|
Arc Engraving
- Trying to use arc program without proper System chips installed
Air Solenoid
- Bad valves, rust (from water in air line)
- Solenoid connector-check for broken pins or broken wires
Ball Slide
- Ball bearings stick due to dirt, loosens and requires adjustments
- To check for smoothness, make sure that the spindle is at the home position (not directly over the engraving table). With your thumbs on or near the ball slide, apply downward pressure. The travel should be smooth, and extend down beyond the surface of the engraving table. Flush with silicon spray, and work up and down
Base Line Off Or Inconsistent Measurement
- Stepper Driver Board/Resistor Bank
- Baselines are off (Y-axis), or letters are squeezed together (X-axis).
- Swap table engraving motors. If problem continues on same axis, stepper driver board, resistor banks, or table problem. If problem moves to different axis, bad stepper motor/cable connector.
- 1/16 - 1/4 inch off baseline most of the time. Check set screw on coupling.
- If motor movement problem, slew machine. Does the spindle return home to the same position each time?
- Reset Home position. Try other font styles
- V-wheels
- Ball bearings
- Dirt and rust on grooves. Clean and oil
- Rails - Build up of rust and debris prevent proper v-wheel movement. Wipe clean with solvent, and lubricate.
- Leadscrew - Rust and dirt buildup. Clean and lubricate.
- If bent, replace. Common with machines in shipping.
- Leadscrew Nut - Cracked, out of adjustment, trash buildup inside, or worn out.
- Improperly adjustment usually affects all letters, not just baseline
Other possible problem areas
907 EPROM's (System chips) CPU board, RAM board, interface Board
Bridge Rectifier Problems
Short on Big transformer at #6 wire position was blowing bridge rectifiers and stepper board
Main Fuse Holder - Replace, Bad Wiring
Bridge Rectifiers
The bridge rectifier causing wires to burn
Early symptoms
A periodic one inch jump on the Y axis with a normal return to home. In a group of three plates, 1 and 3 would be normal and 2 would be off. Also grinding, font wiped out, horizontal back and forth line.
Replacing - Unplug your Control Unit before starting
Be sure to note what color wires are attached before you disconnect them. Wrong wiring can blow up your Stepper Drive Board. Note that one red wire and one blue are coming from the capacitor. The red is +, and the blue is -. The other two wires are coming from big brown transformer.
Carriage Base Plate
Out of alignment, bending the material
V-wheels come off rails, Broken base plate
Pre-load on v-wheels need to be adjusted
Crashes in Mid-Job
Loading a job from a disk that calls for a font 9, and not loading the font 9
Bad Font - very uncommon
Most common problem is electrical interference caused by
Worn motor brushes
Power supply problems with the TRS-80 computer40/50 Cable crimped, or other electrical cords around it
Try dedicated circuits for engraving motor
Cards or Boards (CPU, Interface, etc.) improperly seated, or residue buildup at gold contacts
RAM chips bad
Too many lines in job for system - common on multiple and batch layouts.
In TUESDAY software (TRS80). Some symptoms include ‘hieroglyphics’ when you go back to input screen after crash. Press <ENTER> to view text. Instead of previously input text, a variety of ‘hieroglyphics’ appear. Reentering text usually solves problem. Also power supply in TRS80.
Cutter down/Cutter down didn't work
LT-TRS80 Blue Stepper Board, Interface chip U-13 on Interface board.
Make sure air regulator is set at 50-70 lbs.
Adjust value if cutter will not go down manually
Check Ball slide adjustment. Check for clicking on cutter down. This usually means control unit is sending proper signal to air solenoid, but solenoid clogged up
Check 1 amp fuse on the stepper driver board
Make sure Z cable is inserted properly
Check 26 pin cable. Also check spring tension
System 1 - Air solenoid doesn't always click on System 1/100 table. Had to add air for it to click and to work.
Cutter won't go down - air compressor (have you changed, maintenance, had problems with it recently.)
Depth
Uneven or inconsistent
Caused by not having enough throw.
Air cylinder knob adjustment, Air cylinder sticking due to rust (water in the air line)
Air pressure
Check pressure while engraving to see if it goes below 40 lbs. Air compressor might be inadequate
Too much air being used by blow off, thus reducing amount available for air cylinder.
Broken hose, or broken air hose retainers (black)
Ball Slide
Engraving But Isn't
System 1 - Problem - Says engraving, but not
Stepper Board to interface board cable
Stepper Board, Stepper Fuse on rear of machine, Bridge Rectifier.
Engraving Motor
Worn motor brushes
Broken wires
Bad bearings, On/off switch bad
Motor mount loose
Bad bearings
Excessive Belt Wear
Bad pulley
Bad Bearings
Belt alignment
Engraving Plate Holding Problems
Skirts (left/back) Screws become loose, causing skirt to drop down.Thumbscrews bent, broken, or stripped
Clamping Slide (grooved table plate)
Sticks due to dirt or trash buildup. Clean and lubricate
Return springs under table
Feed Rate
No change when turning feed rate or delay dialsPotentiometer on front panelFonts
Randomly quit in middle of fonts; wouldn’t draw to the screen sometimes; other times it would - bad power supply.
