I bought a second hand machine and want to tear it down and clean it before firing it up. I got the manual but unfortunately it doesn’t cover dissembly and maintenance!
Is there a service manual on how to service the machine (bearing replacement intervals, oiling if necessary, etc…). I noticed a lot of aluminum chips on the machine and watched a video where the lady said not to use cutting fluid since it could get to the board.
I took off the board to clean it but didn’t notice the pins aren’t all used? I need a pinout of what connects to what at least.
OK I was able to google pocket nc beaglebone and it came up with the swap beaglebone v2 . I don’t know why the forums aren’t linked to the atlas page but we moved to atlas at work and it’s a bit of pain so not surprised lol
Next I was homing and the A axis failed… It went to like 336 degrees or something then said it failed. I noticed the A axis (I’m still learning the axis!) was jammed, so I shut off the machine and carefully spun it clockwise a hair and it clicked down and free!
I’m assuming this was during shipping? I checked for the shipping bolts but they were NOT used! Anyways it’s homing now so I hope nothing is ill effected by the jam? I don’t really want to take this apart any further in case the alignment can get off.
I would still like to know if anything needs to be serviced before really putting it to use… The code on the machine is 1517? I am not sure what that references but was sold as a v2-10 machine…
The serial number of your machine can be found by looking at the lower left hand of your trunnion, click here for an explanation of how to determine your Pocket NC’s serial number. We have a tutorial that explains how to replace the BeagleBone Board, click here. The best maintenance of your Pocket NC can be achieved by a thorough vacuuming. A small amount of synthetic grease placed on the linear axis lead screws will lubricate those axes anti-backlash nuts. You are correct to avoid removing circuit boards from the Pocket NC. Hall sensors are used as homing sensors and are located on the machine’s circuit boards. Removing the circuit boards moves the sensor’s position, which invalidates the machine’s calibration. It sounds like the A axis was rotated beyond 135°. When you attempted to home this axis, the software was driving the axis positively to find the home position, but the axis was already beyond its home position. This results in the axis motor making a “clutching” sound and the software’s DRO displaying values that don’t correspond to the axis position. All the axis motors operate open loop and the DRO values are commanded position values (not actual position values). An axis can be jogged away from the home position and then homed again to resolve this problem. You can send an email to service@pocketnc.com for further inquiries.
To clarify I consider the beaglebone a circuit board. Are you saying if that board is removed and placed back the hall sensors need to be recalibrated? I need to know the procedure then.
I noticed a few aluminum chips in the circuit board area and cleared them out. Upon inspection I wiggled the board in the middle behind the beagle board free from the left connector but the right one was firmly positioned. Is this the hall sensor board? I would definitely need to recalibrate them after that.
Look all the way to the left. That little green board in the middle of board attached to the machine is the one I’m referencing.
I prefer to keep all correspondence in the forums so others can search for similar issues and get the answers they need without repeated support from your team. I’m sure everything you put time in to increases the overhead which effects the affordability of this cool machine!
Removing and reinserting the beaglebone does not affect calibration so you should be good there.
As long as all boards and electrical connections are tight you should be fine.
The only maintenance you should really have to do is vacuuming and wiping the chips off the machine. We recommend doing this very thoroughly and pretty regularly. Do not use compressed air as it can push chips into places they shouldn’t be.
It is very rare for the bearing cars of the linear axis to need any lubrication. The lead screws can occasionally need a little lubrication so we recommend a light oil over a grease so that chips are not held onto the lead screw and worked in the anti-backlash nut.
Unless your machine is exhibiting a malfunction, I would stick with the maintenance listed above and run it.
If your machine is experiencing issues, please let us know. However, we may have to ask you to move to email as there are certain procedures and components we cannot post about publicly (the machine is export controlled).
Yes I wasn’t able to disconnect the green board all the way. I will assume it’s all good then.
Understood. Some things need to be kept confidential and that is just the way it is!
I still have a bit of ways to go to learn cad (walking through YouTube videos for now). So will need a few weeks to really dive into this machine … but at least now I shouldn’t run into anything preventable on my end!
