I’m having issues…
Check the pulleys on the motors sometimes the set screws work loose.
I’m having the same issue…slowly going over the machine with a fine tooth comb.
All I can find so far is that the eccentric nuts get a bit looser at a point in their rotation but I think this is just a normal effect of having them set ag that eccentric position…??
If its just something loose then I guess its just a matter of time till I find it but.
Given what I can see in the photos it looks like a issue with the set screws in the pulleys have loosened. Best way to test it is turn on machine and push the axis(y I’m assuming) that is coming up short. If it is lose it will wiggle where as it should not move when the motors are on.
If thats not it. Then it could be the one stepper motor chip is overheating but it is far less likely than something has vibrated lose.
Also have you rebooted you computer recently. I had one time where Easel(I know it is unlikely that your using easel but the same theory applies) was dropping movement commands and this was fixed with a reboot. Long shot but sometimes its something as simple as the programme is having a bad day.
First thing to look for is the set screws in the pulleys being loose. I use blue loctite on these and they never back out after that. This exact thing happened to me every couple of days until I used the blue loctite. Same symptoms you’re having here were caused by a loose set screw in a pulley(s).
Very comprehensive man, thank you very much! I dont know if I will be in the studio today but I will report back when im in there next 
Riiiiggghhttt, very smart! Duley noted, I will drop into the local and grab some 
Thanks mate!
Ok so I have checked everything. Its all tight, nothing lose, no give in on any axis unless I give it a good shove. I feel like its coming from the left stepper or something… Its like an occasional clicking clunking sound?.. Gave the machine a good blow out too in case it was debris.
Heres a video of it playing up. Its very subtle but you can hear the clunk. http://discuss.inventables.com//discuss-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/original/3X/8/2/82fda1ce5f7c3bdbdbfe3234ec10c08d647a171a.mp4
Can you try uploading it again or check the link. As I cannot get the link to work.
This looks/sounds very similar to an issue I just had with my X-Carve. Turns out it was a failing 24V Quiet Cut spindle. I dropped in a new spindle and problem solved. Details here.
ok, im convinced its the stepper motors / maybe just the left one…
This is what happened with my last carve. The ‘steps’ on the bottom should be lining up with the ones in the middle, like a second pass type thing. No idea what’s going on…
Ok managed to download the video. Looks like it is the stepper. You can see it stutter in slow motion with the noise you where talking about.
First if you move the gantry by hand make sure it is the same distance from the end of the rail on both sides. Otherwise it could bind. Its unlikely given the video but still worth looking at. It’s best for this reason not to move the gantry by hand on the 1000mm xcarve as there can be a bit of play.
If thats all good then do you have a multimeter or know someone who does? You will need one with a continuity tester(Beeps when it has a complete path) on it. If not get a cheap one that does continuity just don’t go plugging in a cheep one into any high voltage things.
Unplug the wires from the gshield and put one test lead on the top most screw terminal(AKA the one that holds the wire for the motor) and at the same time just wiggle the wire to make sure it is not lose. Then put one test lead on the wire you just unscrewed from the gshield. If it beeps then that wire is fine. Continue this for all the wires. Any wire that does not beep may be broken or not screwed down enough. The vibrations may have undone one of these connectors at some point.
If that fails to find a fault then try changing the wires on the gshield with another axises wires. To make sure it is not a failing stepper motor driver. You could try this first but if your unplugging everything anyway you may as well test the wires.
Ahhh, thanks Goeff!! Do you think this could be causing the misalignment in the picture above. The second pass of the rough carve was way off.
Yeah, I operate the spindle manually. The video above was actually with the spindle turned off.
would it perhaps be a coding issue?
I will put the link to the video above again so that anyone else can take a look. http://discuss-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/original/3X/8/2/82fda1ce5f7c3bdbdbfe3234ec10c08d647a171a.mp4
Having a further think it is very unlikely that it is a stepper driver if the other motor is working(I am assuming that you have a 1000mm machine though. if you do have a 500mm xcarve then it may still be the case).
So it is likely to be wiring or something is jamming or you have a bad motor. The sort of issue with the motor is small but over a large area it can cause the other side to jam as well over time which would make it look like an issue with both but only ends up as being one motor.
Its one of those hard things to diagnose as there are multiple factors at play.
So you may have a broken stepper motor but it would be best to rule everything else out first. So if the wiring checks out then i would say give inventables a email and see what they have to say. They should be able to sort you out if it is a bad stepper.
