ok,
Same problem machine disconnects during job. Here’s what I’ve done…
ran new outlets into shop from electrical box.
followed grounding procedure as mentioned in this forum, even the dust collection hose and the dust collector. tested ground on every point that I could. all grounded.
Installed ferrite cores on just about every cable on the machine.
separated the power cord from router to hanging on the wall.
bought emi protected surge protector.
a powered USB hub
a USB Isolator
even tried a new computer, actually a tablet by Fushion5 just running carbide motion.
all things suggested by customer support.
Still getting the disconnect.
At this point this is a huge expensive paper weight.
am at a loss , could use some help
I feel bad for the frustration you must be feeling, these issues are quite frustrating.
It certainly appears you have grounded just about everything so perhaps static/EMI is not the source of the disconnects. The last thing I might add to that though would be the router brushes. I use the Dewalt 611 and the stock brushes were terrible and the sparked like crazy and I suffered from disconnects. Replaced them and I have not had an issue in a few years now.
I agree with Phillip above and replace the USB cable if you have not done so. There are good and bad USB cables out there and keep it as short as possible.
Are you sure that the electrical supply is good? Are the new outlets on dedicated circuit(s)?
Are you having any other electrical issues? (One customer was finding that compact flourescent bulbs weren’t lasting long — turned out that the nearest transformer was going bad and the problem was addressed when the electric co. replaced that unit)
Your ticket is still open and has been escalated — we’ll work out what to try next and do our best to work through this w/ you.
Perhaps consider vibration as a possible cause of disconnections?
I’m not sure what machine you have, but if relevant, maybe detach the controller box from the machine and also ensure the (often flimsy and easily loosened) USB-B connector cannot move at all.
He had a new electrical line installed (when he started getting disconnects) JUST for the Shapeoko, no help. So yes. (And no other electrical issues in the shop) He’s my neighbor…(and I’m responsible for him buying the machine…feeling a little down now…sigh)
2 Likes
Griff
(Well crap, my hypometric precursor device is blown…)
7
Wonder what would happen if you installed it in your shop?
I read all the electrical work he’s done so this probably isn’t relevant but…I was suffering very intermittent disconnects on my HDM. Turned out the ground wire in the outlet I was using was not connected.
Backstory: I installed and set the machine…ran great…decided to NOT install the bitsetter…cause I wanted him to learn the basics first…which he did…then he felt he was ready to go to the next level and he installed the bitsetter and bitzero…BAM…disconnects since…I blamed the 4% humidity at first (Because at 7 years after install, THAT is the only reason I get a disconnect…but we are now in high humidity and they are still a problem) I had him run a clean line into the shop since…still happening… and the rest is as he states above. Yeah…
Obvious question, but have tried removing the bitsetter? That shouldn’t have an impact, but If it started right after that was installed, it is the obvious suspect.
Another option is using a laptop running off of battery to see if that has any impact.
If I became absolutely desperate, I would change the firmware’s baudrate to something lower (probably try 38400). This would not be a supported change, and I don’t believe Motion would work, but I know individuals have had success. Grbl default used to be 9600.
Just sent one in. Haven’t sent one because most issues I’ve had have been resolved by researching this forum. However, any suggestions will b appreciated.
I had this issue few years ago and swore it was static from dust collector but it was grounding the router frame separately to a ground that fixed it for me. Never had issue since. Hope you find issue. FYI I use probe ground as the ground let me see if I can find a picture of it…
I’m not familiar and curious about the problem… when you say disconnects, do you mean from power or from Gcode and the machine stops ? Only problem I’ve had was the screen saver came on and stalled in the middle of an operation, before I knew how to reset and continue, and lost the job.
Im talking to customer support they might have a solution. And I also want to have Rich look at the machine next week before I make another post.
So far what I discovered is that the BitZero or the board that it plugs into is bad yes the bitzero works, sets zero then I would run a job and got the disconnect however when I unplugged it from the machine and ran an “air job” with no disconnects. And what I mean by that, the machine isn’t seen by the computer just stops mid job, then I have to reinitialize the machine and start over.
customer service will get back to me, hopefully Rich will take a look and confirm what I’m thinking too.
I had an issue with the computer (laptop) going to sleep and interrupting communication between the software and my engraver. Had to plug in the laptop and set the sleep timer to never. Seems to have resolved my issues.
No spindle/router? No load? No dust collection? All bets are off. You’ve eliminated most of the source of EMI there, but the machine won’t be much fun.
The most significant improvement I saw with mitigating disconnects was to get the ac power for the router away from the USB cable.
