Added 01.12.24
X-Drive Cable Warnings
Important: This repair requires timing and other adjustments and should be done only by a Certified Melco Technician.
The x-drive cable should be replaced when excessive wear and tear or fraying of the cable is noticed. It is critical that the instructions given for the replacement of the X-Drive cable be strictly adhered to as improper installation, especially tensioning, of the X-Drive cable will lead to failures very difficult to troubleshoot, especially in the X/Y registration during embroidery operations.
If you tension the X-Drive cable too high, it will cause premature wear on the X-Axis servo motor and will cause problems with the X-Axis registration. Typically, the symptoms of an X-Cable tensioned too high will be narrow stitch length on X-Axis stitching.
If you tension the X-Drive cable too low, it will cause problems with the cable slipping on the pulleys and increase the amount of time it takes the X-Motor to move to specific positions. Typically, the symptoms of an X-Cable tensioned too low might be X-Move timeouts, X-Tracking errors, or stitch length being too long on the X-Axis.
Use extreme care not to damage the cable and protective coating during assembly. If the protective coating is damaged, the cable will wear out very fast impacting the quality of the sew outs.
At any time when the machine is either powered down or in E-Stop mode, neither the X-Carriage nor the X-Beam should be moved at a high rate of speed. If there is a desire to manually move either the carriage or the beam, they should be pushed or pulled GENTLY to prevent serious damage to the main control board.
X-Cable Removal Procedure:
1. Start by unplugging the machine power and the X-Motor connection from the main PCB.
2. Remove the left and right arm covers and upper arm back cover.
3. Move the X-Carriage all the way to the right (as seen from the front of the machine) until it comes to a hard stop. All references to the windings of the X-Cable and other adjustments will be based on the X-Carriage being positioned all the way to the right at a hard stop. Clamp X-Carriage in this position to help maintain cable tension during uninstall and install.
4. Wrap tape around the windings of the cable on the X-Drive cable spool to keep the cable from slipping off the spool and to keep the windings on the spool correct.
5. Start on the left side of the machine and loosen the hex nut on the X-Cable tensioning bolt by holding the cable side while turning the nut till you can remove it. Hold onto the cable as you do this and do not let it drop.
6. Pull the cable through the access hole to the back of the machine body, off all of the pulleys and let it hang loose in the back.
7. Repeat on the right side of the machine.
8. Loosen the screw located at the center of the X-Drive cable spool. You may have to pull on the spool while unscrewing to fully remove the spool's center screw. Remove the spool and accompanying bushings and washers carefully so as not to lose any parts.
9. If you are going to reinstall the cable later, place it in a secure area to protect it from damage. If you damage the protective coating, the cable will fray and eventually corrode.
X-Cable Installation:
1. Ensure you follow steps 1-3 in the removal procedure.
2. Attach the cable on the left side of the machine, run nylon lock nut to 1 turn past engagement.
3. Route cable through pulleys on the left side of the machine and then through the center of the spindle.
4. Install the cable spindle at the 1 or 2 o’clock position (including the three star washers, spacer, and bushing) using the washer and screw. The star washers should be offset and cup towards the machine. The center screw may need to be cleaned out to fit in properly.
5. The first wrap of the cable around the spindle must be at the inside edge of the spindle (rotate counter clockwise).
6. Wind the cable on to the spindle (start on the outside edge) counter clockwise to create 13 full wraps.
7. Wind the cable around the pulleys and attach to the right side of the machine.
8. Release the clamp on X-Carriage and roughly tension the X-Cable by tightening the nuts slightly on both sides of the machine.
9. Verify the cable is properly secured on the spindle while moving x-carriage to its limit on the left and right side.
10. Torque the X-Spindle mounting screw to technical specification.
11. Set X-Cable tension using the cable tension fixture (and the small notch) on the left side of the machine while tightening the left side nut. (This ensures you add a buffer to prevent the cable from jumping the spindle.)
12. Again, verify the cable is properly secured on the spindle while moving X-Carriage to its limit on the left and right side. Then check the cable tension again.
13. Plug X-Motor connection back into PCB and repower machine.
14. Install the upper arm back cover and the left and right arm covers
*If you are having trouble, you can wind the cable around the spindle while it is off the machine following images/video below. You can then reinstall the spindle wrapped in tape and attach the cable on both sides.
Reference Images:
13 winds plus the two off to sides, when viewed from top