My startup experience

7

Here’s something I just noticed … the brain seems to be powered by the USB, so it continues communicating with Carbide Motion even when the power switch is off. So you can switch the unit off, move the table manually, for example to vacuum under it, then switch power back on and continue. The only time it would mess things up is if you are doing that in move cutter mode after it has done the homing and tool measuring process.

I was hoping I would be able to move the table and spindle manually to get it closer to “zero” before jogging to absolute zero with the software, but it cannot be done. I wish there were a function to move the cutter to an arbitrary location or position near the previous zero. A lot of time is wasted each time moving the table and spindle back from the rest positions.

8

Hmm this is something i hadn’t noticed before but my x-axis motor hums and vibrates when it’s idle, i.e. powered up but before any actions in Carbide motion. Is this normal?

9

I think I have the data to fix this “Machine Parameters Invalid” error but before I do, it would be great to get your input. Can you do the following:

  1. Start Carbide Motion
  2. Press “L” to open a log window.
  3. Run until you get the error
  4. Send me the contents of the log window. (rob@ our domain name)

I’ll get a new Carbide Motion released to eliminate this.

-Rob

10

We’ve got more features to add for zeroing the machine, the current code is just the minimum required.

We had a bunch more before release but it got too complicated and we didn’t want to overdo it for the first release. If you have any requests, I’d love to hear them. I can’t guarantee that all will be implemented but we’ll try to find a way to make all of the common cases easier.

Regarding motor noise, some hum or whistle is normal but it shouldn’t be much louder than the cooling fan.

-Rob

11

Well thats great! I am at work in new zealand Last Day wohoo! but ill try send the logs this afternoon/evening nzdst. Thanks for looking at this so quickly.

12

I have developed quite a few more noises. not sure if it’s just because I moved the unit to a new desk but I notice more harmonics and a definitely new noise when moving on the x-axis. almost like a scrape sound. i will try to get audio and video.

13

Extras pack for the inner circle supporters. Whole bunch of materials including, I believe, renshape, wood, HDPE blocks, aluminum plates, a small piece of brass plate, plexi/acrylic squares, a bunch of each of the four standard mills, a bag of fixture wax and a few precut key fobs(?)

Flip jig was not included yet as it is still being made.

14

This is partly a bug report for Rob, but posting publicly in case anyone else runs into the issue, meshcam will have problems importing a STL file generated from a 3d file with a name that starts with a number. Throws a “Too many numbers” defined error.

15

Same error here. I am just trying to home the machine. I click ‘click to begin homing’, and I get the ‘Limit Switch Hit’ feedback. Machine has no reaction to the software.

I too did not receive the double sided tape.

Thanks for posting your experience. I pulled out the emergency switch. Waiting for a 3d print to finish before I restart my machine.

18

I cannot even get the software to move the cutter

Test Waiting…
GRBL_RESET
CarbideMotion 0.9g
<Idle,MPos:0.000,0.000,0.000,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000,Buf:0,RX:0,Ln:0,F:0.>
___________$# ___________
[G54:0.000,0.000,0.000]
[G55:0.000,0.000,0.000]
[G56:0.000,0.000,0.000]
[G57:0.000,0.000,0.000]
[G58:513.000,883.000,-108.560]
[G59:-102.410,-111.220,-127.570]
[G28:0.000,0.000,0.000]
[G30:-220.000,-10.000,-5.000]
[G92:0.000,0.000,0.000]
[TLO:0.000]
[PRB:0.000,0.000,0.000:0]
ok
___________$G ___________
[G0 G54 G17 G21 G90 G94 M0 M5 M9 T0 F0. S0.]
ok
<Idle,MPos:0.000,0.000,0.000,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000,Buf:0,RX:0,Ln:0,F:0.>
___________$h ___________
ok
___________$# ___________
ALARM: Hard/soft limit
GRBL_RESET
[Reset to continue]
CarbideMotion 0.9g
[’$H’|’$X’ to unlock]
___________$X ___________
[Caution: Unlocked]
ok
<Idle,MPos:0.000,0.000,0.000,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000,Buf:0,RX:0,Ln:0,F:0.>
___________$X ___________
ok
___________$# ___________
[G54:0.000,0.000,0.000]
[G55:0.000,0.000,0.000]
[G56:0.000,0.000,0.000]
[G57:0.000,0.000,0.000]
[G58:513.000,883.000,-108.560]
[G59:-102.410,-111.220,-127.570]
[G28:0.000,0.000,0.000]
[G30:-220.000,-10.000,-5.000]
[G92:0.000,0.000,0.000]
[TLO:0.000]
[PRB:0.000,0.000,0.000:0]
ok
___________$G ___________
[G0 G54 G17 G21 G90 G94 M0 M5 M9 T0 F0. S0.]
ok
___________$# ___________
[G54:0.000,0.000,0.000]
[G55:0.000,0.000,0.000]
[G56:0.000,0.000,0.000]
[G57:0.000,0.000,0.000]
[G58:513.000,883.000,-108.560]
[G59:-102.410,-111.220,-127.570]
[G28:0.000,0.000,0.000]
[G30:-220.000,-10.000,-5.000]
[G92:0.000,0.000,0.000]
[TLO:0.000]
[PRB:0.000,0.000,0.000:0]
ok
___________$G ___________
[G0 G54 G17 G21 G90 G94 M0 M5 M9 T0 F0. S0.]
ok
<Idle,MPos:0.000,0.000,0.000,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000,Buf:0,RX:0,Ln:0,F:0.>

19

Just completed my wrench tutorial. I have the same “machine parameters invalid” message as others have mentioned, which seems to stay up the whole time the cut is running. If I try to click it away, the project stops and won’t re-start.

