I have. new Shapeoko 4 standard. The first thing I did on the unit was to run “Hello World” and it ran very well. I ran it two or three times but on the last run, the gantry suddenly made a loud noise and the machine disconnected from the PC and stopped. I tried the the program to initialize the machine on restart, but as the gantry moves to the rear, it makes a lot of noise and then kicks out.
This machine is brand new ad this was the first thing that I did with it. Has anyone had similar issues. I am sure it is not a serious thing, but I m not eager to keep trying to run the machine in this condition.
The Pirate
Since this is an SO4 check the pulley set screws on the stepper motors. There should be a grub screw on the flat of each motor. If the set screw is on a flat use a magic marker and put a mark across the pulley and stepper motor. This will help identify in the future if a pulley is loose. The marks should always be aligned with the witness marks if working normally.
Since you had some sucess it is likely something that has worked loose. Check your v-wheels and belt tensions. Also inspect the motor wiring harness and pull on both sides of each wire to make sure it has a good and secure connections.
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The things to check:
- motor wiring and connectors — usually faults are accompanied by awful noises
- mechanical aspects — nothing catching/dragging?
- pulley set screws
- belt tension
- Delrin V wheels/eccentric nuts
Let us know what you find out at support@carbide3d.com and we will do our best to assist.
This for both gdon_2003 and WillAdams. Hi, Thank you for your suggestions. I marked the shaft and the pulley on both y axis stepper motors. So far I have not seen any slippage. I checked the wheels top and bottom of the gantry and the top and bottom of the side rails of the cnc. All the wheels are turning and all of them are on the rails they should be on, and there is no play in them. The belt tension seems to be fine. It has been that way since I first started jogging the machine, etc. The eccentric nuts on the Delrin V are solid and tight. Today, I removed the zap straps hat I had applied to some of the wiring at the right end of the gantry and some others. Every mow ad then I would come back to Carbide Motion and initialized the machine again. A couple times, when I jogged it on rapid moves, the gantry ran from front to rear with no noise at all above normal, but on the next try, it would kickout again.
At one point, I was moving some of the wires at the right end of the gantry checking for damaged wires etc. The CNC was on and connected to the PC. As I had my head inside the enclosure, I could hear a humming sound that would increase and decrease as I moved the wires between the two drag chains that meet there. (At the right end of the gantry.). I have not identified any place where there is something dragging, etc. These two drag chains are the two that came to me with the wires already in place. At this point I am open to any suggestions that either of you two gentlemen can give me.
Again thank you.
The Pirate
Do you or a friend have a mutltimeter? Can you check for continuity?
If you power up the machine and wait for 10 or 15 minutes or so and check each wiring connector are any overly warm?
Replacement parts at:
Hey Will, Thanks for your suggestions, I have a meter and will check for continuity or lack thereof. Do you have a procedure for this? There are a lot of wires. Please expand your suggestion. Thank you
The Pirate
The big thing when checking for continuity is to do it through the full range of the machine motion.
Hi
I did not find any hot or warm wires, however, I did find the connector that was causing the sound in the enclosure when I moved it, as I explained before. I opened the connector and found the voltage on 2 of the four pins. One of the pins is pushed back into the connector in the male side of the connector. I was not able to reconnect it, because one of the pins does not line with the female side. I tried to straighten it out but now I can’t close the connector. It is marked “Y-R”. I am not convinced that it has been the problem or is it just a new that I caused. That connector was doing something before, but??? I will try to get some of those connectors replace the side that is faulty. I am very frustrated since it ran so well the many times that I initiated it before and when I did the Hello World thing. I amopen to any suggestions.
Thank you Don ThePirate
Hi again-I forgot about this one: Yesterday, when the machine kicked out again as I was initializing it, I got the following alarm: **“GRBL Alarms:Homing fail.Cycle failed to clear the limit switch when pulling off.”**This is the limit switch on the right side of the machine, that is activated by plastic knob on the gantry support right behind the controller box. This might be useful for you to know.
Thanks again.
Don
Work with the folks at support to determine if there are faulty parts and make arrangements to get them replaced.
Since this is an SO4 unplug your machine and manually move the gantry back and forth to the full limits both front to back and side to side. It should be relatively easy to move. If you move the gantry too fast there is back force generated by the stepper motors and you hear what sounds like the belts slipping. The SO4 came with the Z-plus or you could have upgraded to the HDZ. That is not as easy to move but you can turn the lead screw and/or ball screw to move the Z from top to bottom. If you find any binding fix that before moving on. Most problems with belt machines are mechanical in nature. If it is electronic then start swapping stepper motors around. If the problem stays with the stepper motor you know that. If the problem stays in the position you know it is wiring and/or controller. Yes it is a pain but it is already a pain in the current condition.
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