Z Axis only traveling in -neg direction...(Resolved)

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Dangerfox.com
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Z Axis only traveling in -neg direction...(Resolved)

Post by Dangerfox.com »

Hey Everyone!

We have a Laguna Smartshop 2 router retrofitted with Centroid Acorn and clearpath SDSK motors.

Came in to the shop today to run a bunch of files when I find the machine only wanted to run Z in the neg direction.

I turned the machine on, hit reset, then reset home. When it started moving the Z axis to go find the limit switch I noticed it was moving down to find the switch. Which is not the correct direction. Every time I push the positive button in cnc12 it moves negative and does the same on our wireless handheld controller.

I have saved a report file, I have reinstalled cnc12 and nothing seems to fix it. I have rebooted the entire system 5-6 times, even let it sit off for 20-30 min and still the same. We ran the machine all day yesterday and this never happen, turned it off for the night and then back on this morning to see it doing this. Weird stuff!

I uploaded the report.zip file for your reference. Any help is massive! Thanks in advance.

- Aaron
Dangerfox.com
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report_0035FF9127E6-0305214455_2021-06-16_16-54-07.zip
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carbuthn
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Re: Z Axis only traveling in -neg direction...

Post by carbuthn »

Just a guess (I am still new at this), and without a picture of the setup, the only thing that I can think of is the direction wire may be disconnected. It changes direction of the servo based on if it high or low voltage. If you have the newer acorn with led lights next to the step and direction connections see if it is changing when you jog up and down. Also see if the direction led for the X and Y axis change when the direction of the jog is changed.

It won't hurt to check that the screw connections are tight and the ClearPath cables are plugged in and fully seated. Both in the controller and at the servos.
lavrgs
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Re: Z Axis only traveling in -neg direction...

Post by lavrgs »

I'm new to this as well Have you tried reversing the axis? You say the machine was retrofitted, did it home in the correct direction?

WE NEED A VIDEO ON REPORT READING 8-)
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Re: Z Axis only traveling in -neg direction...

Post by Dangerfox.com »

Hey guys thanks for the reply.

I will definitely check those areas, my only thing is we’ve been running this machine with the retrofit 5 days a week since April with only a couple small hiccups. This is a weird random problem to have.
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Re: Z Axis only traveling in -neg direction...

Post by tblough »

I wpuld start with thr DIR connection on that axis. Check for loose connections from the Acorn to the driver. Make sure the step and dir wires are away from all power leads. Step and its return and Dir and its return should both be properly shielded twisted pairs.
Cheers,

Tom
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Gary Campbell
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Re: Z Axis only traveling in -neg direction...

Post by Gary Campbell »

Check 2 items:

As stated, DIR wires to that drive.

Make sure that no limit (+Z) is activated
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Re: Z Axis only traveling in -neg direction...

Post by Dangerfox.com »

Thanks again for the reply!

Ok started it up this morning and everything was running perfectly. What it was doing yesterday stopped.

Just went to run a file and the left Y motor faulted durring a tool change. We had this issue last week. We worked on the machine for an entire day because the left Y motor would fault when changing to tool 1 on only tool 1. Never faulted on any other tool. When we hooked the laptop to the motor to see what the fault was it was saying torque limit overload protection. We called Teknic and they said something mechanical has changed with the machine and its sensing overload. As we all know durring a tool change it moving really slow and our machine has a lube pump for every axis and beyond. So that didn't make sense that some mechanically had changed. But you never know sometime with these machines.
We couldn't figure it out and was exausted from the day, so we shut it down and went home. Came back the next morning and it was working fine again, like it never had a problem. We ran files all last week with no issues.

On to the next thing...

After it through the motor fault this morning I shut everything down rebooted and homed. Now its back to moving Z in the neg direction only again.

Im gonna check the motor cables and make sure everything is right. Like I said before, we've been running this machine with practically no problems since April, cutting 5 days a week 8-10 sheets a day. sometimes more.

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks again!

-Aaron
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Re: Z Axis only traveling in -neg direction...

Post by martyscncgarage »

As others have said, DIR signal wiring might be loose for that axis. Check all screws, connectors, pins etc.
Check the mechanical system on the machine that it is not binding. Sounds like it, turn the axis by hand at or near Tool 1 position
Post photos of your control cabinet and explain how your Teknic drives are connected to Acorn.
Reminder, for support please follow this post: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=383
We can't "SEE" what you see...
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Re: Z Axis only traveling in -neg direction...

Post by philbert »

I am new to the Centroid Acorn product. I have a homemade CNC with dual drives for the Y and Z axis and a single drive for X. I have also recently experienced this same issue. I started the system up and did a home step and the X-axis only would move in the positive direction. After some playing around with it and several resets, it seemed to clear up. Several days later, the Y-axis did the same thing after being up and running for about an hour. Since my Y-axis is driven by two drivers, the Y-axis had one stepper moving positive and one stepper moving negative - not good! Both have the same input wires (step and direction) coming from the Acorn. The drivers are StepperOnline DM556Ts. All wiring appears to be tight and making good connections but will double-check to be sure. I was running everything off an old Smoothieboard with no issues until I made the switch a few weeks ago. I also found that resets and cycling of power don't seem to help. After leaving it off overnight and coming back the next day, it seems to correct itself. I have the luxury of having a digital storage scope and plan to look at the signal lines for noise and any strange timing issues and see if I can pinpoint the issue. It very odd that 2 identical stepper drivers being driven by the same input signals are moving in opposite directions. I will post the results of what I find here. I will also look into the tool change issue mentioned by Dangerfox and see if it has any bearing on this problem.
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Re: Z Axis only traveling in -neg direction...

Post by cnckeith »

philbert wrote: Fri Jun 18, 2021 8:15 am I am new to the Centroid Acorn product. I have a homemade CNC with dual drives for the Y and Z axis and a single drive for X. I have also recently experienced this same issue. I started the system up and did a home step and the X-axis only would move in the positive direction. After some playing around with it and several resets, it seemed to clear up. Several days later, the Y-axis did the same thing after being up and running for about an hour. Since my Y-axis is driven by two drivers, the Y-axis had one stepper moving positive and one stepper moving negative - not good! Both have the same input wires (step and direction) coming from the Acorn. The drivers are StepperOnline DM556Ts. All wiring appears to be tight and making good connections but will double-check to be sure. I was running everything off an old Smoothieboard with no issues until I made the switch a few weeks ago. I also found that resets and cycling of power don't seem to help. After leaving it off overnight and coming back the next day, it seems to correct itself. I have the luxury of having a digital storage scope and plan to look at the signal lines for noise and any strange timing issues and see if I can pinpoint the issue. It very odd that 2 identical stepper drivers being driven by the same input signals are moving in opposite directions. I will post the results of what I find here. I will also look into the tool change issue mentioned by Dangerfox and see if it has any bearing on this problem.
double check the motor to drive wiring on both of these drives.
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