Kev Williams
10-22-2016, 10:34 PM
So after bragging up the GCC the other day after cleaning the #1 mirror in the bottom of the machine, I engraved a bunch of white/black Romark since then, was nice to be able to back down the power substantially--
Yesterday my new V-Tech 'see-who's-at-the-door' phones & video doorbell came yesterday. After hooking it up, I engraved this small sign to point out the new doorbell.
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As you'll notice, it looks HORRIBLE!
So I did another test, repeated a bit of engraving that's been turning out very nice the past 2 days--
346185
--now, this lettering is pretty small, but it's HORRIBLE!
Not sure exactly what's going on, but the last time something similar (<keyword) happened, cleaning the encoder wheel on the X servo did the trick.
So, I pulled the motor, and sure enough, the wheel's pretty gucky...
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Now, this is the first machine with encoders I've ever owned. I understand the hall-effect thing, but I didn't understand how this thing tripped an HE switch. I mean, the edge is transparent-
346186
-I would expect everything BUT the edge would be transparent!
However, it wasn't until I checked these pics after I took them, because I couldn't see this with just my old eyes-- and now I get it! :)
That's a lot of hash marks! or teeth, or whatever they're called!
346183
And it's also clear why these things need cleaning, pretty soon the guck can fill up the gaps between the teeth!
346184
Are these machines cool, or what?! :D
Ok, so I clean it up, put it back together, and Voila! Uh, wait a minute--- NOTHING CHANGED!!??
My next test looked exactly like the first test...
AGGHHH... Ok, so maybe the Y motor encoder needs cleaning... Do you know what a pain it is to get THAT one off? (I'll bet Gary does!)...
And once I got it out, and got it apart, the encoder wheel looked like brand new. Not a speck of dust on it. But I cleaned it anyway, and re-centered it within the HE trigger, got it back on and--
--same bad engraving...
And then it dawned on me-- which is where we come to the "-and troubleshooting" part of this story...
Yesterday I removed the #3 and #4 mirrors, and the lens to clean them...
Check the lens---- tight.
Check the mirror over the lens---- tight.
Check the #3 mirror---- and it's anything BUT tight! Just kinda sittin' there rattling around...
I do remember tightening it, but obviously I didn't put much muscle into it!
Snugged up the mirror and----MUCH better--
loose mirror version on top, tight mirror version on the bottom...
346187
--all the difference in the world!
So I spent 2 hours tearing out servo motors and cleaning their encoder strips, when the problem was nothing more than a loose mirror...
Not that the encoders didn't need it, and now they'll be good for another year!
But I SHOULD HAVE checked out all the EASY stuff first! http://www.engraver1.com/gifs/banghead.gif
Yesterday my new V-Tech 'see-who's-at-the-door' phones & video doorbell came yesterday. After hooking it up, I engraved this small sign to point out the new doorbell.
346181
As you'll notice, it looks HORRIBLE!
So I did another test, repeated a bit of engraving that's been turning out very nice the past 2 days--
346185
--now, this lettering is pretty small, but it's HORRIBLE!
Not sure exactly what's going on, but the last time something similar (<keyword) happened, cleaning the encoder wheel on the X servo did the trick.
So, I pulled the motor, and sure enough, the wheel's pretty gucky...
346182
Now, this is the first machine with encoders I've ever owned. I understand the hall-effect thing, but I didn't understand how this thing tripped an HE switch. I mean, the edge is transparent-
346186
-I would expect everything BUT the edge would be transparent!
However, it wasn't until I checked these pics after I took them, because I couldn't see this with just my old eyes-- and now I get it! :)
That's a lot of hash marks! or teeth, or whatever they're called!
346183
And it's also clear why these things need cleaning, pretty soon the guck can fill up the gaps between the teeth!
346184
Are these machines cool, or what?! :D
Ok, so I clean it up, put it back together, and Voila! Uh, wait a minute--- NOTHING CHANGED!!??
My next test looked exactly like the first test...
AGGHHH... Ok, so maybe the Y motor encoder needs cleaning... Do you know what a pain it is to get THAT one off? (I'll bet Gary does!)...
And once I got it out, and got it apart, the encoder wheel looked like brand new. Not a speck of dust on it. But I cleaned it anyway, and re-centered it within the HE trigger, got it back on and--
--same bad engraving...
And then it dawned on me-- which is where we come to the "-and troubleshooting" part of this story...
Yesterday I removed the #3 and #4 mirrors, and the lens to clean them...
Check the lens---- tight.
Check the mirror over the lens---- tight.
Check the #3 mirror---- and it's anything BUT tight! Just kinda sittin' there rattling around...
I do remember tightening it, but obviously I didn't put much muscle into it!
Snugged up the mirror and----MUCH better--
loose mirror version on top, tight mirror version on the bottom...
346187
--all the difference in the world!
So I spent 2 hours tearing out servo motors and cleaning their encoder strips, when the problem was nothing more than a loose mirror...
Not that the encoders didn't need it, and now they'll be good for another year!
But I SHOULD HAVE checked out all the EASY stuff first! http://www.engraver1.com/gifs/banghead.gif