Hello Community, I am looking for some feedback on the S3XXL Initialization process to help with troubleshooting why mine won’t complete initialization. A flow chart of the process would be very helpful in my troubleshooting.
Problem: S3XXL with a new control board fails to initialize (same issue that drove purchasing and replacing board in 1st place)
Environment: Carbide Motion Build 630 for RPI, belt driven Z. Neither CM or RPI OS have had any updates recently…same configuration that was working…until it wasn’t.
Upon replacement of controller, S3XXL powered on and allowed completing 1 CM configuration, download and bitsetter configuration. After a power cycle of S3XXL unable to initialize, unable to connect to configure. Message: “The machine controller did not respond. Please make sure your machine is powered on.” Control board is showing Blue Led, along with a flashing Red and White LED. Standard USB cable between RPI and Controller, I have even attempted a powered USB hub.
I have also sent an email back to Carbide Support on Saturday.
Any assistance, recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
David
What specifically fails? The initialization process starts with the Z going to the homing switch. If that is sucessful then the gantry starts for the back right corner. If those pass, depending on CM the router comes to the front if you have a BitSetter or just sits in the homing position with out a BitSetter or it turned off.
So where are you failing. To make sure you dont have any mechanical issues power off the shapeoko. Move SLOWLY the gantry side to side several times and front to back. The gantry should move smoothly. If you find any rough spots address that. If you move too fast the stepper motors create an EMF back force and it sounds like the belts slipping.
On each end of the gantry lift up on the gantry and there should be no movement. If there is adjust your v-wheels. Same for the Z axis. Adjust the v-wheels is there is movement up and down.
The Belt Z is driven by a belt. Move your Z up and down slowly and it should move smoothly. The belt is the aciles heel of the belt Z and if you need to adjust the belt it is easier to remove the Z to adjust it. Just remove the bottom two v-wheels and you can take the Z off. I would recomend removing the router first because it adds a lot of weight. To put it back on just put the top v-wheels on and reinstall your v-wheels. To adjust the v-wheels use an allen wrench to tighten the bolt slightly. Use a wrench to turn the eccentric to get the v-wheel snug (not over tightened) and hold the wrench in place and tighten up the allen bolt. If you dont hold the eccentric with the wrench it tends to tighten with the torque of the allen bolt and you will bee too tight. The lower v-wheels consist of 3 parts. The v-wheel, a small washer between the v-wheel and the frame and the allen bolt. Make sure the washer is in place or the v-wheel will bind up on the frame.
With S3 powered off:
No issue moving Z up or down
No issue moving X left or right
No issue moving Y forward or backward
Unable to lift either side of the gantry (ie no
Before powering S3 on, moved to gantry to middle of wasteboard, moved router to middle of gantry, and moved router to bottom of Z axis
When powering on the S3, I get a slight movement of router to the right. That is all the movement. Solid blue light on controller.
Open CM, get normal opening screen saying “Not Connected” in bold letters across the top.
Click on “Connect to Cutter”, hear a slight “click” coming from router location / Z axis, and get message “The Machine controller did not respond. Please make sure your machine is powered on.” Now see White and Red LEDs flashing on controller.
As you can see I never get to “initiate” a CM Initialize machine…just to make sure I’m not misleading when I say it’s failing initialization.
Based on gdon feedback, I am going to go through Z axis wiring and make sure I’ve not got a loose connection anywhere…any other thoughts or suggestions / directions? Thanks for feedback
Just following up / more information…I do have a Z Plus sitting in the box that I ordered same time as new controller board…but didn’t want to accomplish upgrade until S3 was working as it should…in an effort not to change too many things at once. Thoughts on just go ahead get the new Z in place and elminate the Z belts ect as a potential for issue…
Have you tried installing CM on another computer and plugging into that?
If you’re getting “controller did not respond” that sounds like either the controller or the host PC has a problem.
I might check -
- Another PSU for the RPi
- Another computer with CM installed (to eliminate the USB hardware of the RPi)
- Check voltage on the Shapeoko board power rails to see if the SO3 PSU is dying
Thanks. I will get CM loaded on a MacBook tomorrow. Controller was replaced yesterday.
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