Help with setup / homing

Hey everyone,

I have gone through the set up new machine multiple times, I have checked all my wiring and connections and it should all be correct, I have followed the initializing guides that were submitted to me, i’ve tried reaching out to tech support multiple times now, and I am just at a loss - I don’t know what isn’t working. Can someone take a look at this video that I made and give me some tips on how to get my machine up and running? I’ve been staring at it for almost 2 weeks now without being able to use it and I just want to start cutting:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/d0w8efj8y4uiem38rtts3/IMG_3092.MOV?rlkey=emnsprbff3wl6zzh2l4jrhg1r&st=vc9zmpj1&dl=0

Thank you so much to anyone who can give me some guidance in advance.

Start by powering down and slowly/gently moving the machine toward the center on all axes — then power up — are any homing switches still light?

Repeat the Setup Wizard — when you get to the screen w/ the homing switches they should all be off — are they? If they aren’t, verify which one is signaling, if they are all off, test each one and make sure that each signals as the correct input.

At that point you should be able to initialize — if not, see:

https://my.carbide3d.com/docs/troubleshooting-homing/#bypassing-homing-switches

which will allow bypassing initialization — test the machine movement — does each axis move in the correct direction?

If not, let us know which and we will check things based on what you find out.

Not sure how much help I can be, but I had a similar problem a couple of years ago when I first set my pro xxl up. Of course, there was no CM635 in those days. Your error says that the machine cannot move off of the initial position. I would turn that machine off and manually lower the z and move both the x and y. Then try again. Does the machine move correctly? My problem was reversed wiring and it would crash into the right rail and upper z, even though everything appeared to check correctly (the lights all turned on). It was noisy and nasty. Those connectors look identical so you have to pay close attention to the labels. REALLY close attention. Good Luck.

Hey Will and Charles,

I paid extremely close attention to the X, Y, YR, YL and Z labels when attaching everything and even went over all of them over video call with a friend who has the same machine and he is cutting on a regular basis and all my connections were correct.

I did what you said will and moved everything to the center axis for all positions and tried the setup again. Here is the result:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/26br3tqyblypha9e1xqu7/IMG_3098.MOV?rlkey=20hq65aq5iokc98f9mpgz10u4&st=ecet9zib&dl=0

I appreciate you all trying to help me more than you know!

Thanks

Update: We have movement on X/Y but not Z:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/sc089hqzefo28iriooug0/IMG_3099.MOV?rlkey=q6916j71276a43ywjev248m8u&st=pnqq5cg1&dl=0

Let me know what you guys think.

Again all help is appreciated!

It sounds like it is trying to move in Z. Can you tell if the stepper is actually spinning?

X and Y should not just stop in the center. Did it initialize in the back right corner or is that part of your earlier problem?

Yeah that was part of my earlier problem, thats why Will told me to put everything in the center. I can’t see any movement with Z though I can hear it trying to do something as well.

Is the stepper motor spinning? If so maybe the screw drive is not engaged properly? Not really sure how that goes together. If you put your hand on that top motor does it feel like it is going?

Correct. The origin is set where the machine starts up when bypassing homing.

If the X and Y axes move as expected, and the Z-axis will try to move when initializing, that confirms all the motors are plugged in correctly.

Things to check:

  • is each homing switch signaling as the correct axis
  • did the correct Z-axis setting get sent — it’s strange to me that it tried moving the Z-axis when initializing, but won’t when jogging w/ homing bypassed

Try this — while powered up and connected, go to Settings and enable the MDI, then measure the Z-axis position and then go to the MDI and send:

G1 Z25 F25

That should try moving the Z-axis up 25mm at a speed of 25mm/minute — is it then able to move the Z-axis? How much does it move it?

Ok so here is a video of the homing switches and the corresponding lights on the board:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/w5w1po6grcpoexaizmv0f/IMG_3104.mov?rlkey=vqnh06guw3cmvis72dna25gsi&st=5l88bd81&dl=0

And here is my attempt at putting in the G1 Z25 F25 code:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/2gupzvuwbng3fvg2o54tg/IMG_3102.MOV?rlkey=ya65z292mtlw74jubqtkfsim6&st=7fbprghl&dl=0

Let me know what you think.

Thanks!

Check in with the folks at support — not sure if the problem is a damaged stepper driver chip on the controller, or something mechanically wrong w/ a the Z-axis.

Hey Will,

Thanks a bunch! I have tried reaching out to tech support a few times now. Would love to be connected to walk through this.

Thanks for all your help regardless.