Tecan Fluent "Encoder error signal detected while moving"

Tecan
1

Hi all,

I’ve been having issues with our Tecan Fluent 1080 lately, specifically occurring during FCA transfer commands. It will halt and return the following error:

The run was stopped due to a non-recoverable error:
Encoder error signal detected while moving (Arm: LIHA:1 Axis: E2)
Encoder error signal detected while moving (Arm: LIHA:1 Axis: E1)

I’m having difficulty finding any information about what the “E1” or “E2” axes might be. Would anyone happen to have any information on what these are so I could at least narrow down the culprit? Or better yet, does anyone know how this issue might be resolved?

Thanks!

2

E0 & E1 are encoders for Y & YS axis
by Te-Motion board that also controls X axis

with power off & then with power on, does the Y axis show any signs of friction/resistance if you move all channels back & forth slowly/carefully

does the error show up after a specific set of movements where the axis is moving too far/too fast and stalls out (then generating this error message) ?

3

What was your resolution for this? Might be seeing something similar on our 780

4

We think this issue was caused by condensation on the magnetic strip of the FCA arm. We were having climate control issues in that lab at the time, and after wiping it down and fixing the humidity in the lab, we were able to continue without issue.

5

If you have a newer Tecan Fluent you can query the temp and humidity at the start of runs. It’s useful.

6

Oh awesome! I had no idea. I’ll have to make sure we’re collecting that data routinely–issues related to climate control (humidity, dust during construction) have plagued our Fluent since we got it, so getting a handle on some of these conditions would be helpful.

7

It’s a silent killer in a lot of labs, especially with very dry labs and then static becomes such a massive problem across the entire hardware & assay stack.