Question: I just bought a 1996 vintage Xermac X-40B CNC machine. I got the machine back to my shop and got it powered up. It powered up fine and everything seems to be in order and I checked the cabinet to make sure nothing vibrated loose during transit, but the ram will not move. I am getting a general fault error. Do you have any suggestions of things I can check?
Answer: We once moved a machine that was working fine just 15 miles down the road and it had a host of problems when it arrived. It is not uncommon for boards to become unseated or weak solder connections to vibrate loose. Check the motion control card to make sure it is seated correctly in it’s carriage and the connections are good. If that is not the issue you should look for a position lock. Any Hydraulic machine of that size is going to have a hydraulic lock that prevents the Z axis from moving. Most are controlled by an electromagnet that overcomes a normally closed spring valve. Some of the larger Xermac machines of that era have pneumatically actuated position locks on the head instead of the traditional spring/electromagnet hydraulic locks. You may have to run an air line to your machine.