Hello, I have had my XCarve set up with the Xcontroller set up for only a day now. I have cut 2.5 things so far. The first turned out just fine and it was only about a 35 minute cut and when my computer went to sleep I immediately reopened the the computer and it resumed without any intervention. The second Piece was a tool holder off of the inventables site. This time the computer was awake and I didn’t let the screen saver even pop up. But, the cut did stop about 20 minutes in on the 40 minute cut. Now on the third cut, it has again, stopped 3 times each time about 20-30 minutes apart. Easel looks like its running normally and the XCarve will respond If I tell it to stop or pause but It just stops mid carve. I downloaded the caffeine app to keep the computer completely awake but I still can’t figure it out. Any help would be appreciated!
This might be an interference issue on the USB cable. Make sure to route it away from higher current power cables.
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Brandon Parker
I have the usb running directly opposite of all power cables to a whole other table away from the unit.
Maybe check your limit switches/wiring to ensure nothing is awry there. When it stops, you can bring up the Machine Inspector and see if the controller thinks one is activated as well as query GRBL to see if it is in an alarming state.
Also, make sure the eStop is reset well. This is normally an issue that stops the machine and then people can’t get it moving again, but it is still worth checking.
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Brandon Parker
Okay, so for status it shows “Alarm”. What does this mean and how do I fix it?
Im trying another cut now and I got about 45 minutes into it before having the same issue. Now when I try the machine inspector, for a brief half second it shows “Running” then it switches to idle after moving the machine for that same brief moment. I can do this repeatedly but it only moves the xcarve about 1/2 an inch each time.
I would check the connections for the limit switches first. If the GRBL thinks one is being triggered when it shouldn’t be then it will alarm.
Does it do it in the same physical location every time?
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Brandon Parker
I will check that this afternoon. Would it still show “Idle” if one of the switches was triggered?
That happens frequently do to electrical interference. Here are some suggestions:
Use a good quality shielded usb cable
do not have your router cable running along with your stepper motor cables
plug in your router, shop vac and any other ancillary devices into a different outlet as your controller
and finally. don’t have your controller plugged into the same circuit as a refrigerator, freezer,air conditioner or air compressor. (when the compressor in these devices first turn on it drops the line voltage significantly for a moment.
Alarm = either limit switch triggered, soft limit violation or RF noise.
Do you have limit switched installed?
What values are your GRBL parameter $20 and $21 set to?
I will give that a shot! Thanks!
So I purchased a new shielded cable, removed my router power wire from the rest of the stepper motor wires, and also plugged everything else besides the xcontroller plugged into a separate circuit. One of these fixed the issue and I was able to do over 5 hours of cutting last night!
Thank you so much!
It seems to be an interference issue, I purchased a new shielded cable and removed all power except for the xcontroller from the circuit and the wire looms that housed the stepper motor wires. One of these fixed the problem and now I am able to cut for many hours without interuption!
Thank you for your help!