Major issue just happened... and of course it's a Friday night!

[TonyBurton]

My Piranha FX suddenly decided to freeze up. Won't move in any axis.

Right before this, I was trying to do the touch plate alignment, and for some reason it overdrove into the touch plate. I had gotten my red screen, but it overdrove anyway. So, I hit the Estop.

I was able to move it back away from the touch plate. I did the touch plate again, and this time it seemed to be fine. But when I started the program, it drove down into the wood as it was moving to the first cut point. So, I hit the estop again. At that point, it would no longer move in any axis. I tried turning it off and then on. I tried unplugging it and reconnecting it to power. Nothing makes it work as it should. The LCD screen comes up and gives me an indication that the Piranha is at zero in all axes, but it isn't, and I can't get it to move for love nor money.

BAD news when I am in the middle of trying to make some Christmas presents for my grandkids!

HELP!!!

[TonyBurton]

UPDATE: OK, I got the Piranha to move in all 3 axes. To do so, I had to unplug all the axis cables, while the power was on, and then disconnect the control pendant cable, while the power was on, and then reboot the whole thing.

Now, I know it's working at this point. BUT...

1. What happened, and why? I have no clue, and that's scary.
2. Is it going to do this again?? This, too, is scary.
3. Why did the machine overdrive into the touch plate, and then into the workpiece?

This machine cost too much to be giving me mysteries like this.

Anyone have any ideas.

[meb]

I have had a cold solder joint on the wire that goes to the banana plug that goes into the touch plate, another Shark user I know has had it happen to him. Another owner I know has had a loose banana plug and he opened the sections of the plug and reinserted it to correct the problem. Also this time of the year static electricity can cause a lot of problems, running a ground wire from the bed often helps if that is the problem. Also check the plug going into the controller to make sure it is fully inserted. I would not have another idea what would cause it.

[TonyBurton]

Thanks meb. I appreciate the input. I'm still wondering why the whole thing froze up until I unplugged every interface cable and rebooted the controller, though. That's totally weird.

[Fean]

I would definitely recommend to never disconnect or connect cables while the power is on as that can damage electronics unless they are designed for hot swapping, which this machine is not. Having it lock up completely could be a software issue or it could be the result of a static charge hitting somewhere on the machine and causing the electronics go into what is called Latch-up. Sometimes Latch-up can cause permanent damage and other times the charge can be discharged by turning the power off and letting a stored charge dissipate. This machine also has little if any protection from static discharge events so be careful about touching a piece of metal before contacting the machine or when you're machining plastic.

[TonyBurton]

Since I was a Navy Electronics Tech for over 12 years, and taught electricity and electronics in two different colleges, as well as a vocational high school, I'm well aware of such precautions. But you DO have to plug and unplug the touch plate while the machine is powered up.

NOTE: Sorry... I seemed angry with you with that answer, Fean. But I am so pissed with the Piranha, and with NWA for either releasing it before it was market-ready, or for shipping me a lemon, that I wasn't ready to take anything that seemed like a lecture on the simplest precautions anyone should know.

Also, you are correct: I DID say that I unplugged them while the power was on... I forgot that. But seriously, that was the only way I could get any response--doing it while the machine was powered up. When I did it with the power off, it didn't help.

[Fean]

No problem. By the way, plugging and unplugging the touch plate while power is on is it's intended functionality. That is the point of the touch plate as it is the same as closing a switch just as when the bit makes contact with the plate itself.