So I am doing one of my typical production runs, cutting .080 sheet aluminum.  All is going well.  About 2hrs in, the machine runs the Z axis deep into the work, and I think tried to run it through the table before it physically stopped and Mach said an E stop was pressed.  I was in the next room do other work.  Nothing sounded bad, so it must have been a quiet death.

I tried to jog the Z axis out, but no matter which way I jog it, it wants to go further into the table. Sounds pretty nasty too.  The DRO shows the Z axis moving correct according to the jog wheel.

With the machine off and I manually move the Z axis, all feels normal.

X and Y jogging work fine.


So did I fry my Z stepper?  Any idea what would cause this?  The GCode is fine, I have used it a number of times on production runs.

Sounds to me like your Z Axis Dir wire has come loose.
Hood

Thanks hood.  That was darn close.  It was the connector from the back of the control box, other side of the Gecko.