ls3020 making a funny noise

[Baldmonkey]

Hi all

My ls3020 has started making a very bad vibration noise when working and when i repeat the same cut it is slightly off line, any help or advice would be great
Thanks
Baldmonkey

[Spooky]

Crud on the slideways Monkey, clean the slides all over and the rollers then use a non mineral silicon oil to lubricate

best wishes

Dave

ps: there are other things but let's rule out the free thing first

[Baldmonkey]

hi dave

the runners and bars are fine as i had just cleaned everything a couple of days ago, it did however think there was something to engrave six foot from the machine and i had to hit stop as it was clicking away. dont know what the movement mechanisim consists of but i would guess at a tooth missing or something jumpin because its loose, my main concern is if there is a full array of spare parts available from HPC or not as its the first time i have call for them. if you have any knowledge as to how to get to the runners i would appreciate it greatly dave

Thanks for the reply

Neil

[Spooky]

Hiya Neil,

In that case it's possible the belt has jumped over a tooth or two, have a look at the gantry (the cross slide) and ensure it is still at 90 degrees to the side rails?. A jumped tooth on the belt can cause crab rail (the gantry tries to move out of line with the side axis)
Another issue can be one of the belt gears has been knocked loose, best to check them as well.

Yup, HPC have a mountain of spares of just about every type you can imagine

best wishes

Dave

[Daven]

Just to add to Dave's advice, move the head by hand (with the machine turned off) and see if you can feel any stickiness, that may give you a clue to which axis is affected.

Best

Dave

[Baldmonkey]

thanks guys you are both really great for taking time out to help other people out on this forum and i appreciate it!

I havent had chance to go back to the machine yet but the from what i know when i left the machine yesterday -

the gantry did seem to be nice and square but i will check this on my next visit today.

when the machine is turned of and i moved the gantry and the head everything move smoothly through and directions

I cant seem to find the motors and gears etc in the machine, do i need to remove the honeycomb bed and remove the screws in the bed to gain access or is there another way to be able to check all the gears and belts

Cheers guys

[Baldmonkey]

just a quick one that has occured to me and i dont know if this will highlight anything for you guys, when i left the machine yesterday i was cutting out the letter M when i did the first pass it was fine, it cut and everything seemed fine (except the noise) but on the second pass it had moved the image slightly to the right by a mm or two.

now my question is, if the machine had sustained any damage the the second run should by rights be the same as the first as no further damage has been caused, is this helpful?

just a quick thought guys

[Spooky]

Loose gear,a jam somewhere,

Something is moving between passes or sticking.

I'm not much help with where to look to tighten things up as I've never had one of the desktop machines

If it's a new machine Neil I'd call Chris before taking anything apart my friend .

best wishes

Dave

[Daven]

Belt adjustment is on the left hand side of the x asis and the top of the y axis (near the tube). My belts are quite loose and it works ok so unless there is a lot of slack (> 1cm) I wouldn't worry. As Dave said check with HPC in the morning before going in with the tools

When you say it has moved the image between passes - do you mean the head has returned to top left, then you did the next pass without using the 'To X Y' button? If you do another pass does that move out of line the same amount?

If you move the head trolly (a light twisting motion) to check the rollers is there much play say greater than 1mm?


Cheers

Dave

[Baldmonkey]

Thanks guys, ill probably ring hpc in the morning or sometime this week, what i cant figure out and maybe one of you guys could answer this is when i turn the machine of and move the gantry and head by hand in all directions i get a nice smooth movement in both feel and sound, yet when it does it in working mode it sounds like a washing machine of parts!!!!

im hoping that its just something worked loose as i have found a few screws that have worked loose.

<big sigh>

cheers lads