"Font Error" in SP status line; had bent pin on chip
If with an internal font
Verify EPROM chips on board(s) are in proper sequence, i.e. 0,1,2...
See that chips are seated properly, no bent pins
On earlier models, Single Line Helvetica must always go directly before Six-line Helvetica if both are in system. They should also preferably be the last fonts loaded on #2 or # 3 board.
Verify proper switch settings on EPROM boards
Swap EPROM chips to known good boards
If problem is with a Font 9, or loaded font.
Using the wrong disk in the wrong drive.
Loading a job from a disk that calls for a font 9, and not loading the font9.
Hitting reset after a font or logo as been load, and forgetting to reload before engraving.
Bad floppy disk
Bad Drive (especially on TRS80)
Won't load external FT9's
Bad interface card or computer
Other possible problem areas
CPU board
Ram Board
TRS-80 disk drive if it occurs randomly
Listing of fonts in Super Pro showed listing for 24 fonts, and machine only had 5 fonts; turned out to be a bad font.
Front Control Panel
Not recognizing any one of front panel switch commands (Pause, Home/Restart, Backup, etc)
Interface Board
Check connectors on interface board for bent pins and loose or broken wires
EPROM board and/or System chips
CPU board
Check switches for proper positions
Fuses Blowing
Most common problem is with the Bridge Rectifier. Check for burned or melted wires.
Burned wires in other areas
Stepper driver board
Resistor bank (used with old style stepper board)
Fuses Blowing
Home
wasn’t reset after changing from diamond to rotating spindle
Spindle/Diamond hitting table skirt.
If problems still persist after resetting home, run a slew test. Most likely Control Unit problem
Initializing Problems
Installing the 40/50 cable backwards
Lock up in SP Initializing; never got to loading fonts. Then sometimes would load with 1 or 2 font boards and lock up with third. Turned out to be bad power supply.
Not making sure that the Control Unit switches are in the on position before initializing.
In not motor lock up, S100 power supplyStepper Driver board is not needed to initializeOther Possible Causes
907 Chips on EPROM Board
Clean and Reseat board, blow out slots for boards, one board at a time.
Bad Disk
TRS8040/50 Cable Bad
Interface board
RAM board - won’t go past initializing (TRS80)
CPU board
Mother Board
EPROM board
S-100 power supply - check voltages and capacitor for looseness, reseat fuses
With SP Status kept going to OFF. Found two charred wires on bridge rectifier, replaced, and now problems since
Letter Quality
If vertical shafts of letters (i.e. "T" and "I") are wiggly, adjust ball slide
Ball Bearings stick due to dirt and rust
If horizontal or slanted parts of letters are inconsistent, adjust pre-load on leadscrew nuts
They may be cracked, or wornAdjust socket head cap screw
V-Wheels - build up ‘trash’ on rails and v-wheels, (clean)Leadscrew
Rust, or bent. Clean and lubricate, or replace
Helical coupling
Small set screws loosen
Air cylinder adjustmentsMake sure you are getting full travel
Ghosting or Nosecone Rub
Too much spring or air pressure, or both
Nosecone not properly seated
Nosecone damaged
Engraving material not flat
Dents in metal when using Diamond Kit
Excessive Air Pressure
Excessive Spring Pressure
System 1 & newer tables have Thompson bearings - problem with letter quality (add to diagnostics)
Tails on Letters on System 1
Air Pressure, Ball Slide, Spindle Assy. Loose
Letter Quality
uneven or binding on axis; especially if new leadscrews, check set screw to see if over tightened.
Loss Of Transfer
26 Pin cable between Interface board and Stepper board not connected or bad
Interface board improperly seated or bad
40/50 Pin Cable crimped or bad
Main Fuse Blowing Is machine properly isolated and grounded?
Replace fuse holder and cap
Wiring from Corcom filter on/off switch disconnected
Corcom badWiring from on/off switch to AC block
Wiring and Transformer
Motors lock, but grind (losing steps)
Stepper driver boardResistor bankStepper motor-check for broken pins or wires on connectors
Screen Display
SuperPro Card U-3 Job won’t display to screen
Pulsing screen usually means power supply problems on the TRS-80
U2 On Sp Pc Interface Board Caused Bad Code Error (Sys.1)
Wouldn't Load Fonts
BAD U2 On Sp Pc Interface Board Wouldn't Go Past Startup On SCU.
Wouldn't Initialize (Sys.1)
Replaced P8212 (2) on U1 & U2 and (1) P8253 -Had #1 & #2 font boards in system. Added a third and forgot to change DIP switches. It was set for #1.
