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Steve McKee
07-12-2008, 8:47 PM
So, last Wednesday evening I was working on some stuff and noticed when I raised or lowered the table by the controls on the machine it seemed a little sluggish. I ran one job then turned off the machine to install the rotary to do some champagne glasses. When I turned the machine back on the table would not raise or lower at all. Called tech support, after hours, left a message and they called me back first thing Thursday morning. Tech said it could be the auto focus plunger was sticking so I pushed it with my finger a few times, turned on the machine and everything worked fine. Did not use it Thursday as I was on my way to the hospital for some tests. Friday had storms and lost power so didn't use it Friday either. Saturday I ran the champagne glasses then did a piece of acrylic, both raster and vector. Then I tried to do a photo album and once again the table stopped raising or lowering. Turned the machine off, took the whole assembly apart and cleaned the plunger and everything else really well. Put it all back together and...nothing. So, we went to a wedding, came back 5 hours later, turned the machine on and it raised and lowered about 5 or 6 times then stopped again. I'm not sure what this means so I guess my question after all this is...does anyone have a clue what the problem might be? Is something overheating? Seems strange it would do it that quickly but stranger things have happened.

Sorry for the long explanation, any suggestions as to what to check would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve

James Rambo
07-13-2008, 9:15 AM
The only problem I have had with autofocus was that the table would not stop coming up and would bury the air assist into the material. that turned out to be the ribbon cable. A $25 repair next day delivery. No problems since.

Bob Davis
07-13-2008, 9:59 AM
I had an intermitent problem with the autofocus on my GCC Mercury which caused me to remove the probe to attempt a repair. Unfortunately I broke the probe in my efforts to dismantle it (it was very well put together) with the result that I had to order a new one.
No problem, I decided, it wasn't working anyway...
In due course a shiny, immaculate and expensive new one arrived and I duly fitted it. Unfortunately the erratic behaviour was still apparent.
It turns out the problem was that one of the wires leading to the probe had broken as a result of the constant bending it was subject to as the head goes left and right. Sometimes it would make contact and sometimes it wouldn't, and the break is impossible to see because the rubber insulation hides it.
Five cents worth of wire and a drop of solder has now fixed the problem, but I am kicking myself for not checking it fully before jumping to a conclusion.
Anyway, it seems to me that your problem is similar to the one I have just experienced. The wires to the probe are usually pretty lightweight and checking them would be a good place to start.

Larry Bratton
07-13-2008, 6:54 PM
Sounds like a motor problem to me. My 36EXT lost the servo motor for the Z and the table would not move. It was under warranty and Epilog sent me a new one. It's worked fine since. You may have a bad connection or a wire that's causing it also. If you had a way to check the continuity it might be worthwhile to do it.

Rob Bosworth
07-14-2008, 10:52 AM
Steve, you might want to check with Epilog service. It seems to me that there was a problem with some of Epilog's machines back in the days of the TT. I think your 24 EX is probably about the same vintage as the Legend 24 TT. It seems to me that there was a ground strap problem. I do not remember what the fix was, but an intermittent problem with the motor might point to a ground strap connection problem. If your Z axis motor has a wire running down and connected to the frame, you might loosen the connection, make sure everything is clean and bright, then make sure it is securely fastened when re-connected.

Good luck.