I’m getting close to being able to say my XC is working but there are still a couple of issues. When I turn on my Dust Collector it causes my WIFI to drop out. The weird thing is that it does not happen every time; it’s intermittent. I thought it might be the remote control for the DC that was causing it so I tried turning the DC on manually and it happens that way too. If I unplug the DC and try the remote without the DC turning on it will also happen. When it happens I sometimes have to unplug the USB cable from the X-Controller and plug it back in to get the WIFI running again and sometimes it will just reconnect on its own. Very weird!!
Anyone have any experience with this or know how to prevent it from happening? Any help will be most appreciated.
Thanks,
…Gord
How close are they? Are they on the same circuit? Try a different wifi channel.
Thanks Phil & David. I will check out the electrical circuit tomorrow and see what that leads to.
The motor in the dust collector should not produce that much RF. If it does then its a bad design. I have not had any issues even with large industrial motors. Could be the line its on just as Phil and David were suggesting.You can put it on a seperate circuit or use isolation for your electronics.
Thanks for the input, Stephen. I will look at it later today and post my findings in case someone else has the same problem.
I moved the plug not just to a different circuit but to a circuit that is on the other phase. It still does the same thing. The only remedy I have come up with so far is to turn on the dust collector before plugging in the USB cable. That seems to work although it is a PITA. If anyone has a suggestion that might cure this problem it will be most appreciated!!!
What dust collection do you have?
put a ground wire on your hose
How far are you from your wifi router? Is it to far for you to run a drop cable of Cat5? If not I would recommend just running the wired network cable. It is odd to me as well that a motor would cause such an issue. I know in my house I have dead spots but that is generally due to thick walls and stucko walls. If running a drop cable is not an option it might be worth while to simply install a wifi extender (About $50) Put this midway between your shop and the router to boost your signal. Guessing where you are at might have poor signal strength to start. Good luck
David, it’s a 3 HP dust collector made by Magnum International which is a house brand of KMS Tools in Canada. I believe it’s a copy of DCs made by General International.
Thanks for the reply, Shane. I believe everything is already very well grounded. It happens even when I don’t have the hose run to the Suckit Dust Boot.
Hi Benjamin. The wifi router is in the room directly above the shop so distance should not be a factor. I may pick up an extender just to see if it makes a difference. Thanks for the suggestion.
A mi-11400 220v 12a, really to you have a full workshop?
You don’t want your wifi within 20-30 feet. You can try different channels in your wifi settings.
My passions are woodturning & general woodworking so I create a lot of dust and shavings. A powerful dust collector is important.
Yes, my workshop is pretty complete. I need a good DC. I may have to use Benjamin’s suggestion and drag a cable down to the laptop. That will have to wait for awhile; too many other things on the list.
Yeah if you are directly below you shouldn’t have much of an issue. If you have an android smart phone or tablet you can download a wifi analyzer. This might shed some light into what is going on. if you can go this route look for other people using the same channel and/or how strong of a signal you have. I am guessing a simple drop line down a wall would be the best and most stable solution for you. Really as Philjohnson said 50ft cat5 is rather cheap. (Great place to source it is www.monoprice.com. No I don’t work for them but I have purchase many of things from them and was very happy with the products)
With all that said I would recommend running a cable over an extender at this stage. Really you will spend less and have a better, more stable connection that won’t be as problematic. Just remember when running Cat5 cable don’t run it close to a florescent light as the ballast can cause you some interference even with a wire. (That actually does bring up an additional question. Do you have florescent lights between you and the router? If so the pulse from the motor turning on could cause possibly cause a spike in the ballasts that could cut a wifi signal. Ballasts can kick out some serious RF from what I understand)
As a matter of fact there is fluorescent light right above my work area. I will try working without it tomorrow to see if that makes any difference. Thanks for mentioning it.
Are you sure that you wifi is dropping out ? Is it because the “carve” button is not green ? Unplugging the USB and plugging back in again is a symptom of USB connections, not wifi. I’ve noticed on the newer version of Easel local, I sometimes have to unplug and replug my USB cable to my laptop depending on the order I power things up, but that has nothing to do with the wifi.
You may be right! I had assumed it was my wifi but I didn’t look at the wifi strength meter to confirm. If it’s a USB problem I’m not sure if that’s better or worse. Bad cable perhaps?
Ahh that also brings up the potential of limit switches getting interference. This was an issue with the old arduino g shield setup. Don’t know that if they addressed this with the Controller or not. Yet another thing to look into. (Easy way to test is to use Universal Gcode sender as it shows when a hard limit is hit.)