I finally got my 5 pro working after a bad controller was sent the first time. The first half of my job went just fine, but after about 40 minutes of cutting, I could hear the spindle was slowing down its rotation speed. The movement of the spindle continued at normal speed. This slowing of the rpms continued until it completely stopped and the bit was just get dragged through the wood and I hit the stop button. Any idea what the problem is now? The spindle is controlled by bitrunner I purchased separately.
I was able to tinker a bit more today and now the spindle won’t turn on at all. It’s obviously defective so I have contacted Carbide to have them send a new one. So many problems… ugh
Yes, the spindle kit that comes from Carbide. Not the VFD. I replaced the brushes in it and it now works again, but considering the brushes wore out after 1 hour of use, I’m afraid the replacements will just do the same. I’m not familiar with how many hours of use the brushes should last, but this can’t be right.
I’m dealing with the same exact issues. They had to send me a new board/controller and the R0700 trim router is a complete pos. It continues to sound as if it’s switching gears and the rpm’s are going up and down to the point to where I have broken 3 different 1/8 inch bits. So I switched it out to the extra router I brought with it. And it’s doing the exact same thing.
Thank you! Very interesting and good information to know, as I have completed about 6 to 7 hours of total run time on the original router (not the VFD) that came with the machine. It’s already making some strange crunchy noises when it shuts down. Haven’t seen any fireworks inside the top end yet, which others have said is a sign of worn brushes.
I’ve read in other forums that users have run their Makita routers 5+ hours per job. One should check the brushes before what you know is going to be a long runs. These hand or palm routers are basically being used “out-of-spec” when they are on a CNC machine. They are designed for temporary hand use.
Keep your cuts manageable, i.e. not too deep per pass and watch step-over rates. I am very new to CNC, but from what I am beginning to understand, it’s a balancing act between material being cut, router speeds, and bit used, all of which define total running time.
Yeah I’m on my 3rd router. First one had lots of hours on it and ran strong for about a year before the bearings went. I bought a replacement and that one only lasted about 2 hours of use before the bearings locked up. (Got a lemon). Contacted Carbide 3D and they sent me a new one right away. This replacement has been going strong (Knock on wood) for 4 months now. Sometimes you get a good one, sometimes you get a bad one. Luck of the draw.
After your comment, I became curious about brush wear. I pulled out the brushes in my router which have about 8 hours of total run time and compared it with a brand new replacement brush. You can see the difference in the photo. The brush on the right is the original and has about .0625" (1/16) of wear on it. At that rate I’m figuring about 40 to 50 hours before the brush gets down to the replacement line marker? Guess I’ll keep a log of run time on my jobs so I can know when to take serious look the brushes.
I got my 5 pro back in November around the Black Friday sells. First issue was the controller was bad. Took almost 2weeks for customer service to actually accept that the board was bad and to replace it. Shipped out another 6 days later got it and installed it. Tried a few test carves and noticed the same thing, router sounded like it was shifting gears. But lucky me I ordered an extra one. Installed the back up one and was doing ok. Then bam broke a bit. So I figured maybe it’s me. Chucked up another one and double checked the file. Every thing looked good, so I restarted and sent it. 5 mins later bam broke this bit. Now this is my extra router, 2nd broken bit, and 2nd piece of corian. But this time the work piece was moved maybe a 1/2 inch if that. ( router stalled out with a 1/4 end mill and pushed it, then snapped) so now I’m like wtf. Maybe I didn’t secure it right. After 5 years of owner a Cnc maybe I screwed up and didn’t secure the piece right, because there’s no way I got 2 baf routers and a bad control board… not from shapeoko… sooo I chucked up yet another 1/4 bit and secured another piece of corian with clamps and glue/tape. And hit start. I watch it get started and then the router starts screaming. But to late cause the bit broke before I could stop it.
So now here it is Jan 11th and I have a brand new shapeoko 5 pro 4x4. That has 2.7 hours of run time, 3 broken bits, 3 messed up corian blanks, 2 pos carbide 3D routers, all the wasted time messing around with this Cnc. And after 15 plus emails back and forth all carbide 3D wants to do is offer to replace the routers with the same pos routers that were bad or refund the routers to me and let me locally source a router. And won’t even next day air them to me.
And I’m just not happy with that… everything that’s wrong here is 100% carbide 3Ds fault. It seems a lot of this has been happening with the
Rushed Black Friday shipments.
Sorry for the long reply. but it’s not like I have anything else to do or a Cnc to play with
Interesting on the rate of wear of the C3D router brushes, I am no expert, however would it not come down to the the quality of the brushes and the quality of the commutator. It is these 2 surfaces that rub together. So is it a soft brush that is wearing quickly, or a not so well finished commutator that is scraping at the brushes. I assume there could be other things like pressure of the spring and the tolerances of the guide. ( how much it can slop around in the guide as it is spinning ). I am lucky that mine is working fine so far. Knock on wood.
Can the C3D router use the Makita replacement brushes as a direct replacement ? Maybe these are better ?
Again I am no expert in this, however I have seen people do a light sanding on the commutator and look for any burrs that might be cutting into the brushes. ???
If you replaced the bearings with a better quality, along with the Makita brushes, they may last longer. By that time, you could have saved a lot of time by just going to the store, and buying a Makita.
I haven’t seen the bare Makita router anywhere. It usually comes with bases and such that are a waste for the CNC user and that drives the price up. I am sure someone sells the bare tool.
When my carbide router quit after a couple of weeks of owning it, I wasn’t going to waste my time waiting for a replacement router from C3d. The two routers are similar enough that even the power cords are interchangeable. Instead of threading the cords back through, I just disconnected it from the carbide, and swapped it with the Makita. Did I void the warranty on the Makita? You bet, but I was back up and running within a few hours, and wasn’t going to waste my time over an 80 dollar router. In my case, it was the bearings that failed. The Makita is still going strong.
No, but if it came with bearings, a rebuild would probably be more reliable then a new one. That’s the other overlooked item when looking for what causes the brushes to wear out to fast, sloppy bearings. If the armature is bouncing around while your cutting, those brushes are bouncing on the commutator also.
It’s been a while, but I seem to recall that the Makita’s speed control maintains rpms better than the carbide.
but it’s not like I have anything else to do or a Cnc to play with 