Garbled Menu Pulldown (Came up with Right/Left (Garbled ALT-T).)
Deleted WDATA.DAT file in SP directory and still came up with right/left in ALT t+F. Didn't hve power supply black and white connected.
Won’t Engrave
What status character is at top right of input screen? During job transfer, status character should change from ‘R’ to ‘T’ to ‘S’ in quick succession, then to ‘E’ when engrave switch is pushed.
Status character back to ‘R’ after transfer. Job has been lost
Interface board
Ram board
Status character
goes to ‘S’ but not ‘E’ when engrave switch is pushed; Not recognizing front panel input
Interface Board
CPU Board
Verify front panel switch on control unit
Status character goes to ‘E’ but no motor movement. If motors are not locked.
Check stepper fuseCheck power supply voltage
Status character goes to ‘E’ but no motor movement. If motors are locked.
CPU Board
Ram Board
Interface Board
Stepper driver board
26 Pin cableX Y-Axis
Movement Problems
SUPERPRO SYS 1 with update stepper board. Blue capacitor caused x-axis problem similar to stepper board; Swapped stepper motor cables and problem followed. Didn't show up on Y axis.
Base on V-wheels Out of alignment, bending the metalV-wheels
Ball bearings stick due to dirt and rust - build up ‘trash’ on rails and v-wheels. Clean and lubricate
Leadscrews Nut
Adjust, clean, or replace
RailsRust or trash build up, bent, or have become dented. Clean and lubricate or replace
Bridge RectifierCheck for burned wires throughout Control Unit
Interface Card - X & Y axis does not move properly; not stepper
Motors Don’t Lock Up
See Won’t Slew if also want slew.
If it will slew, and motors don’t lock up
No Change When Turning
FEED rate or Delay Dials Interface Board
Replace potentiometer on front panel
Not recognizing Any one of Front Panel Switches(i.e. ‘, HOMERESTART, BACKUP, ETC Interface Board most common
Check J2 connector on interface board for bent pins and cable connector for loose or broken wires.
Slewing Problems
Would sometimes Slew in 1 revolution, then on second time, would stop at right side of table. Turned out to be bad font board
With TRS80 make sure have an S status symbols (Slew modes)
Won’t Slew - Motors lock/no movement
Interface Board
Make sure your are in slew mode
CPU Board
26 Pin Cable
Stepper Drive Board (most common, along with resistor bank)
#1 Eprom Board (Always take out others before testing;)
Verify front panel engrave switch
Mother Board
Won’t slew-motors lock, but grind (losing steps)
Stepper Driver Board
26 pin cable
Resistor bank
Interface Board - most commonStepper motors on table
EPROM board (rare - usually a short on board)CPU board (uncommon; check buffers for 357?)
Won’t slew-motors won’t lockStepper fuse (on old style) - most common
Check supply voltages
Check resistance on bank
26 pin cableInterface board
CPU Board
Bridge Rectifier
Ram Board - often intermittent problem
EPROM Board
SYSTEM 1 PAUSED IN SLEW MODE - PAUSE SWITCH UPSIDE DOWN
Stepper Board System 1-Short on Big transformer at #6 wire position was blowing bridge rectifiers and stepper board
Program ‘crashing’ problems
Have Radio Shack run all diagnostics on the TRS-80 if your machine does anything weird (stopping in the middle of a job, middle of a line, not "Home" ing properly after using choice 19, or engraving 1-line on top of another).
Spindle
Worn spindle bearings
Bent cutters, or cutters too long. Should extend only 3/4 of inch above cutter knob.
Stepper Motors
Don’t Lock Up
Burned fuses on the Stepper Driver BoardC
heck resistor banks (hot/cold)Burned or melted wiresRun a Slew Test
If problem is with only one motor, try switching the X and Y stepper motor cables in the back of the control unit.
If the problem changes axis with the swap, your problem is in the control unit.
If the problem remains on the same axis, the stepper motor is bad. Also check for broken pins or wires on stepper motor connectors.
Check the voltages on the resistor bank
Switch the #1 and #2 wires with the #3 and #4 wires on the resistors -
If the problem changes axis, your problem is with the resistors.
If the problem remains on the same axis, your stepper driver board is usually bad
Other Problem Areas
CPU board
26 Pin cable
Stepper Driver Board
#1 EPROM Board
Interface board
Stepper Motor Grinds Goes To Lower Right Corner
Earlier versions of software had a bug when doing multiple sideways that caused this symptom.
Make sure your layout is within your table limitsCommon Problem areas
Stepper Board
Interface Board
Check fuses and holders
Motor Brushes
Electrical interference from other types of equipment
TRS-80 Problems
Check Ram of TRS-80
Failure to read disk
Disk drives need cleaning or bad.
Z-axis (Cutter Down)No movement from front panel or when slewing. Found position F4 fuse on old style stepper board blown (1A).
|
