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ISSUE — Track Axis Trips 1–2 Seconds After Engagement

CONFIRMED RESOLVED BOTH BOLT PRECISION TRACK

Summary

Track axis engages normally but trips after 1–2 seconds without being near any software or hardware limit. Common causes include a faulty, swapped, or disconnected limit or datum sensor, or a residual fault in the E-stop safety circuit. Checking sensor connections and pressing the green E-stop enable button followed by a full power cycle typically resolves it.

Symptoms

  • Track axis engages but trips after 1–2 seconds, without reaching any hardware limits
  • Can move for 1–2 seconds before tripping again
  • Not near software or physical limits
  • Full reboot sometimes resolves; sometimes does not
  • New limit sensor does not always fix it
  • Issue appears to resolve after pressing the E-stop green/enable button + full reboot

Systems Affected

  • Bolt on Track (Sebastian Opitz — confirmed)
  • Bolt Jr — related all-axes variant (Nathan Osche)

Software Environment

BOTH

Possible Causes

  • Limit or datum sensor fault, damage, or loose connector
  • Datum sensor swapped with limit sensor (common wiring mistake)
  • E-stop / safety circuit in a fault state not fully cleared
  • Transient hardware power issue

Solutions

Solution A — Check limit and datum sensor connections

CONFIRMED BOTH

Contributor(s): ~ Riley Morgan, ~ Niko, Timothy Heys Cerchio — 2021-12-02

Steps

  1. Check the limit sensor is securely connected and undamaged.
  2. Verify the datum (home) sensor is not swapped with the limit sensor connector.
  3. Swap for spare limit sensors if available.
  4. Power cycle the robot fully (off, wait 10 seconds, on) — not just a Flair restart.

Notes

"It does this if you're on your limit, gives you 1s to get off it before disengaging." — Riley Morgan

"Are you sure you haven't swapped your limit sensors or pinch-wheel wires? Like Datum for Limit and vice versa?" — Timothy Heys Cerchio

"Check if the limit sensor is not disconnected or even damaged, swap both for the spare ones." — Niko

Solution B — Press green E-stop enable button, then full power cycle

CONFIRMED BOTH

Contributor(s): ~ Sebastian Opitz — 2021-12-02

Steps

  1. Press the green enable/reset button on the main E-stop box.
  2. Perform a full power cycle (everything off, wait, power on).
  3. Re-engage the track axis.

Notes

"Pushing the green button on the main estop did the trick. A full reboot revived everything. Still weird why it tripped in the first place." — Sebastian Opitz

The underlying cause in this instance was not identified — resolved transiently.

Solution C — Limit override (emergency only)

LIKELY DANGEROUS

Contributor(s): ~ Riley Morgan — 2021-12-02

WARNING — Bypass of safety limits

Limit override disables the safety limit circuit. Only use in an emergency when the robot is confirmed safe, and disable override immediately after repositioning.

Steps

  1. Open Setups -> Axis Setup, select the Track axis, and enable limit override temporarily in the limit / axis safety controls.
  2. Reposition the robot to a safe location.
  3. Disable limit override immediately.

Timeline

Event Date Contributor
First reported 2021-12-02 ~ Sebastian Opitz
Resolved — green E-stop button 2021-12-02 ~ Sebastian Opitz
Related Indrek D/A overflow report 2022-09-16 ~ Indrek

Official Documentation

Document Section Notes
Flair v7.4 Operator Manual Axis setup — limit sensor Not currently in repository; add page link when local manual is available.
Precision Track Quick Start Guide — p.40: limit/datum magnet mounting Track assembly / limits Official track limit and datum magnet placement reference.

Flair Classic Manual — Ch.5 Setups: Axis Setup — p.33

Flair Classic Manual — Ch.5 Setups: Limits Test / Axis Safety — p.123

Flair 7 Manual — Ch.5 Setups: Axis Setup — p.19

Flair 7 Manual — Ch.5 Setups: Limits and Safety — p.80

Track and limit sensor setup during incident where track axis trips 1-2 seconds after engagement.

Media Text / Description

  • Media 1: Track/limit sensor setup during the incident where the track axis trips 1-2 seconds after engagement, even when not at a visible end stop.

WhatsApp Excerpts

[2/12/2021, 3:48:09 am] ~ Sebastian Opitz: Track axis trips 1s after engaging. Worked fine all day. Any ideas?

[2/12/2021, 3:50:22 am] ~ Riley Morgan: It does this if you're on your limit, gives you 1s to get off it before disengaging

[2/12/2021, 4:16:19 am] ~ Sebastian Opitz: 2 power cycles, new limit sensor, still same problem.

[2/12/2021, 4:23:20 am] ~ Sebastian Opitz: Working again

[2/12/2021, 4:30:11 am] ~ Sebastian Opitz: I think pushing the green button on the main estop did the trick. A full reboot revived everything. Still weird why it tripped in the first place.

Revision History

Date Change Editor
2026-05-24 Initial extraction Tom D / Claude Code
2026-05-24 Reformatted to CSS-tag template Tom D / Claude Code