Ch 12
Motion and position problems
Nothing moves, wrong direction/distance, lost position, gantry racking.
Never bypass the emergency stop, limit circuit, charge pump, enclosure interlock, or protective earth to keep production running.
Use a dry test whenever a live arc is not required — plasma power off or torch-firing output safely disabled.
Never work under a moving gantry or place hands near racks, pinions, belts, bearings, torch lifters, or cable chains while energized.
Record the starting condition, make one controlled change, and test again. Restore the original setting if the change did not help.
Symptom
Table will not jog, moves wrong, loses position, or gantry racks.
Quick checks
- ☐Mach3 status line and Reset
- ☐UC100 green/blue LEDs
- ☐E-stop, limits, enable, charge pump on Diagnostics
- ☐Correct Premier profile loaded
Fix
No motion
All axes fail → control power, drive enable, breakout, UC100, profile. One axis → approved low-voltage diagnostics only; inspect cable/binding with power isolated. Restore known-good XML before Ports/Pins or Motor Tuning edits.
Distance / square
Repeated measured moves: consistent ratio → steps/unit; inconsistent → lost steps, slip, binding, noise. Mark pinion/coupler. Gantry crooked → stop; inspect both sides and slave; square with Premier reference; equal diagonals prove square.
Still stuck?
Text a photo — fastest path to a human who knows these tables.
We're in Glendale — same people who build the tables. Text beats voicemail.