Ran into a lot of disconnects while running around New Year’s. I replaced the brushes on the router and began running the router on a separate outlet. Seemed like it worked a bit better, but still disconnects. Finally got some time back in the shop to try to fix the issue.
Fired up the Pro XXL and connected my laptop exactly like it had been connected before. Machine disconnected constantly. I was not running the spindle (Makita), nor was the dust collection on. Just after intiatizing the machine, it would disconnect with nothing else happening.
So I replaced the laptop with a fanless mini PC. I replaced the USB cord with a new one with ferrites. Fired it up the first time and I couldn’t even keep it connected long enough to initialize.
All the threads on disconnects I see involve static from the dust collection or power issues cause by the router. My machine is disconnecting with neither of these even powered on. Is this still a power cleanliness issue, or is this a blown USB port on the machine? Help, please!
Agreed status is not the issue since it happens when no work is being done and neither router nor dust collection is on.
Doubtful on USB cable or computer port issue since I replaced the cable and the computer and still see it.
Not sure how I would check the quality of the USB port on the Shapeoko board other than looking to see if it wobbles?
I guess I’ll have to keep working though potential power issues. I know there’s no heavy load on the circuit, but the PC and the Shapeoko are on the same circuit, along with shop lights and a network router. I’ll run an extension cord from the house to test.
Would a power conditioner potentially help? I’m not sure of the source of the problem, so I’m not sure of what would help. Is this a condition potentially cause by bad/shaky power to the Shapeoko?
Yes, the quality of the incoming power is a possibility — we had one instance where we replaced pretty much everything until the customer came home one day to find the power company replacing a transformer on a pole near their home – apparently it had been failing for a while, and the power co. diagnosed it by folks in that neighborhood complaining that compact flourescent bulbs were failing prematurely.
My original SO3 controller had a flaky usb connector. I put a sticky back wire tie holder on and wire tied the usb cable to keep any strain off of it. That worked. eventually I replaced the controller with a new one because I added the BitRunner.
As stated the most likely culprit is static. what is your climate like. Folks that live in the dessert areas with low humidity can get static anytime. If you live at the beach it is hard to raise a spark. So if your local humidity is low you can still get static. I have ha two HP lap tops that the battery lasts for hours and I never hook up the laptop power supply. That helps isolate the grounded laptop from discharging static.
The power supply is usually binary — if when plugged in it lights up promptly and stays steadily lit it’s good — let us know about this at support@carbide3d.com and we’ll do our best to look into this with you.
Went back out with a real Tripp Lite power conditioner, an EMI/RFI filtering outlet adapter, and an extension cord from the house hoping to get down to some real troubleshooting. Turned the CNC and PC back on exactly as it was yesterday, and I cannot recreate the problem. Of course. Yesterday, the CNC wouldn’t stay connected longer than 3 seconds, and now it seems stable even when cycling dust collection and router on and off on the same circuit.
I’m ruling out static as a cause because the connection issues happen even when nothing that would create static is running, i.e. I get connection problems even when only PC and CNC are powered.
I jiggled the USB-B on the control board a bit to see if that would create problems, indicating a bad solder to the board. No issues, so I think that is likely not the culprit.
I’ll keep the power conditioning units and wait for the problem to happen again, so I can test them out. Hopefully I can prove them useful rather than just a waste of money.
Perhaps there is something else in the house that, when running, is putting out EMI? Even if everything is on separate circuits, everything does come together at the electrical panel.
Is your laptop plugged in? I had some disconnection issues when the battery would get low. Apparently it cut power to the usb in power save mode. I plugged in the laptop and the issues stopped immediately.
@shapeokonoob No longer using a laptop. When I was using a laptop, it was always plugged in and set to always on. Now that I’m running off a mini-PC, it is still disconnecting, so not related to powering USB ports.
@MarkE , which connector was bad on yours? Power into the control board? USB into the control board? Others? My issues start immediately after turning the unit on, so nothing has time to get hot to check. That said, I’m interested in your thoughts since I was getting a lot of disconnects when it was hot outside (80 F) and then could not reproduce the issue the next day when it was cooler (60 F).
@mhotchin , that’s why I was hoping to reproduce the disconnects and then work through different circuits to find the problem. If small surges and dips in power are a known problem, I might just run the rig off the power conditioner I bought for the purpose (https://tripplite.eaton.com/1200w-120v-power-conditioner-automatic-voltage-regulation-avr-ac-surge-protection-4-outlets~LC1200). It’s an expensive fix if it isn’t necessary, but if I can’t consistently reproduce the problem, I’m not sure what other options I have other than throwing the kitchen sink at the problem.
It was the first connector off the Z motor. It got fairly warm very quickly. Took me forever before we accidentally found it. Tried everything. It’s been working perfectly for months since.
@MarkE thanks for the info. Mine is disconnecting even before the machine is initialized, much less moving. Not sure how the disconnects happen, but I’m thinking bad connections to motor controllers would require signal being sent to the motors to cause PC/CNC disconnects. Am I thinking about that correctly in your opinion?
As soon as the power is on, power is being sent to the motors. This ‘locks’ them in place. It’s possible that a bad motor connection could be causing arcing, which causes bad EMI.
Look for connectors that are discolored (from heat), or feel them to see if any get hot.
Another thought, when you get the disconnect can you move the X of Y axis by hand? That would indicate a disconnect thru loss of power to the control board.
@RedHand I had similar issues and went down a similar path. I engaged support, and they offered some ideas on how to proceed. Based on a previous thread, I switched to gSender and have not seen a disconnect for several weeks.
Have you tried something other than Carbide Motion? It might be worth loading something else up to see if the disconnects happen as rapidly. If they do, at least you’ve likely ruled software out as an issue.