I’ve been getting random disconnects with Beta 5.13 and wondering if anyone has solved this issue. It is not static related, and there is no pattern to the random disconnects. I’m running the HDZ, BitSetter, and Spindle Control if that matters. I even purchased a new HP desktop hoping that might solve it. Still disconnects, even after restarting the PC, the Shapeoko controller, and Carbide Motion. Any suggestions?
I am also running 5.13 and have not had a single disconnect.
(PS I am VERY familiar with disconnects, and worked hard to remove them over the years (4.5 year user). For me it was (a) making sure I turned the router on/off from outside my enclosure, (b) making sure that the power cable was not near the USB cord and © running my machine on an isolated line. (PPS, It’s never the computer IMO)
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Short list of usual suspects you may want to check (I know it’s not very pleasant to be thrown a list of random possible sources, but EMI is sneaky and sometimes going back to the basics helps)
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try different wall sockets if possible, for the machine, the router, and the shop vac.
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grounding the router body/mount ( e.g. wrapping a copper wire around the router mount and connecting it to a known-good grounding point, on the machine itself or nearby).
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earthing the machine frame.
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grounding the dust collection hose, and/or use an anti-static hose.
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if the air is very dry, spray a little water on the stock, or use a humidifier in the room.
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using a high-quality shielded USB cable, and/or a USB isolator or powered USB hub, or just using a different USB port on the PC running the G-code sender.
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make sure your computer does not put the USB ports to sleep mode after a while. On a laptop, this can happen if running on battery: make sure it runs on power instead, or adjust power management options.
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using a voltage regulator/surge protector between mains and the machine.
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checking if router brushes are not worn out, and replacing them if needed.
Also…you may want to try a different sender, if only to confirm that CM has nothing to do with those disconnects.
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Thanks for the great suggestions. It just seems odd that before the beta, I had zero discoznnects after grounding everything for static. I’ll step through all those suggestions and see if it solves the issue. Thanks again!
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Well it’s easy enough to go back to an earlier version that (uh-um) in your mind was more stable to prove that Luke and I are full of …
I’m curious about the results.
I just remembered a change that I made when I went to the beta version. I hooked up a relay to turn the spindle on automatically. In addition to everything you listed, I will be checking to see if that possibly is inducing the glitch.
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Something that’s curious about my disconnects is that they are happening when the router and dust collector ate not even running, which led me to believe it’s in the beta software. For example, I’m just cycling through the bit change procedure with the BitSetter when it will happen, or when it’s in between cuts. Neither the dust collector nor the router were running at those times. It has never disconnected in the middle of a job that was cutting. This will take some time to troubleshoot. When you change something, and you think you‘ve got it, hours later, or even a couple of days later, it will happen again. 
Interesting…
Let’s imagine for a minute that it’s not EMI related. You’re left with USB comms reliability, and you already changed the host computer so it’s unlikely to be a problem with a flaky USB port.
Can you go and check whether the USB cable itself is fastened securely all along its path?
You could try and fast-jog the machine around manually for a little while (Home => corners => BitSetter position, etc…) to see if maybe you get disconnects while just doing that ?
Efforts on cable or vibrations may cause an intermittent connection, at the USB connector on the controller ? Just thinking out loud here, based on your findings.
What you could do also, is have the log window open every time you use the machine: whenever the next disconnect happens, there may be interesting information in the last few lines printed there
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Thanks for the comments. I’ve ordered a shielded USB cable which should be here Wednesday. Will be interesting to see if that has any effect on it also. I did reroute some electrical wiring during the addition of the spindle/DC control relays. I’ll also try doing some rerouting of that.
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Only disconnect issues I have run into with 5.13 were when I was running a powered usb hub from my tablet that connected to both the CNC and a gamepad. I had random disconnects after the end of a cut. I would press ok on the “turn spindle off” prompt and the machine would disconnect halfway through its journey to the back of the machine. And it didnt throw up an error warning, just flipped back to the opening run screen with the “connect to machine” button. I got rid of the usb hub and purchased a micro to micro usb cable for the gamepad to get it off the one full size usb port on my tablet and have had no more issues. I think it pays off to have a good, and as short as possible, usb cable to the machine with no other signals coming through that port. It may have been my old usb hub causing the issue, it may have been some “confusion” with the gamepad running on the same usb port. I don’t know enough about signal protocols and such to say for certain.
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Thanks, Scott, that’s good info. I’m running my USB cord to a dedicated port but I’m getting a new shielded cable which may help.
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I finally figured out what was causing my disconnects. It was not the beta software. I use a portable Dewalt vacuum to clean up the excess after running a job. The static it generated was shutting the controller down. I’m in Arizona, where it’s extremely dry. Static is always an issue.
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@carbide_Bill: thank you for reporting that, the most interesting in this kind of thread is what it turned out to be.
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