# X-controller electrical gremlins

**URL:** <https://community.inventables.com/t/x-controller-electrical-gremlins/38822>\
**Category:** Troubleshooting\
**Created:** [June 15, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://community.inventables.com/t/x-controller-electrical-gremlins/38822 "2017-06-15T22:28:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ChristianClark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7feea3/32.png) [@ChristianClark](https://community.inventables.com/u/ChristianClark)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://community.inventables.com/t/x-controller-electrical-gremlins/38822/1 "2017-06-15T22:28:18Z")

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Every thing was fine yesterday and for about a year before that. Today when I went out to my shop my [relay](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WV7GMA2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) to turn on the spindle was making a clicking/grinding sound. E-stop and power switch on the x-controller are both in the off position. Removing the wires connecting the x-controller to the relay stops the noise, removing the power cord from the x-controller stops the noise, removing the usb cable from the x-controller also stops the noise. Plugging them back in starts the noise back up.

Powering on the x-controller seemed to fix the issue with the relay, if only temporarily, but homing the machine failed. At first it was just the Y axis that failed to move, I thought it was the micro switch so I replaced it and tried again. This time both X and Y failed to move. So I turned everything back off to check wiring again, which started the relay noise back up. All the wiring seemed fine so I powered everything back up. The noise goes away but homing only moves the Z axis down, instead of up, like 1 mm and then fails.

I ran a few carves and they all seemed to work fine. I’m at a loss. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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**Author:** ![StephenCook](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex009/user_avatar/community.inventables.com/stephencook/32/73911_2.png) [@StephenCook](https://community.inventables.com/u/StephenCook)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://community.inventables.com/t/x-controller-electrical-gremlins/38822/2 "2017-06-16T21:49:41Z")

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Check all the grounding. Sometimes a loose wire will cause intermittent shorts and other strange behavior.  
Also if your getting any noise from the motors then it will make homing next to impossible. I rewired my motors with shielded cable to get rid of this noise issue I had.  
Phil covers a lot of this in his posts. Check them out there is a lot of good info there.