I more closely inspected the machine based on your inputs and found:
The belt is in fact frayed and has deposited debris below it. The belt is also off the left pulley and around the pully shaft.
The felt looks to be in good shape.
I have not lubricated the rail.
I cannot see any obstructions of the carriage.
I manually worked the carriage back and forth resulting in somewhat less friction.
I restarted the machine and it began moving the carriage as normal until the belt slipped (stripped} and the error message was sent.
My obvious conclusion is the excessive carriage friction is the issue. What I still don't know is the cause of that friction. Is it the wedged belt edged around the pulley shaft, the dry carriage rail or something else that I just can't see? Any sugesstions?
Andy
OK- now you're getting somewhere Andy. Actually, it sounds like the rear carriage bushing is involved in this, however, sometimes the belt can begin deteriorating and small threads can get wound around either the stepper motor drive gear on the right side or the pulley wheel on the left. In that case, it can cause misalignment and will throw the belt off the pulley. The two plastic shafts can wear on the pulley in the housing, or be misaligned themselves, or the tension spring can be improperly seated, There are many possibilities. It could be that the belt has come off, in part, on one side of the plastic fasteners on the underside of the carriage. Just a little misalignment there can cause the belt to wander off the tensioner pulley. There is definitely something seriously amiss to cause the pulley to jump off the tensioner pulley.
At this point, if it was me, I would be looking at replacing the belt and in the process, inspecting all the mechanical components involved in the carriage linear motion from spring tensioner housing, pulley, stepper gear, carriage rail, rear carriage bushing, scan axis motor, the nylon gears on the left side just inside the cover, the cutter, and all mechanical components that can have wear.
This is a good opportunity to clean everything back to new condition and replace whatever looks to be a problem. The fact that the belt has exhibited specific signs of wear is an indication that it's time to change it out.
Since you were able to get the carriage to slide properly, if only briefly, it should be fine once you change the belt out and replace the rear carriage bushing if that is at fault.
I would not now try to restart or whatever. If the carriage is in the middle, you should be able to get the belt off the right side toothed gear and the carriage should move freely. If it does not, you definitely have a bad rear carriage bushing, or a bad nylon insert(s) that rides on the rail. Don't hesitate to just cut the belt if your plan is to replace it. Having the carriage left of the right side parking area is a good thing - it will eliminate having to turn the unlocking screw to get the carriage to move out of park.
Good luck with it Andrew -
Mark
