Ok so we have been dealing with these alarms quite often since the start of these lines and we've always just kind of dealt with it. Theses are R-2000iB robots with servo driven tooling on the end (G2:A1) that we use to eliminate excess aluminum off of friction stir welded parts. The issue is we have a problem with getting SRVO-068 DETURR alarms on G2:A1 which is the additional servo. In the past we just kind of chalked it up to be a combination of heat and vibration destroying our encoders. We usually only get one or two every couple weeks and we go in and pull the encoder cable off and plug it back in then do single axis mastering blah blah blah and off we go. Once they become a more frequent issue we end up swapping out the encoder cap and all is well again.
So onto my main concern, one of our robots started getting these fairly frequently. Like 6-10 in a 8 hour shift so I swapped out the encoder cap to no avail. Next I did the encoder cable and then eventually the servo itself because we started blowing brake fuses a few days later. So now we have a new servo motor, new encoder cap, and new encoder cable but we are still getting these DETURR alarms at least 5-6 times per 8 hour shift. I have already checked through the forums and found a couple of hints that I tried one of them being checking the cables and the shielding grounds in the robot cabinet (which is a R-30iA) but no dice.
I even slowed down the RPM's of the tool and the traveling speed of the robot itself to reduce vibration and still nothing. I even tried running an air hose out to the encoder cap to keep air blowing across it and it didn't seem to help. Do you guys think this is an issue with the internal harness? Or maybe the ARP 2 connector that we are plugged into? One common problem i've noticed when removing the bad encoder caps is that the ribbon inside always seems to be the issue. It appears as though that ribbon is getting hot against a component inside the cap and almost "melting" so i put small piece of insulator between there to keep it from touching but so far it's been inconclusive. Any additional info needed just ask! Thanks guys!
**EDIT** we have six of these robots that all have identical programs/environments ect. And we are only fighting with this one currently on this particular issue so i'm thinking it's something specific to this robot.