This article only relates to V2 machines. To determine which machine you have, please read this article.

If you experience a Horizontal or Vertical error when initialising, there may be a problem with your machine. As a short term fix, please try starting your machine in “manual mode”. It is likely that your machine will operate perfectly in manual mode which you may continue to use until you can obtain support to fix this issue. The below video will show you how to do this, noting that it’s a video of an old v1 machine, but the process is still the same.

Starting in manual mode

Although you may now be able to operate normally in manual mode, you may still like to solve the Horizontal or Vertical error you are experiencing. This page may help you understand the problem further and assist with troubleshooting. Here are the possible errors you may receive and their meaning:

Horizontal Error 1, Try Manual Mode – This means the horizontal motor has moved to the left (when standing behind the machine looking forward) but has not detected the collision with the end-stop (datum).

Horizontal Error 2, Try Manual Mode – This means the horizontal motor may be jammed, as it’s constantly detecting a collision.

Horizontal Error 3, Try Manual Mode – This occurs when the horizontal processor does not respond with either error 1 or error 2 within 20 seconds. This is extremely rare.

Vertical Error 1, Try Manual Mode – This means the vertical motor has moved down to the bottom but has not detected the collision with the end-stop (datum).

Vertical Error 2, Try Manual Mode – This means the vertical motor may be jammed, as it’s constantly detecting a collision.

Vertical Error 3, Try Manual Mode – This occurs when the vertical processor does not respond with either error 1 or error 2 within 20 seconds. This is extremely rare.

If you would like to troubleshoot the above errors, here are the suggestions:

Horizontal Error 1, Try Manual Mode

As above, this means the horizontal motor has moved to the left (when standing behind the machine looking forward) but has not detected the collision with the end-stop (datum). Here are the steps you should take to try to resolve this issue:

1. Try restarting your machine to see if this clears the issue.
2. Run your machine in manual mode, you should be able to use your machine perfectly. If you cannot use it perfectly, then please report the issue to your local distributor for support. Please see the video at the top of this page for instruction on how to start your machine in manual mode.
3. If you feel you are an advanced user, please take off the purple cover of your machine (Support article: https://www.spinfiresport.com/kb/how-to-remove-the-purple-body-from-your-machine/). Once the cover has been removed, reconnect the control panel (& battery or AC Adaptor if you have an external machine). Turn the machine on and watch what is happening. The pivot plate should turn to the left (when standing behind the machine looking forward) and collide with the end-stop. If it does not, what does happen? A video of this process should be sent to your local distributor to help troubleshoot this further.
4. Check the 4 wires in the plug attached to the motherboard which runs from the horizontal stepper motor. Tug on each one to see if any of them are loose. Here is a photo of the Horizontal motor plug to help you understand this better:
5. Unless you are a distributor, you are unlikely to have a spare motherboard to try, however, this would be the next step we’d recommend to help solve the problem.
6. Again, unless you are a distributor, you are unlikely to have a spare horizontal stepper motor to try. We would recommend replacing that next to see if it resolves the issue. Here is a video showing how to replace a horizontal stepper motor, noting the video was created on a v1 machine, but the process is exactly the same on a v2 machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Hs6iITgxdw

Horizontal Error 2, Try Manual Mode

As above, this means the horizontal motor may be jammed, as it’s constantly detecting a collision. Here are the steps you should take to try to resolve this issue:

1. Restart your machine.
2. Run your machine in manual mode, you should be able to use your machine perfectly. If you cannot use it perfectly, then please report the issue to your local distributor for support. Please see the video at the top of this page for instruction on how to start your machine in manual mode.
3. If you feel you are an advanced user, please take off the purple cover of your machine (Support article: https://www.spinfiresport.com/kb/how-to-remove-the-purple-body-from-your-machine/). Once the cover has been removed, reconnect the control panel (& battery or AC Adaptor if you have an external machine). Turn the machine on and watch what is happening. This may help you identify the issue. A video of this process should be sent to your local distributor to help troubleshoot this further.
4. Check the 4 wires in the plug attached to the motherboard which runs from the horizontal stepper motor. Tug on each one to see if any of them are loose. Here is a photo of the Horizontal motor plug to help you understand this better:
5. Check the gear on the horizontal stepper motor. Check between each of the teeth on the large gear and small gear (under the pivot plate). Manually move the pivot plate from side to side to see if you can feel any resistance at any point.
6. Try recharging your battery to full and then testing again. Does the problem go away with a full battery (higher voltage)? If yes, it’s likely it will return again as the battery depletes (voltage drops), so this is not a solution but very helpful in identifying the cause of the issue. Check step 7 for further instructions.
7. Check the software version, if your machine has the main software version as M5.1.8 then it could be caused by a bug in the software where the horizontal calibration fails when the battery is low. In order to get the software updated, please reach out to your nearest Spinfire distributor. If the software version is M5.2.0 or above we would recommend you move to step 8 which may completely solve the issue if you find the battery voltage makes a difference.
8. Remove the horizontal stepper motor from the pivot plate. Check it to see if you can find anything obvious. Then just reinstall it. Sometimes this process can completely resolve the issue. If you are not sure how to remove the horizontal stepper motor, this video explaining how to replace it should be useful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Hs6iITgxdw
9. Unless you are a distributor, you are unlikely to have a spare motherboard to try, however, this would be the next step we’d recommend to help solve the problem.
10. Again, unless you are a distributor, you are unlikely to have a spare horizontal stepper motor to try. We would recommend replacing that next to see if it resolves the issue. Here is a video showing how to replace a horizontal stepper motor, noting the video was created on a v1 machine, but the process is exactly the same on a v2 machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Hs6iITgxdw

