Epilog Helix issue

[Doug Fennell]

My Helix is jacking with me today... maybe someone here has seen this issue.

Most times when I autofocus the table gets stuck and I have to take off the side cover (right side, facing machine) and tug on the belt that is powered by the table servo - then it releases and all is good. It's turning into a pain in the bullocks though - any ideas?

[Frank Corker]

Doug it is one of those things that happens when you try using the autofocus on a very thin piece of material and only when the vector cutting bed is in place. When the larger stainless steel sheet is on there was no problems.

I had that happen to me a few times and as you say bloody annoying. What I did was to remove the front cover of the helix, slip off the belt which runs horizontally across the machine. I then turned equally (half turns until I got it right) the toothed wheel that the belt is driven by on both sides of the machine, this raises the bed upwards. Slide the belt back on. Now it doesn't happen anymore.

[Doug Fennell]

Thanx Frank - looks like I'm having the same issue as you had. It happens to me when the vector grid and stainless steel plate are in place (at the same time) and I'm trying to focus on thin material.

Here's what I did to make it better - removed the side covers, cleaned the fouled grease from the vertical lead screws and recoated with white lithium grease (electronics grade). The long term solution might very well be to manually focus on thin stock. In any case, the white lithium cannot possibly hurt.

The root of the problem appears to be the the lead screws coming through the nuts at apex and causing a slight axial misalignment, which causes binding on the lead screws. If the nuts were slightly longer, there would be no issue.

[Mike Hood]

This thread reminds me... is there anyone out there that has schematics for a LaserPro Explorer ZX? My autofocus is intermittent and I need to track the problem down.

[Peck Sidara]

Doug,

What you've done is a temporary fix. The wings which the table sits on should be adjusted along with the lead screws to prevent this from re-occuring. Contact tech support for further instruction on how this is done. 303.215.9171.

[Doug Fennell]

Peck, I'll give them a call - thanx. Not a hard fix then?

[Peck Sidara]

Doug-should be pretty easy. What you'll be doing is leveling the lead screw mounts then adjusting the table height from the wings. This will prevent the table from bottoming up, causing the table to jam. GL.