Hello all,
Apologies if this is a noob question but I’ve had my machine for about 9 months and recently starting experience issues along the X-axis. When I try to home the machine, it gets hung up while moving left/right and is unable to home. I have tried cleaning and re-tensioning the belt - the belt does not appear to be overly worn (to my eye). I’ve also taken the stepper motor off and examined it per one of the office hour videos and it appears to be functioning normally.
Any advice/tips on what to try next? Perhaps I need to replace the stepper motor gear or the X-axis belt? I am able to get the machine to move if I very gently nudge it while it gets hung up but then it inevitably gets hung up again a few inches later.
Check that the pulley is properly fastened to the motor shaft
Check the wiring, especially at the connectors. Check for loose wires or loose pins, any signs of corrosion, or signs of overheating (discoloration of the plastic). During initialization, try manipulating each connector and see if it works better if you hold it ‘just so’.
As bad as the issue is be sure to separate all the connectors associated with that motor and check the tips of the pins for burning. Any electrical arc will cause the ends of the pins to burn and ball up sometimes and the connector will never go together properly any more it will need to be replaced. This is usually caused by a pushed out pin.
Were you able to find the solution? I just ran into the same issue tonight. Have had my Pro XXL for a year. I have oiled my linear rails, checked belt tension, checked the stepper motor, unplugged the machine multiple times, unplugged the x axis motor connectors multiple times. I’ve got it to run a few times smooth to the point I decide to try a project and a few cuts in, x axis starts skipping again.
lost steps due to dull tool, wrong tool, wrong feeds/speeds, material (all bets are off if encountering a knot in pine for instance)
insufficient belt tension
damaged belt
loose pulley set screw
wiring fault
loose pulley/loose/missing set screw
linear rails binding due to insufficient oil (possibly internally) or because they are packed w/ debris
mechanical interference
failing stepper driver (usually caused by a wiring fault)
Please let us know about your difficulty at support@carbide3d.com and we will do our best to assist you in puzzling out the specifics of your machine difficulty.
