I’ve started experiencing a plague of “Cutter stopped responding” errors. I’ve looked through a number of posts and articles here, and have tried a few suggestions. I’ve jiggled and reinserted my USB cable, and replaced my Makita router’s brushes (they were near their end of life). Those didn’t help, but the error seems to go away when I do an “air test” – running a file with no wood and no dust collection. I also haven’t seen the error if I run a file cutting wood but with no dust collection. (Yuck) Another point that makes me suspect static is that this started happening when I got a new, more powerful shop vacuum.
Some of the above-mentioned posts and articles on this topic are way, way more complicated than I want to deal with – I don’t happen to have a master’s degree in electrical engineering handy.
So my question here is an attempt to cut through that complicatedness. If static is my problem, would it be reasonable for me to purchase an anti-static vacuum hose and connect its conducting element (or whatever) to the ground prong of a grounded plug that’s plugged into the same circuit as my vacuum and my Shapeoko?
Hey Karl, static related disconnects or “EMI” can be a little tricky to work out. If you’re able to, send in an email with a photo of the machine, a wide shot of the machine and the table it’s sitting on, and a photo of the controller with the cover removed to Support@carbide3d.com
If you have a Makita/Dewalt router (specifically Makita and C3D Router) when the brushes get short they ark and cause stoppages. I would start with replacing the brushes in the router. If you have a spindle then the other usual suspects are dust collection hoses need grounded. There are lots of advise here on the forum about static prevention. Look at your router first.
I would start out by getting a good multimeter and use the Ohmmeter function to check the resistance to ground everywhere on the machine including to the vacuum hose and to the router body. The continuity to ground needs to be as close to 0 Ohms as possible to solve this problem including from an antistatic vacuum hose, z-axis assembly, router, etc… It is moderately complicated. This is what I did which has worked well after a lot of frustration.
I had a Makita router on my SO3 XXL and was continuously getting the “Stopped Responding” error a few seconds after the router and vacuum were engaged. I am responding to hopefully save you some time or at least provide some of the unsuccessful troubleshooting steps I took over the course of several weeks to eventually resolve the issue. I verified it was NOT my vacuum by doing the following:
I ran the project with a grounded vacuum hose
Ran the project with the grounding hose attached but vacuum not running
Ran the project without the grounding hose, no vacuum
This confirmed the vacuum was not the problem. So I focused on Router. To troubleshoot this, I did the following:
Raised my zero so the bit never came in contact and never powered on the router > It ran successfully. I let CNC run for a minute, then powered on the router, and the error happened within 3 seconds of the Router running.
This tells me it is something with my router and not my vacuum. So I tried the following:
I replaced the brushes on my router > Stopped Responding Error
I ran a grounding wire, grounding my X, Y and Z axis > Stopped Responding Error
I ran a grounding wire directly to the router mount > Stopped Responding Error
I ran all electrical except the router power cord through copper braided shielding sleeve (Amazon.com) > Stopped Responding Error
I completely removed the router from the router mount, so it was not in contact with the Shapeoko at all, and held it in my hands while CNC was running > Ran successfully
I wrapped my router with electrical tape, so it did not come in contact with the router mount > Stopped Responding Error
I had a time-sensitive project that I was very behind on, so I replaced the Makita router with Carbide Compact router, and would you believe…it resolved the issue. This was 10 months ago, and I have run many projects through the system and have not seen the “Stopped Responding Error” since. The Collet assembly on the CC Router is not as nice as the Makita, but it does perform as it should…without error.
The problem has gone away for the time being. Maybe because in the Shapeoko control panel I moved the power cable away from the USB cable (they were cheek-by-jowl), or maybe because I’ve been cutting cherry rather than walnut, or because the relative humidity changed, or because of the phase of the moon (jk).
Meanwhile I’ve got an antistatic vacuum hose on order, and there are lot of good suggestions here for me to look into if the issue comes back.