Epilog Legend 32 vectoring problem. Any ideas?

[Andrew Stow]

Well, I think I've got it figured out. It finally failed in raster mode. The "cogging" of the X axis kept getting progressively worse until the motor finally just stalled halfway through raster jobs.

So I took the motor off, took the brushes out, they all had about .160" of life left (no clue how long they are new), then pulled the 4 torx bolts holding the motor together and voila, the font bearing (in relation to where the operator stands) is toast. Gritty with one really tough spot. The back bearing is probably toast, too. I didn't bother taking the encoder off the back to see.

I don't know who would even have these. 3/8 OD, 3/16 ID, and .125 width. And I'll have to make a teeny tiny bearing puller to get it off, I'm sure.

Just going to order a replacement motor from Epilog so I can get my projects done and try to track down replacement bearings for this thing at my leisure and rebuild it for a spare. They've got to be available, since moog is still making c13 motors. Might as well try to track down brushes, too.

[Andrew Stow]

The bearings appear to be pretty common. It's the same size as on the top of round over router bits. 3/8 OD, 3/16 ID, 1/8 thick. Double shielded. VXB has them for 29 bucks for 10.

I've never tried to pull bearings that tiny, before. Might take it to a machinist's shop and see if he's got any appropriate tools for the job.

Already ordered a replacement motor from Epilog. This is just a bonus to have a spare. If I can refurbish it.

No idea where to find brushes for it. They're TINY.

[Andrew Stow]

Found what looks to be the brushes.

http://store.eurtonelectric.com/09x1...h1110168a.aspx

$37... EACH. That's $150 after shipping just for the brushes. Another $12 for the bearings. And $45 for the encoder from mouser if you want to do a full rehab on one of these motors.

Call it $210 in parts. Or $305 for a new motor.

I suppose if you got really creative, you could buy some larger graphite brushes and try machining them down to the correct dimensions. Then reuse your springs and wires from the original ones.

Epilog told me they no longer stock the Y axis motors. So rehabbing this X axis motor might just be a good practice for if I ever need to replace bearings on the Y axis motor.

[Scott Marquez]

You might take a trip to your local hardware store, mine carries a cabinet of miscellaneous brushes for hand tools.
You might find one that could be sanded to the correct dimension, the small ones are normally in the $5.00 range.
Scott

[Bill George]

Its such a special motor you can not find from another vender....? Is the mount special or shaft special that a good machine shop or you can not make? That's why I still own a rarely used metal lathe.

[Andrew Stow]

Its such a special motor you can not find from another vender....? Is the mount special or shaft special that a good machine shop or you can not make? That's why I still own a rarely used metal lathe.

I didn't want to experiment too much, since I'm a bit strapped for time and oem motors are still available.

Now if they Y axis motor dies, I'm not going to be terribly picky about a replacement. Those are fixed at the back and middle of the cabinet and turn a gear which turns two shafts which go to the gear and belt drives on either side of the Y axis. UGFMED C9 motors made by yaksawa. Epilog no longer carries them and from my research, the US shop they recommend charges 800 bucks to rebuild them. That one I would definitely try to refurbish or failing that modify the machine to use a similar power rated servo.

Just throwing all this info on here in case anyone else has a similar problem so they can find it with a Epilog Legend model 6000 or Legend 32 or Legend 24 search.

[Andrew Stow]

You might take a trip to your local hardware store, mine carries a cabinet of miscellaneous brushes for hand tools.
You might find one that could be sanded to the correct dimension, the small ones are normally in the $5.00 range.
Scott

Thanks Scott, I will keep an eye out. I found some brushes that are about .003 smaller in both dimensions for 16 bucks. Still pricey but decent as an alternative. I think. I doubt .003 is going to make that much of a difference.

[Ian Stewart-Koster]

I think when I changed encoders on the servos on our cnc router, I had to buy 0.6mm and 0.8mm allen keys for the encoders.
They were hard to find but cheap when you found them, so worth buying spares.

[Andrew Stow]

Just wanted to update everyone. It was the motor itself. Specifically, bad bearing. With new motor on, it runs like a top. Rasters and vectors flawlessly.

But now I'm worried about the Y axis motor. Tho it isn't causing problems yet, there is a little bit of the same "cogging" in the Y axis, though not as severe. I'm guessing one or more of the bearings on that motor are on the way out, too. When I get a lull in my schedule, I'll probably take it apart and see if I can refurb it.

[Nick Andraka]

Andrew,
After you replaced the x motor, when you manually "jog" the X,, does it still act jerky?
I am sorting out some issues with a "new to me" Epilg Radius.
I have some rater etching problems that I m believing are coming from the X motor/encoder.
I to notice that my machine "skips" when jogging the carriage.

[david press]

I’ve got an Epilog 32EX. I print a square from Illustrator and it cuts 3 sides, a star and it cuts 9 of 10 edges, a circle and it cuts about 359 degrees. Any ideas? Thanks.