Jog Box Woes

[phil george]

Am I the only one that has constant problems with the jog boxes? I just had one that's never been dropped or anything like that suddenly lose the movement from front to back and left to right. Of course it's about 10 days past the 60 day warranty. The two on the other machines have issues as well and will no doubt have to be replaced soon enough. And of course Hexagon won't fix them or sell individual parts like they used to. You have to buy a new or rebuilt one. And they're pretty expensive for the cheap plastic crap you get. It's getting really old having to shell out the money for one every few months.

[Randy P]

Well you can strap it to a small machine,so it won't hit the ground.
Hang it from a rotating arm on larger machines
Or BE CARFUll and don't drop the dang thing.
I'm sure there's more ideas here.

[#2#]

Does the jog box cable run along the floor so that it is constantly trying to wrap itself around the operator's feet and legs? That is a good way to accidentally drag it off the machine and have it hit the floor! I got some little adhesive tabs designed for wire ties. I ran the cable for the jog box across the machine's table and wire tied it in place (keeps it out of the way and off of the ways). There isn't enough slack in the cable for the box to actually hit the floor. If it does ever get dropped, it will probably be hard on the cable but...

Another option is to buy just the joystick. The manufacturer is most likely CH Products. If you take the back off of your jog box, you should be able to get some info off of the stick. I got a quote for mine from CH and it was about $250.

[phil george]

Thanks, I'll look into that. And yes there are occasionally issues with them getting knocked down to the floor but this has never had that happen. The joystick is actually different on this one than all the others I've had. It's got a metal case and seems more sturdy. But I guess it has other issues.

[#2#]

Thanks, I'll look into that. And yes there are occasionally issues with them getting knocked down to the floor but this has never had that happen. The joystick is actually different on this one than all the others I've had. It's got a metal case and seems more sturdy. But I guess it has other issues.

That you know of. I'm sure you don't sit there 24-7-365. Very easy for someone to come in while you are at home, at lunch, in the can... and look at the cool machine. They don't notice while they are standing there gawking that the jog box cord is slowly and stealthily coiling itself around their feet just waiting for the right moment to inflict maximum cranial damage. The gawker then decides they have been titilated enough and decides to move on. Suddenly, they are off balance and there is a crash of cheap plastic hitting a very hard floor. No cranial damage this time - the cord will have to wait for another victim.

What is the gawker to do? Leave the jog box on the floor? Run? No, they want to cover their tracks. They are afterall supposed to be at their desk doing their work. So, being carefull due to their newfound knowledge and fear of the cord, they pick up the box (perhaps feigning a time or two to see if the cord is going to attack), look it over for damage, blow off the dust and return it to the table. No one is any the wiser.

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Phil
Inside the joy stick on mine(global) are some switch settings that are held in place by allen screw
CAREFULLY and slowly take apart the joystick (ie remove screws facing you) and check out how this switch works a little time and patience could save you some big bucks.Mine was creaping due to that allen screw loosening.Hey what have you got to lose.

[philwell]

In my opinion the jog box is way too big and clumsy. The size of a large computer mouse and wireless would be much better.

[phil george]

Were trying to get into the joystick now. It is a different type than most I've seen. Made by a company called APEM. Doesn't have the 4 screws on top like the others.

I guess it could have been dropped when I wasn't around but this machine is rarely used by anyone but me. I know it hasn't been dropped this week and it was working fine and just went out all of the sudden.

[phil george]

In case anyone's interested: there was a new "contactless" joystick that's made somewhere in Italy on the box and it just died for some reason. Hexagon sent us one of the old ones for free even though the warranty period was over.