Was in midstream of cutting out a small card holder I need to hold business cards and the printer was singing along when it just said I quit! Checked out the Y chip and sure enough it was gone. It all lights up when I pull the Y chip out so that tells me it is burnt out. I really think I did not seat the heat sink in completely. I am soaking the metal piece that goes in between the chip and heat sink and will use the thin heat sink tape this time. I used a dab of ca and paste to hold it in earlier. I have more chips coming in from a place in Minnesota. Oh yeah, I have a nice fan blowing up and through the control board. All were cold running except the Y which was just luke warm. I'm not wondering if the actual chip was hotter than the heat sink was letting on.

 

Frank - What is the VRef setting on that axis? Have you checked it lately?
I had to remove the tiewrap that went around my board to hold the heatsinks down, but replaced it with a spring-wire clip made from one of the retainer wires in a windshield wiper. The point is, with the heatsinks mechanically held in place, you could use some proper thermal grease and you'd know the heatsinks were doing their job. If you'd like, I'll scan an image of my spring-clip - it's not rocket-science, but it does the job.

 

Hey Dorsal thanks for replying. Actually I ordered some double stick thermal tape 1" squares. I also cleaned the metal piece between the chip and heatsink. I should have known better that the metal plate had crud on it that really should have cleaned off better. I am going to check voltage when I get that new chip. It just might be a bit to high. I actually tried your idea in the beginning with the tie strap but it kept pulling the heatsink to one side. That is when i tried just a dab of ca and thermal paste to keep it on.

 

Well, here's a picture of my new spring clip that doesn't push the heatsinks sideways - the three humps press directly down on the heatsinks (although not perfectly centered ) and the ends clip around the circuit board, but not against the bottom where it could short out the circuitry. The middle hump is larger so the center heatsink gets the "same" amount of pressure. All the heatsinks have the fins lined up and this lays down the "center".
By the way, this fits the Easy-CNC controller board. Attached files

 

I figured making one of these would be cheaper than replacing a fried chip. Maybe not, but I'm too lazy not to fix it and be done with the issue.

 

HA! that's a great idea Dorsal. Never really thought that idea out, obviously :roll: . I have anymore of those problems I will surly go with your tried and true idea for sure.

 

Hey Frank - Where are you buying those chips? I know I've seen it posted somewhere, but can't find it now.

On another note, maybe there ought to be a separate thread, or at least a sticky, just listing places to get replacement chips, heatsinks, servos, controller wire, limit switches, that kind of stuff.

 

Got those chips from digikey.com out of Minnesota. 5.88us a piece and 4 dollars shipping. Heck I grabbed 3 to make it worth while. The first place I ordered from was out of Arizona. It's called Arrow electronics. viewtopic.php?f=13&t=273

Frank

 

So, a direct link to the chip would be: http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSea ... 20-1078-ND right?

 

That would be it. These guys take phone call orders 24 hrs a day. Very friendly and patient. 1800 344 4539

 

This one might be better, It is the same chip only but going by the Spec sheet it has a wider operating temperature range.

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSea ... 20-1076-ND

 

I saw that too Klondar but figured I need to turn the voltage down just a bit and also I had an issue with good contact with the heatsink. Thinking back maybe I shoud have splurged and spent the extra 50 cents for that one

 

Hey Frank - Is it very difficult to pull those chips out? Do you need a special tool, besides a bent hook to get under them?
You might have read elsewhere that my Z-axis is acting kinda weird, so I was thinking of swapping the X and Z chips to see if anything changes.

 

The beginning of this post sounds just like my weekend. My Y axis did the same thing. I've only cut about 6 sheets of foam with the PhlatPrinter over the last couple weeks. It was not fast (15ipm), but it was consistent and accurate. The vref is set to 1.2 volts as recommended on the motor. All of the chips have always been barely lukewarm. I put the Y motor on the X driver (changed the steps) and it sung along like it use too. So, I'm assuming the problem is the the driver chip. Has anyone been able to try either of the chips noted above?

 

Hey Dorsal. I just pried it up with a really small screwdriver. It was bad anyway. So far my new one is working flawless. Everything is running nice and cool.

 

Frank, I bent a larger paper-clip to act like those chip tweezers, then pulled and swapped my Z and X-axis chips.
The Z-chip had a bent pin that was very, VERY nearly touching another pin,after I removed the chip. It's unlikely that I had bent the pin pulling the chip out, but who's knows. I definitely did straighten the pin before reinserting the chip.
Anyway, after swapping the chips, both of the "Home Printer" buttons still send Z to China, as long as I have anything enabled or defined for Z-axis limits. The "Send Printer Home" button IS working properly now, and the "Safe-Z Settings" are working properly every time now, so at least that's better. :roll:
I give up. I'll just Alt-7 over to the Diagnostics screen, "Ref"erence each of the 3 axes separately, Alt-1 back to the regular program page and cut blue foam.

btw, my V-Ref is set to 1.43 - 1.45 volts on all 3 axes.

 

E-T, any help I can get is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

Yeah, I learned the hard way about saving the fixture - DON'T DO IT.

 

Randy, you could pull the chip from, say, your X axis and swap it with the one on your Y axis. That would tell you instantly if the chip is the problem.