Following Error

Problem

If the machine is not operating and the” information light” at the rear status panel of the machine and the firmware LED on the logic board flashes with the following eight-bit pattern as described here:

Where 0 indicates a short pulse which is 1/4 second and 1 indicates a long pulse which is 1 second long.

This error is detected if the machine's position of an axis differs from the desired position by some threshold. This can result in occasional load disturbances and these are harmless. It is also the most common fault to be triggered by a collision event. This error can occur on all three axes but the debugging procedure is always the same.

Solution

The following items provide step by step instructions on how to break down the cause of the issue:

General

1. Check all the encoders, encoder interpolators, and encoder cables.

2. Check that the drive is mechanically aligned, smooth, no slop/slipping, etc.

3. Let service know when the faults occur, of particular interest:

   • Only during initialization/volume calibration

   • Only in certain areas of the volume

     • Only near the limits

   • Only on long moves

   • Only on short moves

   • Only while using a touch probe

     • Only when the touch probe touches the part

   • Only while using the pendant/on-screen joystick

     • Only when using the rapid mode

   • Only after the machine has been running a long time

Open

Axis Hardly Moves at All or Does not Resist Pushing

See Stall Fault

Fault Only at High Speeds, or in Certain Directions

1. Check that the rotary encoder is properly connected and aligned to the motor shaft.

2. Check that there are no loose components in the drive. Loose coupling can drive the machine slowly but not quickly.

3. Check the encoder scopes in MotorScope to make sure they count as expected as the stage is pushed around.

   • If an encoder counts faster in one direction than the other, it is very likely a bad encoder cable.

   • If pushing one axis causes counts to change on another, it is very likely a bad cable on the axis not being moved.

Open

Fault after Grinding or Whirring Sound in the Motor

• See “Fault Only at High Speeds, or in Certain Directions” but focus on the rotary encoder.

Fault on Z-Axis on Startup, Coming Out of Standby, Clearing Faults

• This could be caused by an improperly set antigravity bias and can occur after adding or removing sensors to the z-axis.

  • Recalibrating the volume will remeasure the antigravity bias.

Fault During Initialization or Volume Calibration

This can be caused by the machine touching the hard stops because they are too close to the encoder limits, and is especially likely on Vertex machines. Move the encoder limits away from the hard stops.

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