I decided that since it was a new machine to me, that I would follow the instructions for cleaning the machine. I cleaned off the rails (x and y axes) then put the lightest coat of grease ever on them as detailed in the manual. Then I turn on the machine and jog the carriage around using the arrows next to the LCD to spread the grease. I own a CNC router and perform this an a pretty regular basis so I wasn't anticipating any problems. Everything is by the book so far. I admit that I didn't know about the encoder strips and their sensitivity to any foreign particles such as grease at the time of the cleaning, but I do now and confirmed that I did not hit the encoder strips with any grease.
During the jogging, I maxed out the carriage in the y-direction and at exactly that time, I heard a thud. That thud I assumed was just the carriage hitting the bumpers at the end of the axis. Maybe it was, but from that exact moment on... my LCD screen is white all the time with no text. Also, I don't get the beep or the small x/y adjustments on power up that I used to either.
I have talked with Epilog and in about 3 minutes of conversation I was in for a $995 motherboard. My motherboard still shows 4 red lights, but apparently it's somewhere else on the board. I just received the new MOBO today and installed. Now I get the beep and the initial axis movements, but the LCD is still white always.
Now, I totally understand that my machine is 10 years old and stuff needs to be replaced some times. I am fine replacing the mobo and whatever else if needed. It's the nature of buying a 10 year old machine, but it's troubling that the previous owner replaced the mobo a year ago though. The previous owner also replaced the LCD panel a year ago. Now both are on the fritz and I'm already in a grand because warranties on parts are not transferrable from one owner to another.
So...
a) did I do something wrong?
b) Is their something wrong with jogging to the max in the y-direction or was that just some fluke? My CNC has limit switches that don't allow the carriage to slam at the end of any axis.
c) are these machines actually this finicky?
d) when they do break, is it typical to throw money at them with new parts until they work, or are there ways to work on them?
Frustrated!
Answers to the above or experience with similar issues would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.