Pinnacle M X Motor

[David Sabot]

I got a Pinnacle M from Sign Ware house a few years ago. In 3 years I have gone through 2 XMotors, with my third being shipped to me today. The one in the machine now lasted only 15 months, the one before that around the same. Jason as tech support didn't understand why it would go out so frequently but could offer me no solutions other than to replace it. I use the machine MAYBE for 3-5 hours of engraving a week. The best part is that the stupid motors are only warrantied for 90 days. So I am screwed no matter what. Sorry, had to vent, it is hard parting with $310 for no apparent reason.

[Kevin Huffman]

Hello David,

I am sorry to hear about you recent X motor failure. This type of issue is an uncommon one. We normally only replace about 20 - 25 of these each year. For the amount of machines we sale that is a very small percentage.

One suggestion I can give you is run the machine more. Even if you are not engraving anything, send a file, lift the lid and let the machine run. The issue could simply be that the motor is getting a flat tire (for lack of a better choice of words). If it sits in one place for days on end, it could make it fail a lot quicker than normal.
I have customers who run their machines 20 hours a day, 3 - 4 years straight and never replace their X motor.

Give this a try, it could very well increase the life of your laser's motors.

[Rodne Gold]

Sometimes the motor is ok , its the shaft encoder that gets dusty , the mercury x motors have a plastic cover over the shaft encoder and unless you seal this with tape ,. dust gets in and causes erattic performance and motor failure errors. You can remove the cover and dust off the encoder disc and the reader optic cell , replace and seal , often this works.
Check your belt tension , too tight will cause bearing failure
Check the rails the head runs on , not enough lube or dirt will cause a lot of strain on the motor.

[David Sabot]

Well regardless looks like I am SOL. The manufacturer of the X motor, Hensen doesn't have these in stock, GCC America doesn't have them in stock, and Sign Warehouse, where I bought the unit from, won't take an X Motor out of a machine to satisfy a customer who can't engrave for around 4 weeks.

[David Sabot]

Sometimes the motor is ok , its the shaft encoder that gets dusty , the mercury x motors have a plastic cover over the shaft encoder and unless you seal this with tape ,. dust gets in and causes erattic performance and motor failure errors. You can remove the cover and dust off the encoder disc and the reader optic cell , replace and seal , often this works.
Check your belt tension , too tight will cause bearing failure
Check the rails the head runs on , not enough lube or dirt will cause a lot of strain on the motor.

It would have been nice in the past 3 years if Sign Warehouse mentioned that little fact. Lo and behold, I take the cover off, and the disc is covered in dust. I spray it clean and bam, works like a charm. I can't thank you enough Rodne. I am sure Sign Warehouse knew of this little tip, but it isn't as profitable as a $290 motor.