Machine Fails to Complete Tool Path

[jdsmith1000]

I have searched this forum and have googled my question. The post nearest to my problem was posted in 2012, and it didn't seem to resolve my issue. I am running VCarve Desktop on a Shark HD 3. I have downloaded the Pick Up League Golf from Design and Make. I have taken the golf club, duplicated it, mirror-imaged the duplicate, and crossed the two clubs to carve into a corbel for a mantel. Everything goes great until I get to the finish tool path. I am using a 1/8" tapered ball nose for the finish. I begin the carve, and at some point everything just locks up. The first time this happened I didn't take note of where it locked up. On that occasion I just went back to my other computer, where the VCarve program is installed, deleted the tool path from my thumb drive, and started all over from scratch. The second time (that is, this time) the program seemed to be running fine until it reached line 17,007, which was 94% through the program, and, again, just locked up. By "locked up" I mean the computer, which is the one dedicated to my cnc, would not respond to anything except the drop down menu under "file." That at least allowed me to exit the program. But everything else was subdued in a light gray and unresponsive. At line 17,007, I couldn't see anything unusual. There were the normal G02, and the x, y, and z figures, and that was all. Anybody have any suggestions? Thanks, James

[JoeM]

VCarve creates a toolpath, it doesn't run it on your machine. Your shark control software runs it. You need to be looking at your control software, or your machine, or your computer.

Just a few ideas:
Have you checked to see if your control software is properly installed?
Is all your software registered?
All connections tight between the machine and the computer?
Have you turned off virus scans, auto updates and any other of the 17 bajillion programs that can cause Windows to shift resources away from where you want them?
Have you turned off screen saver, energy savings, and sleep mode to prevent Windows from going into a coma 25 minutes into a 28 minute project?

[martin54]

As Joe says this is more likely to be a machine control software problem or a computer problem, have you searched the shark forum for problems similar to your own & asked this same question on the shark forum ?
You may find an answer quicker that way as the forum & it's users are all using machines from the same manufacturer as yourself.

Joe has mentioned a few points about windows & it's associated programs that may be causing problems I know they do with mach3 but don't know how the shark control software is set up or works.

[jdsmith1000]

To Joem and martin54, Thanks for the suggestions. I have just posted the same question on the Shark forum. I will try to figure out how to check the things Joem has mentioned. I do know that my computer screen goes black after a short period of time, but that has never seemed to interrupt running the program. One very peculiar thing did happen while running a program to hog out a large area of the same project. The screen went black after a while. When I touched the screen to bring it back up, the screen was frozen on one line of the program but the cnc machine continued to run the program in a normal fashion. Very curious!

[seanm]

Hi James,

First thing to try would be to change the settings in power options to not turn off the display after a set period of time and to not go to sleep after a set period of time and try again to see if this solves it. If this does not solve it, I would then look into the control software side of things as it is that, that is locking up, possibly down to not having enough resources to buffer the job.

sean

[jdsmith1000]

Sean,

Thanks for your reply. At this point, I do believe the problem is in the computer settings. As I mentioned above, I'm going to try to figure out how to reset everything and I will post the results.

James

[jdsmith1000]

I turned off ALL of the following in the computer that I have dedicated to the cnc: anti-virus app, auto updates, screen saver, energy saver, sleep mode (thanks Joe for this list), and I am operating the computer off-line. Also, I have installed an APC battery backup that has power conditioning and surge protection. I'm wondering if I have forgotten anything that might cause outside interference while running a program. This afternoon I ran a short program and it worked just fine. Tomorrow, I will run a longer program (about two hours) and report how it goes.

James

[scottp55]

Congrats James, Just one little extra thing than can cause problems---remove thumbdrives, as some now have power saving features.

[Rcnewcomb]

Run a copper wire through your dust collector hose and ground it. Static electricity buildup from the dust collector can sometimes cause troubles.

[jdsmith1000]

scottp55: Thanks for the tip about the thumb drive. I'll have to look at that one. I use a thumb drive to transfer the program from one computer to the one that is dedicated to the cnc.

Rcnewcomb: You will be appalled, but I haven't used a dust collector, yet. Causes a lot of clean up afterward. But, when the dust collector is installed, I can't see what's going on. Eventually, as I become more confident in what I'm doing, I probably will install the dust collector.

James