Servo freaking out

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  • #27905
    TNz
    Participant

    I’ve been having issues with my Axidraw recently.

    Mid way through a plot with lots of up/down movement the pen will get stuck in the up position.

    There’s also a grinding noise that does not sound good at all.

    This is my first plotter so just wanting to confirm these ‘symptoms’.

    #27906
    TNz
    Participant

    Can anyone reccomend a store to buy a replacement in the UK?

    #27907
    Windell Oskay
    Keymaster

    That certainly doesn’t sound good. The servo sounds like it’s on its way out. These do fail over time but are straightforward to replace.

    If yours is a recent purchase, please contact us by email or through our contact form and we can send you a replacement. Otherwise, we do sell replacements both directly ( http://emsl.us/903 ) and through resellers ( https://www.robotshop.com/uk/evil-mad-scientist-replacement-servo-motor-axidraw.html ).

    One additional thing to check is that the vertical slide does fall raise and fall freely when the servo motor lifts it. If it is having difficulty sliding, that will reduce the servo lifetime, so please check on that.

    Now, is that grinding noise from the servo or from the plotter, when moving in X and Y? If it’s the latter, then try disconnecting the servo (at the connector on the left side of the machine), and try a plot that way. If a servo is failing, it can draw too much power, which can affect XY movement. If you are still having some kind of difficulty with XY movement, please write to technical support directly (again by email or our contact from); we’ll have some additional things for you to check.

    #27915
    TNz
    Participant

    It appears the servo is not covered by warranty which is ok seeing as theyre so cheap.

    The online shop (robotshop) seems to be out of stockand only likely to be restocked next month.

    I’ve found the same type of servo online elswhere and with loads of stock available now.

    Am I correct in thinking as long as its the same type of servo it should work?

    thanks very much.

    T

    #27918
    Windell Oskay
    Keymaster

    Yes, similar types of “9 g” servo motors will work. The little lift arm is not guaranteed to fit those from different manufacturers.

    There is some significant variation in the quality of these types of servo motors — cheaper ones may burn out very quickly. However, we would also advise you not to buy “fancier” grades of servos — things like metal gears and digital control tend to not actually increase the lifetime.

    [I apologize for the slow reply; I missed the notification about the update.]

    #28984
    p
    Participant

    I have a problem and can’t work out if it is servo or something else. When I run a plot from Inkscape, there is no movement on the XY and the servo just jiggles up and down randomly for a while, then stops. I will replace the servo, but the lack of movement on the XY concerns me. Any thoughts?

    #29025
    Windell Oskay
    Keymaster

    Hard to say from this description alone. A servo issue can cause XY problems. But, it definitely sounds like it’s not related to the original topic here so I’m closing it.

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