I did have one other error – as I was starting the job the first time, and clicked away the error message, when I tried to re-start the job, the Nomad re-homed, and then tried to probe the tool. But once the X-axis traveled to the start position of the tool probing motion, the Z axis motor just sat and rumbled for several seconds before the machine seemed to give up and gave me another “machine parameters invalid” msg. I got this several times in a row, and eventually had to reboot the Nomad and CarbideMotion to get past it. This time, I just let he job run with the error message showing, and things went well.

One other item, where I’m not sure if I misunderstood the tutorial, or if my machine is a bit off: when I zero’d the Nomad at the front-left corner of the stock (with the outer circumference of the cutter juuust inside the edges of the aluminum), the cutter ran outside the stock (Y+ direction) as it came around the wide part of the wrench. It also ran partly off the X+ end of the stock while cutting the tip of the handle. I fixed this on my second attempt by biasing my “zero” point well inside the edges, but the tutorial doesn’t really mention to watch out for this. Examining the G-Code file shows that it does go into negative dimensions in both axes, so I’m guessing that keeping the cut “inside the lines” is dependent on the operator knowing to bias the zero point.

My cut also didn’t go all the way through the bottom of the aluminum lower layer except at the far X+ end of the cut, even though I set Z 0 with a sheet of paper trapped between the cutter and the top surface + 0.1mm lower just for margin. Guess I’ll have to bias a bit lower in future, although I do wonder why the cut was out of level.

One final though: the cooling fan on my Nomad is really loud – it sounds like the blades are hitting something, like that old thing kids on my block used to do (dating myself here) by attaching a playing card to your bike so the wheel spokes would “rattle” it as the wheel turned. Is this normal? Video here: http://youtu.be/_DpThUO9hEo

20

Is it at the limit in some direction? Perhaps turn off and manually center the table and spindle.

21

The errors you are getting are different from what others are seeing with the machine parameters invalid error. In other cases we can click and it goes away. Note that if you click it too quickly, for example as it is centering for a tool prompt, it pauses the program and you have to click tor resume it.

Zeroing on the bottom left corner worked for me and my wrench was entirely in the piece of stock provided. No bias should be needed. The cut being out of level may be an uneven taping job or even possibly an uneven piece of stock.

22

Regarding the noise: Are you sure it is the fan? Yours is more severe but when I turn the machine on I also get a whirring, sort of grinding noise from the steppers that I initially thought was the fan, but it is not. It almost sounds like a diesel engine idling. Eventually the noise stops, not sure if it’s time or running a program that does it. I just move on and eventually it goes away. Does yours stop eventually?

23

The sound in your video seems like something touching the cooling fan blades. It doesn’t sound normal to me.

There are some small wires that run behind the fan, for example the ones from the E-stop switch. I suggest unplugging the machine then looking through the cooling fan blades with a flashlight, you may be able to see wires that are close enough to touch the fan blades. You might be able to gently push them farther away from the fan with something like a pencil, though I would be very careful as there are circuit boards directly behind the fan as well.

I have had the side covers off my Nomad 883 to fix a small problem, and I did manage to have the limit switch wires touching the fan when I put the cover back on. It made a noise very much like your video. It was easy to resolve by adjusting the wires slightly, but I would not suggest you take the side cover off unless you feel comfortable doing so.

24

What was the small problem?

25

I was getting the “limit switch hit” message on startup and the machine was not moving. Having the USB plugged into a powered computer was enough to run the controller board, light an LED visible through the fan opening from the back, and spin the fan a bit, so I didn’t immediately realize there was no AC power to the unit.

It took me a while to figure out that the Nomad was tripping the ground fault protection on the circuit into which it was plugged. It was a simple thing, the ground and neutral wires were switched at the input to the DC power brick inside the unit. I switched them to the correct positions, and no more problems with the ground fault protection. And no more “limit switch hit” messages.

Anyway, I had pulled off the side panels, top, and back panels as part of finding and fixing this small problem. When I put everything back, the wires from the limit switch were touching the fan slightly and it sounded just like the video posted by SkyeFIre. I pulled the side panel off that contained the limit switch, adjusted the wires so they were not touching the fan, put it back together, and now the fan runs very quietly.

1 Like
26

Thanks. Wow. Thats an odd error to ship with.

27

I’m guessing that many shops do not have ground fault protection either in the electrical outlet or at the breaker panel. This is the kind of thing that might not show up with the unit plugged into a normal outlet and so could be missed in final testing.

I pointed this glitch out to the Carbide3D team and they indicated they would add a check for this to their QA routine.

So I guess my takeaway is that if a Nomad throws the “limit switch hit” message, along with no brief sound from all the stepper motors when switched on, it’s worth checking the power at the outlet to make sure it’s still on.

28

I have the same issue with the CNC not getting all the way through the material. It would be helpful to have something holding the material in place instead of tape. What type of two sided tape do you use? None came with my machine, and I have been experimenting unsuccessfully.

I too experience the “machine parameters invalid” msg, which brought me to your post.

p