I have a relatively complex machine that I have been working on for several months now.  I am able to model parts of the machine, but once I get over about 8 contacts, the solver starts to fail.  Therefore, I must model one part at a time.  For the sake of showing an overall picture to the customer, it would be preferable to model all the parts.

I have learned some ways to improve the model solution, but I never seem to get as far as I need to go.  I can only model about half of the machine.  I try to use simple mates whenever I can instead of contacts.  For instance if a part follows a straight slot, I mate a point on one part and a plane on the other.  I don't have many other tricks up my sleeve though.  Once the study takes longer than 5 minutes, it is likely to just stop working.  I try to learn from the Analysis Messages, but often the solver just stalls or quits with no reason given.

I have contacted my VAR many, many times.  They try to help, but it is usually more a matter of changing the solver settings and it works for them.  But in the end, I feel like we are just changing between solvers with no real goal. 

So, my question would be...what tricks have other Motion users found that have helped them improve the likelihood of the solver reaching completion?

Thanks in advance.