I have Shapeoko 4. I had a intermittent issue with the left side axis sticking and grinding. I attempted to troubleshoot with help but it would not reproduce. Now it is full on causing issues in cuts. I have attempted:
-Remove tracking and put back on
-Watched each upper wheel and none appear stuck
-Examined set screws on two wheels underneath, both are in 12:00 position like on right side
I am stuck, any help? I have a video but I cannot upload the video file on here.
First, all the wiring is in good condition and all connectors secure?
Eccentric nuts and V-wheels properly adjusted and in-line w/ the V-rails?
Belts properly tensioned and in good condition?
If everything checks out mechanically, power down, remove both Y-axis belts, put a bit of tape on the pulleys as well as making a “witness mark” across the ends of the pulleys and the shafts, then power up, connect to the machine and initialize — it should home the Z-axis as normal and then try moving the X-axis (which should also home normall) and the Y-axis — the Y-axis should turn until it times out — do the two motors turn evenly and in synch?
Power down and reinstall the belts flipped end-for-end and side-for-side.
Going to try this now. So once the belts are removed where exactly are you suggesting the tape? On the silver pulley wheels like on the face just to track rotations or can you describe that a little bit, and the witness mark?
The tape goes on the ends of the pulleys so that you can more easily see their rotation.
Similarly, the witness mark is scribed/drawn across the ends of the pulleys and the motor shaft so that you can see if one shifts from the other, something like:
Guess I didn’t need tape, removed belts and tried homing. Right one spins nicely - the left side - just doesn’t. It just vibrates and doesnt spin at all. Should prob send a message to service I suppose. Im guessing that means the motor is bad?
A bad motor is less likely than bad wiring. If you have one wire not connected in the wiring harness, that will drop one of the two phases, and vibrating is what you would see.
Check each connector leading to the motor. Look for loose wires, loose pins, corrosion, or signs of arcing or over-heating.
Also, while it is trying to initialize, wiggle each connector - if it suddenly starts spinning, focus there.
Probably not the motor, either the stepper driver chip on the controller or the wiring.
You can check for the wiring by powering down and swapping the two Y-axis motors at the connector then repeating this — if the problem switches sides it’s the stepper driver chip, if it stays on the same motor, it’s either the motor or the wiring (but it’s almost never the motor)
Thank you gentleman-
Based on this I unplugged and replugged in all wiring. Also addressed some wire straightening in the back. Fired it back up and it appears to be engaging as normal. Guess I have to do another test cut to ensure it doesn’t happen again mid cut like it was. Thanks for all your help
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