Geckodrive failure.

[Steve Baker]

FYI:

Our #2 lasersaur had started getting intermittent problems with the
X-drive a few days ago. It would simply stop moving in that direction and
refuse to either home or jog in the X direction.

Powering down and up again would fix it - but after a few more hours, it
would do it again. I wondered whether something was overheating...but
it's hard to diagnose it when it fails so rarely.

It's gradually been getting more and more frequent until last night, the
fault went 'hard'.

I noticed that the X-direction controller had a yellow LED shining instead
of the usual green.

So I swapped the controllers - and now the Y motor is frozen - so it can't
be motor, wiring or power, it must be the controller itself that's causing
the problem.

I just ordered a replacement GeckoDrive - hopefully that'll fix it.

Does anyone have any insights as to what might have gone wrong?

This is the older G203V controller.

-- Steve

[Steve Baker]

So I replaced the bad Geckodrive on the X-axis, and the machine has run OK
for the past week.

However, now the Y-axis is showing the same symptoms - suddenly, in the
middle of a cut, it just stops moving. Nothing works - it won't home or
anything. Turning the power off and on again is the only thing that gets
it going again.

Right now, it's intermittent - but that's how the X-axis gecko was. I bet
it'll soon fail just like the X-axis did.

It seems exceedingly unlikely that this is just a coincidence.

It's very concerning because it implies that something that's external to
the GeckoDrive
is causing it to fail...and just replacing the Gecko may be a waste of money.

So what things are common to both Gecko's that could possibly be causing
this?

(This is on our v14 lasersaur).

-- Steve

-- Steve

[Derek Seabury]

Maybe caused by age+summer heat?
Is your workshop warmer than it has been?

The maker actually recommends mounting the units onto a heatsink. Maybe
you could fit some copper or aluminum on the back and see if that
effects the behavior at all.

/Derek

[Steve Baker]

Temperature was certainly something I considered - but we have two
lasersaurs in that same room - and the other one has GeckoDrives that are
2 years old and have 4000 hours on them. If this was due to age and heat
- you'd expect those two to go first.

The room is air conditioned - but with two laser water chillers running it
does get a little warm in there.

The two GeckoDrives with this symptom are each about 8 months old - but
they've hardly been used, maybe 100 hours of use.

I guess I need a temperature probe so I can figure out how hot they get
while the thing is running.

-- Steve

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-- Steve

[Stefan Hechenberger]

A side note: I believe Gecko courtesy-exchanges the G203V drivers (at least they used to) since they sell them as virtually indestructible, fully protected devices. Worth a try to get a free exchange.

I don't think they can be damages by heat. They would simply switch off until cooled down. They only thing that may damage them (apart from physical abuse) is disconnecting the stepper motor during use. 

I would certainly check the motor wires for good connection. Check all the connectors for color changes from arcing or excessive heat.

-stefan

[Ward Elder]

The people at Gecko are fantastic.  Even IF you caused the damage, they repair their drivers at a fantastic price.  It is one good company to deal with.

Thank you,

Ward Elder

Eldersoft

(204) 791-7754

[Steve Baker]

That's good to know - I'll send them the bad one.

Maybe they'll also be able to give me an idea of why it failed...which
would actually be more useful than fixing it!

-- Steve

Ward Elder wrote:
> The people at Gecko are fantastic.  Even IF you caused the damage, they
> repair their drivers at a fantastic price.  It is one good company to

[roryrennie]

Good to know about.