Dewalt Electric Noise Cure

CNC Machines Shapeoko
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So I kept having my Carbide Motion give me the serial port error basically saying it lost connection to my SO3. I googled it and read an interesting article about the Dewalt having high electrical noise which can cause the control board to crap out. So I had a crazy idea…

I have a spool of anti-static foam I use to ship electronic parts with and I used it to cover the control board:

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I then remounted my Dewalt router with the power cable facing the other direction and covered the power cable wherever it was near either a motor or cables for the motors or limit switches:

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And please feel free to laugh at my OCD. I felt like an idiot doing it. I never know how much of a noob I sound like to some but in the end it actually worked! No more serial port errors :smiley:

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The ESD foam probably made less difference than routing the Dewalt power cable out the opposite side of your machine. As I was taught once, keep power and signal wires away from each other, and if they do have to cross, then make them cross perpendicular to each other, not parallel. I’m am pretty non-electronical in nature, but I have been taught a few things over the years and I did stay at a Holiday Inn once :wink:

Dan

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hahaha, I actually tested this prior to remounting the Dewalt router and it started working. It wasn’t until it started working again did I remount it and cover that power cable just to go the extra mile. BUT, I am not as big on electrical myself. I know in I.T. school they taught us about crosstalk in cables which is why I did that. I am just happy I have one less issue to worry about. Now if I can figure out how to square this machine better.

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Crosstalk from a brushed DC motor is a problem, the more you can isolate it the better. My current XXL set up is not the “ideal” set up, but I do try to “keep the hot side hot, and the cold side cool” as they say in the burger business and I’ve never had an ESD related disconnect to my knowledge (I have had disconnects like CM just plain crashing, or my PC going into sleep mode). I run a 3rd drag chain off the right hand side of my machine with the router cord, and SuperPID sensor wire and power all from a power conditioner/UPS (all except for my vacuum). I don’t know if I’m lucky, or if everything I’ve done has made the difference?

Just noticed something in one of your pictures, does your vacuum hose run over the top of your Z axis? Depending on the hose and of course how dry the air is where you’re at you could get some serious static from that too. I know I’ve been getting shocked like crazy lately just grabbing a doorknob after walking through my house, only thing is it’s super cold and dry here right now. Oh yea, and you cut a bunch of plastics too IIRC?

Dan

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Yes, the vacuum does go over the Z-axis plate. I made that little holder out of acrylic to keep it relatively away from the Z-axis. This mainly started happening after I moved and now have a garage workshop. It’s probably extra dry as I am running a space heater and its winter. But either way I have had zero issues since so knock on wood!

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I added a dedicated ground wire from my z-axis plate and connected directly to ground. No issues since either.

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A few months ago, before I upgraded to the latest board, I discovered that adding a ground wire to my Dewalt reduced disconnects by about half.

I theorized that the electronics being at the top of the router and covered with plastic only meant the only way to really tame the beast would be to shield the yellow plastic top.

At the time, I conducted an experiment where I unrolled a copper scrub pad and made a little sock I placed over the top of the router, and made sure it came in contact with the metal body of the router.

I started and stopped the router a bunch of times, and didn’t have a disconnect.

The problem is, these copper scrubbers can unravel and fall apart, they aren’t that durable. And I did see a small bit of copper fall into the router. So I removed the copper sock and used my air compressor to blow-out the router.

It wasn’t until later that I realized a solution would be to add some foam filter material or a cotton sock UNDER the copper scrubber. Yes, it would reduce airflow. But honestly at the rates we run these things, probably still quite safe. There are people that use cotton socks already because they cut aluminum and want to keep chips out of the router.

I haven’t been cutting anything because I’ve been busy w/ other work, but my house is like desert dry so I have been watching this thread for ideas in case I start getting disconnects if and when I do cut something.

BUT IN THE MEANTIME, someone should get a small ankle sock out of their wife’s sock drawer, pickup some copper scrubbers, and cable tie that over the top of the router and see if it helps.

If someone tries this, please post-back w/ your results.

There are variations of this solution, like painting the inside of the plastic cover w/ conductive paint. Or building a small box that could sit over the top of the router (providing a little dog house).

I have lots of ideas, just very little time to try stuff.

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I like this Faraday cage approach and there’s probably a zillion ways to implement it (I like the sock covered in wire mesh as you’ve described above), maybe even wire window screen over a sock, grounded to the router and a 3 prong grounded cord, that would get rid of the ESD issues, but (humor me here, I am not super electronical), would that also get rid of the EMF “noise” crosstalk along the power cord itself? I wouldn’t think so, but I have no way to test since mine isn’t experiencing this issue (so far, knock on wood).

Dan

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So a couple of jobs run since i made the changes and still going strong. I do get the point about metal on the router tho because when I just did this last job cutting cast acrylic I kept seeing chips sticking to the metal body of the router. Either way, I hope this issue won’t even matter when the water cooled spindle arrives :blush: Also a friend of mine said he did the same thing with a grounding wire before any issues arose and thought it didnt matter after awhile. Now he thinks differently.