Can't get power/signal out of the Y2 terminals on the X-Controller

After a pretty inaccurate test carve I noticed my Y2 stepper motor was not working. It was more or less being pulled along by the Y1 stepper. To make sure the stepper itself wasn’t bad I switched the Y2 wiring over to the Y1 terminals and tested. Sure enough the Y2 stepper fired right up and the Y1 got nothing. So now I know my problem is somewhere inside the X-Controller. I’ve checked all my connections inside the box 3 times and nothing changes. Has anybody else out there had a problem with just one side of their Y axsis?

Are you sure it’s not the wires?

When I plug the wires of the non functioning stepper into the other Y terminal on the x-controller the once dead stepper then works. Also, when I turn the power switch on I can feel both Y stepper motors move slightly, so I know some measure of current is being sent initially. When I manually jog the Y axis, Y2 is not admitting any stepper “whiring” noise and is noticeably being pulled along by the working Y stepper.

Ok then it sounds like it’s either a bad terminal on the X-Controller or a bad stepper driver on the controller itself.

Please contact Inventables Customer Success. They will work with you to figure out a solution.

https://inventables.desk.com/customer/portal/emails/new

Thanks Zach!

You could also try doing 2 into one port like we used to do on the gshield if you want to use the machine in the meantime. Remember the wires need to be opposite because the Y motors drive in the opposite direction.

I thought about trying that but didn’t want to risk breaking anything. I’ll give that a shot.

That won’t break anything. You’ve got more power per stepper than the gshield had.

Just made the switch, it works like a champ now! Awesome! Is there any noticeable downside to running the machine like this long term?

You’re getting less power to the Y-axis. You wouldn’t notice when cutting foam but if you were carving a harder material like aluminum you might notice that you couldn’t go as deep or as fast without skipping steps.

Each stepper driver on the X-Controller puts out 4amps. So you are only getting a max of 2 on each Y stepper motor. To give you perspective on the gshield those steppers only put out 1.5amps so people are only getting a max of .75amps on the Y and they are still able to carve aluminum.

So it’s kind of like the original electronics were a V-4 engine. You are running with a V-6 but you could be running with a V-8.

It’s not a perfect analogy but you get the idea.

Great! At least I can make some cuts today. I’ve sent an email to customer support in the meantime.

I’m very impressed that the owner of Inventables took the time to answer my question! Thanks again.

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