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  #1  
Old Tue 24 May 2016, 09:16
Rocky Mountain Teardrops
Just call me: Lee #124
 
Golden, CO
United States of America
Lightning Strike

Had a lightning strike pretty close to my shop the other day.
Popped a few GFI (Ground Fault Interrupter) outlets, ruined one GFI, and fried the motherboard on the computer that runs my Mechmate.

Got a new computer, got Mach3 reloaded, but I still have a problem.

I cannot get the Y axis to respond.
There is also no holding torque on the motor.
The Y axis Gecko has the green LED lit, and a solid amber LED when I try to jog the axis.

Everything else appears to be working correctly (X and Z axis work fine, as well as spindle on/off).
All of the other working axis have the same green LED but the amber LED will only flicker when the axis is moving.


Specs: Gecko G204V drives, Oriental geared head motors (7.2). PMDX 122 BOB.


Could it be a fried stepper motor? Seems like that would be almost impossible to happen.

Would it be worth swapping the G204V for a working one to check function?
Or would that be a waste of time.

Thanks!
Lee
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  #2  
Old Tue 24 May 2016, 11:43
servant74
Just call me: Jack
 
Nashville (Tennessee)
United States of America
After living in Texas with hurricanes and the tornados they spawn, and in the 'tornado belt' for the rest of my years, moving to Tennessee 10 years ago I have had more lightening, wind, and electrical damage. We had lightening strike a pole close to the house, it caused problem in a transformer we didn't see till a couple of years later, when a weak ground allowed 220V to go across our 110V lines (on one side) and a weak 110v, more like 60V, on the other. Power company fixed the ground on the transformer but never fessed up about all the burn out electronics in our house. Lost most electronics and lights. This went on for a few months before the got it fixed. The only things that weren't toast is anything that was plugged into a UPS (I like APC). In all this it killed a couple of APC units, but not the equipment plugged into them.

I opened one of the APC units, and about 80% of the big bank of MOVs were black. Even the supply side transformer had scorch marks. (I am guessing 440V+ got in a few times). Still the plugged in equipment was protected. ... I was amazed and a big believer in UPS for any electronics you want to keep.
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  #3  
Old Tue 24 May 2016, 18:19
smreish
Just call me: Sean - #5, 28, 58 and others
 
Orlando, Florida
United States of America
Lee,
See if you can swap the x and y drives to check if the signal path is working upto the gecko.

Anything is possible with electrical failure. The geckos have a fuse that is replaceable.
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  #4  
Old Sat 28 May 2016, 12:04
ger21
Just call me: Ger
 
Detroit, MI
United States of America
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rocky Mountain Teardrops View Post


Could it be a fried stepper motor? Seems like that would be almost impossible to happen.
Check for continuity between the two pairs of wires at the Gecko end, and make sure they have the same resistance. Disconnect the wires first.
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  #5  
Old Thu 16 June 2016, 16:02
Rocky Mountain Teardrops
Just call me: Lee #124
 
Golden, CO
United States of America
Sorry for the long delay. Life has gotten in the way lately..

Swapped motor leads in the control box to the X axis Gecko.
No response (No holding torque in the "new" Y axis)

Swapped step/dir wires to X axis Gecko.
"New" Y axis motor responds as expected. (holding torque and movement)

Looks like there is something wrong with the Y axis Gecko.

I'll pull it out tomorrow any check the internal fuse.

Lee
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