help!start/stop buttons unresponsive

[Mama Kass]

I load my design and push start - nothing happens. I hold down the stop button to put the machine to sleep - nothing happens. All the other keypad buttons function properly. The machine is on; the emergency stop is not engaged; a keypad test shows all the buttons are functioning. We thought it must be the cable from the keypad to the PCB, so we replaced that - no change. I have no idea what to try next. Do I have bad news for my rush order?

[Dorothy Compton]

Where are you located? I'm in the Sacramento area. I have three big reds if you need to borrow a key pad. Call me 916-635-7467.

Dorothy

[Mama Kass]

Oh my.. that's so generous. We're in Etna, just south of the Oregon border. I'm hoping that I hear that I've just done something stupid. I'll call you tomorrow if I don't get this resolved by then.

[levelbest]

But can you do a trace design and such from AOS? This is a stumper...

[Mama Kass]

Just to keep you guys up to date... I'm emailing Rod Springer now; he and Sharon are on the road. He thinks my keypad may have been out of sync with the mother board. John, everything was working on the pad except the start and stop buttons and every command from AOS was working. When I woke the machine up this morning the start button "woke up" after I held it for 5 or 6 seconds. At first the light on the keypad was slowly flashing green. Now it's on steadily as it should be and everything is working. I'm waiting to hear from Rod. We are having the further technical difficulty that we're both in the boon docks and our phones won't connect.

[Mama Kass]

OK. Problem solved. Rod is so amazing and we are so fortunate to have him.

A common problem with Big Reds and, to lesser degree, XT's is a communication failure between the keypad PCB and the mother board. This can be caused by the stop button being held down longer than necessary to stop the machine but not long enough to put it to sleep - the machine enters a sort of limbo and will not respond to start or sleep commands.

The solution is simple. Before doing anything else, hold down the stop button long enough to either put the machine to sleep or until you hear a click in the machine (10 seconds or so). Then press the start button. If it doesn't start immediately, hold the start button for a few seconds and it should start.

We think this was caused by a newbie freaking out and mashing the daylights out of the start button which she was trying to use to stop the machine.

yesterday

[Mama Kass]

I was away from the machine and someone sent my last message before I was finished.

Something else that can cause interference is a loose emergency stop button which can be tightened by unhooking the keypad from the machine, laying it face down, opening the back, and tightening the screws holding the E stop button in place. I haven't tried this yet.

Lastly, thank you again, Dorothy, for offering to let us use one of your keypads, but I'm glad it didn't come to that. You folks are great!

[Dorothy Compton]

Just glad you're up and running again!

Dorothy