Horizontal Error 3, Try Manual Mode

As above, this occurs when the horizontal processor does not respond with either error 1 or error 2 within 20 seconds. This is extremely rare. We only recommend you try restarting your machine and if that doesn’t work please try manual mode which should hopefully allow you to use your machine perfectly until you can get the issue resolved. Please see the above video for how to operate in Manual Mode and contact your local distributor for further support with this issue for a permanent fix.

Vertical Error 1, Try Manual Mode

As above, this means the vertical motor has moved down to the bottom but has not detected the collision with the end-stop (datum). Here are the steps you should take to try to resolve this issue:

1. Try restarting your machine to see if this clears the issue.
2. Run your machine in manual mode, you should be able to use your machine perfectly. If you cannot use it perfectly, then please report the issue to your local distributor for support. Please see the video at the top of this page for instruction on how to start your machine in manual mode.
3. If you feel you are an advanced user, please take off the purple cover of your machine (support article: https://www.spinfiresport.com/kb/how-to-remove-the-purple-body-from-your-machine/). Once the cover has been removed, reconnect the control panel (& battery or AC Adaptor if you have an external machine). Raise the elevation up to the middle point (approximately or something that would be shooting lobs). Turn the machine on and watch what is happening. The elevation should lower to the very bottom (imagine shooting flat balls into the net) and collide with the end-stop. If it does not, what does happen? A video of this process should be sent to your local distributor to help troubleshoot this further.
4. Check the 4 wires in the plug attached to the motherboard which runs from the vertical stepper motor. Tug on each one to see if any of them are loose. Here is a photo of the Horizontal motor plug to help you understand this better:
   
5. Unless you are a distributor, you are unlikely to have a spare motherboard to try, however, this would be the next step we’d recommend to help solve the problem.
6. Again, unless you are a distributor, you are unlikely to have a spare vertical stepper motor to try. We would recommend replacing that next to see if it resolves the issue. Here is a video showing how to replace a vertical stepper motor, noting the video was created on a v1 machine, but the process is exactly the same on a v2 machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgsP9e5hAhk

Vertical Error 2, Try Manual Mode

As above, this means the vertical motor may be jammed, as it’s constantly detecting a collision. Here are the steps you should take to try to resolve this issue:

1. Restart your machine.
2. Run your machine in manual mode, you should be able to use your machine perfectly. If you cannot use it perfectly, then please report the issue to your local distributor for support. Please see the video at the top of this page for instruction on how to start your machine in manual mode.
3. If you feel you are an advanced user, please take off the purple cover of your machine (support article: https://www.spinfiresport.com/kb/how-to-remove-the-purple-body-from-your-machine/). Once the cover has been removed, reconnect the control panel (& battery or AC Adaptor if you have an external machine). Raise the elevation up manually so that it would be shooting lobs (not all the way to the top though). Turn the machine on and watch what is happening. This may help you identify the issue. A video of this process should be sent to your local distributor to help troubleshoot this further.
4. Check the 4 wires in the plug attached to the motherboard which runs from the vertical stepper motor. Tug on each one to see if any of them are loose.:
   
5. Check the gear on the vertical stepper motor. Check between each of the teeth on the large gear and small gear. Manually move the elevation up and down to see if you can feel any resistance at any point.
6. Try recharging your battery to full and then testing again. Does the problem go away with a full battery (higher voltage)? If yes, it’s likely it will return again as the battery depletes (voltage drops), so this is not a solution but very helpful in identifying the cause of the issue. We would recommend you move to step 7 which may completely solve the issue if you find the battery voltage makes a difference.
7. Remove the vertical stepper motor. Check it to see if you can find anything obvious. Then just reinstall it. Sometimes this process can completely resolve the issue. If you are not sure how to remove the vertical stepper motor, this video explaining how to replace it should be useful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgsP9e5hAhk
8. Unless you are a distributor, you are unlikely to have a spare motherboard to try, however, this would be the next step we’d recommend to help solve the problem.
9. Again, unless you are a distributor, you are unlikely to have a spare vertical stepper motor to try. We would recommend replacing that next to see if it resolves the issue. Here is a video showing how to replace a vertical stepper motor, noting the video was created on a v1 machine, but the process is exactly the same on a v2 machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgsP9e5hAhk

Vertical Error 3, Try Manual Mode

As above, this occurs when the vertical processor does not respond with either error 1 or error 2 within 20 seconds. This is extremely rare. We only recommend you try restarting your machine and if that doesn’t work please try manual mode which should hopefully allow you to use your machine perfectly until you can get the issue resolved. Please see the above video for how to operate in Manual Mode and contact your local distributor for further support with this issue for a permanent fix.