Epilog Rotary Attachement - Motor Not Getting Power!

[Chris DeGerolamo]

I've been working with Epilog Tech support to try to resolve this issue and [I] have since been unsuccessful at finding the the problem. I have not been able to get the drive wheels on the rotary attachment to function and have since found out that the motor is not getting any power. I have replaced the female 8 pin molex connector thinking there could be a short since the pins were extremely damaged and it was still not working. I contacted tech support again and they sent me a replacement control module and I have since replaced the existing board with the new one and nothing...

This is not a rant about Epilog tech support as that they have been more than helpful! I am posting to see if anyone has had a similar problem and was able to find a solution. The Epilog team is on vacation until the new year and I am hoping to get some insight/ jumpstart before they get back.

BTW, I have tested the motor and it's good. I have also traced the [rotary motor] power wires to the control module and used a voltmeter to check the voltage. The motor runs @ 24V and I am getting nowhere close to that, even with the new board.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
-Chris

[laura passek]

I'm going to take a shot in the dark here, could it be possible to turn off the rotary in the print driver or operating program.
Was it working one minute and not the next, if so did you do something different in between.
Sounds like a communications error.
good Luck

John

[Chris DeGerolamo]

The machine is still able to recognize when the rotary attachment is present. The laser head/assembly/whatever you call it will move to create the "X" design, but without the drive wheel turning, I get no "Y" design.

[Stephen Beckham]

Chris,

Did you verify that all your pins are still seated in the 'molex' connector? I lost mine once and realized I had pulled a pin out of it's seat when removing the plug. Reseated all of them and it started to work again.

Not sure, but a shot in the dark - good luck.

[Chris DeGerolamo]

Yes, I have. The male connector from the attachment is good and I had Epilog send me a 'pre-terminated' female end so all I had to do was splice the wires (and I added tube shrink at each splice to make sure they would not come undone). And I have double checked that all the wires are spliced properly.

-sigh-

I feel like I have double and triple check all of my steps...

[Peck Sidara]

Chris,

Can tech support give you the pin-outs of the rotary at the mainboard?

Sounds like a broken wire within the rotary harness which ties into the main harness.

Not sure what machine you have or what caused the problem (extremely damaged) from the get go but my guess is a broken harness.

It appears your diagnostic skills are in order and you're not worried about this type of in depth trouble-shooting. IF tech support can get you the pin-outs back to the mainboard, then I'd recommend a direct connection between the rotary and pins on mainboard.

HTH,

[Chris DeGerolamo]

It's the 36EXT.

If it was a broken wire from the control module to the molex connector, we would be able to read the ~24V necessary to turn the motor, right? With a voltmeter, we are getting less than 1V.

The initial issue that prompted this was the inconsistency while using the rotary attachment. In retrospect, I can see that the motor was not getting the correct power because the image/words would appear to squished in the 'x' direction and then would 'correct' themselves later in the job. I thought it might be slippage...it was not. Then I figured to fix the connection and now I get no movement from the drive wheel.

[Peck Sidara]

It's the 36EXT.

If it was a broken wire from the control module to the molex connector, we would be able to read the ~24V necessary to turn the motor, right? With a voltmeter, we are getting less than 1V.

The initial issue that prompted this was the inconsistency while using the rotary attachment. In retrospect, I can see that the motor was not getting the correct power because the image/words would appear to squished in the 'x' direction and then would 'correct' themselves later in the job. I thought it might be slippage...it was not. Then I figured to fix the connection and now I get no movement from the drive wheel.

It might be possible that "other" connections in the rotary harness needs to be closed in order to get the 24V (or something very similar). Meaning, I'm not certain if the 24V is present all the time. Perhaps there is a break in the harness, just not the 24V one.

Didn't want to throw a wrench into the equation but something to consider.

[Chris DeGerolamo]

It might be possible that "other" connections in the rotary harness needs to be closed in order to get the 24V (or something very similar). Meaning, I'm not certain if the 24V is present all the time. Perhaps there is a break in the harness, just not the 24V one.

Didn't want to throw a wrench into the equation but something to consider.

Just talked with support and it looks like the wiring harness is the problem...

[Peck Sidara]

A continuity check will confirm which wire is broken. If possible, try connecting the rotary/harness/mainboard outside of the machine before you route the new harness in.

[Chris DeGerolamo]

To anyone that was interested, we finally have an operating rotary attachment. After replacing the wiring harness, the drive wheels turned as they should...no more headaches!!

[Peck Sidara]

Good to hear you guys got it figured out.

[Rangarajan Saravana kumar]

Hi,

Very good to hear your problem got solved and on the right direction

Regards,
Saravanakumar

[Jack Burton]

always great to hear a resolution. Thanks!