The usual suspect is static discharge. Have you done any grounding of dust collection?
The static discharge is common this time of year due to cold temperatures and low humidity. Combine low humidity and moving air and you have a static farm ready to stop your machine in its tracks.
Please write in to support@carbide3d.com and we’ll have you do an “air job”, then if that checks out, send you the 10-step plan.
No I don’t have any additional grounding (i’m assuming you mean something like running a copper wire?). I guess that makes sense, it has been dry here lately. I’ve often thought about doing that but haven’t had a chance to really sit down and find out how to do it. Any tips? Thanks!
-seth
i just tried running my file again but this time with my dust collection turned off…ran non-stop👌🏻
So that kinda leads me to believe that was probably it. Now if i can find out how to ground the dc I’m hoping i’ll be in good shape!
See:
I did this. It cleared most of my issues.
Good Luck
Grounding your Shapeoko - CNC Machines / Shapeoko - Carbide 3D Community Site
What kind of hose are you using for dust collection? You can get special anti-static hoses, but even something like this works well:
It has a steel support wire wound along its length, ground that and there’s very little chance of static buildup in the hose.
Just a quick update before I head off to work. I thought hmmm, after all the use over the last couple years with my machine and especially the nearly hundred hours over the last couple weeks, maybe I should replace the brushes in the router (the carbide3d router included with my purchase). So I did that, and gave everything a good blast of air and some cleaning, and adjusted the tightness of a couple of my v-wheels while I was at it. I then proceeded to initialize and zero xyz with a 1/4" bit. Then I ran my file WITHOUT the bit installed, but with the router running AND my dust collector running. The machine ran successfully through the whole thing without stopping.
So I wonder if it just needed the new brushes and a good dust cleanup. Tomorrow morning I’ll run the file with a new piece of mdf and see how it goes. Stay tuned!
All righty.
So back at it this morning after a new pair of brushes in the router and a good cleaning of everything. Started cutting and it gave me a successful cut 100% and done. I thought, SWEET! So I started the next one…halfway through it stopped again. Ugh!
So now I opened up the control box to see if there was any dust in there. I had it taped off pretty good but there was still some dust that made it in, so I blasted that out and closed it back up. I also mounted a power strip to the back of my cabinet (with a reset button) and plugged the router and the machine into that. Previously I just had an orange 3-outlet adapter on an extension cord. But now this leads me to another question…is the “power strip” different than a “surge protector”?
I’m running the second half of the failed cut now.
I also just watched the following video and I’m trying to pay attention to the part where he’s grounding his machine:
grounding his cnc
Can I do that to the Shapeoko?
Thanks for everybody’s help. I’ll be back with another update soon (and probably more questions as I continue to learn!)
-seth
out of curiosity
As I continue running my cuts I was wondering…is there such thing as an anti-static fabric? I found this static dissipating fabric on Amazon, and I wondered, could I wrap some of this around the dust hose where it connects to my Sweepy dust boot? I figure this is where the static electricity from the dust collector would make it’s entry, why not dissipate it right there? Am I way off?
-seth
Rather than trying to add this feature on after the fact, I think it’s best to purchase a dust hose which has dissipating static as a feature — I’ve been using:
Dual Anti Static Dual Dissipative Semi-Clear PVC Hose
and it works well.
I jumped out to that link and decided to buy that anti-static hose but when I added it to the cart it just showed an empty cart. I ended doing the 30 minute drive down to my closest Rockler last night and got the anti-static hose they sell. Hopefully today I’ll see if that was a worthwhile trip! 
hooked up the anti-static hose and started running my file. Previously I was using my JET dust collector as my vacuum, running a 4" hose adapted down to fit Rockler’s small parts rubber hose, which was great because it was stretchy and flexible and was perfect for my shop setup. But with the new 2-1/2" anti-static hose I decided to run it straight to the shop vac.
First thing I noticed was the insane improvement with sucking the dust up through the Carbide3D Sweepy. And then…about 45 seconds into the cut the Shapeoko stopped again. This was actually the fastest quit yet 
I’m trying a couple other things and then if those don’t work I really don’t know what I’m going to do about this.
Can Carbide Motion just get tired of running the same file over and over? Can Carbide Motion just say “Seth, I’m over this one…give me something new”. 
Started another attempt…still crashed about 8 minutes into the file. I’m at my wit’s end with this!
I looked at our weather here. Humidity is at 15% which I know is dry, but even with the anti-static hose this is still failing. I got about 75% of my whole project done (cutting out 100 mdf 12"x12" tiles) before this all started happening. Now I can’t even get half of a tile cut without the crash. UGH.
Would a humidifier in the shop do anything?
Could it be something external? Compressor on the same circuit?
Please let us know about this at support@carbide3d.com and we’ll do our best to work through this w/ you.
Regarding outlets and where everything has been plugged in, I’m not doing anything very different over the last few days (when it’s been crashing constantly) than I did previously (when everything was running fine) or when I’ve been running other projects over the last couple years. That’s why I’m so confused.
If the problem has arisen after a period of successful usage, then the usual culprit is worn carbon brushes — but you’ve already replace those — maybe try again? Sometimes they have micro-fractures which cause EMI.
Try a different outlet that’s on a different circuit.
My shop warmed up today and I thought maybe the humidity level increased and I actually ran 4 successful jobs in a row. I was like angels sing and then boom…stopped again.
This time however, I noticed the spindle itself had more of a screeching sound as it came to a stop. I turned it back on and it gave a screech as it started. I stopped it…screech…on…screech. I had noticed a little bit of this sound over the last couple weeks but it was minimal and I never really paid much attention to it. The last couple days it has been more noticeable and today it was the loudest and it seemed that the spindle came to a stop quicker, as if it had brakes. I thought changing the brushes the other day would resolve that sound but it didn’t.
So I just opened up the router and was turning the spindle by hand and I could tell there was resistance. It didn’t spin very smoothly, as if there were some friction. So blew it out to get any built up dust out of there, then I squirted some WD40 white lithium grease just above the collet where the spindle spin point is, spun it around by hand for a moment and it definitely became much more smooth spinning. So I reassembled the router and powered it on. No screech turning on or off, nice and smooth sounding…just like new. Then I attempted to run my job again and it ran perfect.
I wouldn’t say I’m out of the woods yet…it coulda just been a fluke. But what are the chances that could’ve been causing the crash problem? Could friction at the spindle cause the machine and/or the software to freeze like that? Again, the router would not stop, just the machine and the software.
Fortunately at this point I now have all my tiles cut and I could just stop now. But I’m still going to run the jobs a few more times and see what kind of luck I have.
-seth
Yes, the added load due to a lack of lubrication could increase EMI.
Let us know about this at support@carbide3d.com — the bearings are supposed to be sealed and not need lubrication.
