Z axis travels 1-2 inches then stops?

[Deleted]

Hello Ladies & Gents,
New owner and 1st post.
I sent an email to Axiom support but not sure if they work on the weekends so any help or advise would be appreciated.
Thank you

Good morning,

I am a new owner of a AR8 PRO and need assistance please.

I’m having a problem with the Z axis which homes without any issue. (Travels full height)

But when I run touch off, the bit touches the puck ok and raises about an inch and the motor binds.

Also, manually raising the z axis will cause it to bind after an inch or so using continuous and when using steps will only travel a few then stop.

I have reseated the motor and coupling but seeing as homing works perfectly I doubt this is the problem.

A lot of the controller settings did not match the instruction manual so I adjusted to match but still same issue.

It looks like a configuration issue but I can’t track it down and would appreciate your help.

On a positive note this CNC is built like a tank and am anxious to put it to use 



Thank you.

Andy Clancy

[stevem]

When you say you try to manually raise the Z, is the machine still on?
In order to try raising the Z, turn off the machine and try turning the ball screw!
If it is binding then, there is something stopping it from moving up and down.

What I don't understand is you say everything works when you turn the machine on and it homes correctly.
You shouldn't have had to change any settings. If you remember what they were originally, I suggest you try resetting them back to what they were.
There is a way to reset everything, but I don't know how to do that. Tech support could help you, but you will just have to wait till Monday, unless there is someone here that knows how to do it.

[Deleted]

Yes machine is on and the z axis runs freely the full length of screw thread when homing without issue.
Manually via controller raising z is the problem.

[stevem]

With the machine off, can you raise and lower the Z by turning the ball screw?

[Deleted]

yes

[Deleted]

If anyone can provide a AR8 PRO controller config backup I can give that a try?

[Deleted]

Issue resolved.
I found a backup file on these forums which worked a treat.
Thank you for your help and advise.

[jigsaw]

Hi, I have just purchase the AR8Pro+. Ran first project just fine. Now I am having the same problem on the Z axis. When I home it does it just fine. When I run the tool set it comes down touches the puck and goes up a short distance and when it stops it make a loud squeal of the coupling slipping. Then if you push the Z+ in raising a short distance and does the same thing as though it binds up. If you send the Z axis home it goes there just fine. Any ideas as to what the problem is would be great.

[stevem]

Almost sounds like the coupler is slipping. Mke sure the set screws are very tight both on the stepper motors and the ball screw.
Do this with the machine off. Then once you start up the machine again, home it and then move the X and Y to somewhere over the table and try rising the Z up and down again.

[jigsaw]

I did that and still had problem. I read in another post of the same problem and they fixed the issue by adjusting the work speed on the Z axis in the Auto Pro Setup. I changed mine from 3000 to 2000 and it seems to have fixed the problem.

[mibrian]

I've had this problem also. I am also having an issue with the laser making a Z move then come back to zero before burning or just crash altogether
I'm inclined to believe this problem is in the RichAuto controller

[scg804]

Hey folks, firSt post as a'n intermediate AR8 PRO owner. I ran into this problem which really threw me for a loop. This may be helpful, or not but here goes...

I got a little creative with dust collection. I set my machine length wise close to a wall and built a runner for my dust hose. Now, I've tweaked dust collection in my shop a couple times. Rather than run copper grounding wire from chassis of machine to dust collector chassis, I opt for the flexible aluminum conductive hose used for cloth dryers.

These hoses are very light duty. Since my machine makes more powder than dust, I went with the conductive dryer hose. Static discharge drying clothes and dust collection. Now to the point.

When my machine started doing this on the Z axis, I thought of what changed between the problem and previously successful session. My conductive hose was touching my spindle. When the touch off puck made contact with the bit, I realized my dust collection grounding was causing interference in the touch off connection. It's weird, but the additional ground connection caused my Z axis to retract to set Z height, freeze, the basically bounce within a 1 inch Z+ Z-distance.

If your dust collection hosing has a conductive coil for static discharge then this may be your issue. If you've wrapped copper grounding wire around your collection hose then this may be the issue. I never had the problem again after moving my collection hose back to the original position on my diy runner. Hope this helps cause the same issue had me very confused. Please let me know if this corrects the same problem for other users. Kurt

[papboop]

I've had my AR8 Pro a few months and experienced this issue yesterday. Touch off and using the pendant Z-(Up) just groans like its binding. However "home all" and "home Z" functions as normal. This sounds as a class problem to me. I have also contacted Axiom support (email) for some direction. Hopefully someone from Axiom can chime in here.....

[Axiom Tool Group]

We have seen this pop up from time to time, and it appears that the controller is simply attempting to lift the Z-axis too quickly.

At higher speeds the stepper motors have less torque...and with the weight of the spindle, those higher accelerations can put lot of strain on the stepper motor resulting in this stall/slip and loss of position.

In those cases, a simple parameter restore on the controller is all that is needed. However, different machines use different parameters so we will need to send you the files for the specific model you are using.

[1lilkraut]

I just received my Axiom AutoRoute 6 Pro+. After running 3 small jobs I am having the same Z-axis issue as "ukman". I will contact tech support in the morning & request a parameter restore. Hopefully this will resolve the issue. Any other feedback will be appreciated.

[jbatesmd]

i have not had any problems with my AR8 PRO but now I'm having the same problems as mentioned here. Can any one send me the configurations seetings so I can reset them and try slowing the retract.