[Solved] X carriage moves when spindle is on

hi, in the last days i started noticing my carves went a little offset, i checked the bearings, belts, rails, the potentiometers in the shield, and upgraded the firmware but nothing helped. Today while i was checking the x carve again, i noticed that when i turned on the spindle a weird sound came from the x stepper motor, and that the x carriage was moving in the x+ direction. The movements are so slight that i have to touch the v wheels of the x carriage to fell them. I have to mention that sometimes i need to touch the spindle to turn it up (like a manual start). Does anybody have any idea why is it happening? Please help.

How did u run your power wires? And what spindle?

it is the 24v spindle. and what do you mean by running my power cables? By the way i’ve been using my x carve for almost two years, and this never happened before

Probably time to check your wires runs and mayb test the power supply.
It can also be from lost steps which means pots.
It can be worn or loose belts which means complete inspections.
Loose wires+vibrations can cause some missed steps.

If you had the DeWalt then the 110 can in strange situations which is super rare, cause EMI, electro magnetic interference.

Plz post grbl settings here.

Regardless if it’s going out or not consensus is to upgrade to dewalt or maybe even a water cooled system.

That’s why X-Carve switched to Dewalt. 24V Stock Spindle does that especially after brushes start getting a little old. My machine was mowing about 5 inches in 5 minutes. Replaced with Dewalt. No problems since then.

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Hi, thanks for your interest in this problem, i’ve been testing the x carve to have more information about it.

First here are grbl settings:

Settings
$0=10 (step pulse, usec)
$1=255 (step idle delay, msec)
$2=0 (step port invert mask:00000000)
$3=3 (dir port invert mask:00000011)
$4=0 (step enable invert, bool)
$5=0 (limit pins invert, bool)
$6=0 (probe pin invert, bool)
$10=115 (status report mask:01110011)
$11=0.020 (junction deviation, mm)
$12=0.002 (arc tolerance, mm)
$13=0 (report inches, bool)
$20=0 (soft limits, bool)
$21=0 (hard limits, bool)
$22=0 (homing cycle, bool)
$23=3 (homing dir invert mask:00000011)
$24=25.000 (homing feed, mm/min)
$25=750.000 (homing seek, mm/min)
$26=250 (homing debounce, msec)
$27=1.000 (homing pull-off, mm)
$30=12000. (rpm max)
$31=0. (rpm min)
$100=40.000 (x, step/mm)
$101=40.000 (y, step/mm)
$102=188.976 (z, step/mm)
$110=8000.000 (x max rate, mm/min)
$111=8000.000 (y max rate, mm/min)
$112=500.000 (z max rate, mm/min)
$120=500.000 (x accel, mm/sec^2)
$121=500.000 (y accel, mm/sec^2)
$122=50.000 (z accel, mm/sec^2)
$130=790.000 (x max travel, mm)
$131=790.000 (y max travel, mm)
$132=100.000 (z max travel, mm)

I’ve never modified them.

I realized that the offset tended to happen only when i started the spindle with my laptop and not whit the switch on the power supply, even more surprisingly i discovered that if i left the multimeter plugged to the spindle power terminals the offset stopped.

I have also tested all wires’ continuity, and the voltages at the power supply, and all seemed good. i also tested continuity between ground points in the supply, they all are the same electrical points and the multimeter says there is continuity in all of them except between S- and V-, where it reads a low impedance or sometimes there is continuity por a short time. could that be the problem? is it supposed to be continuity between S- and V-?

Thank you for your help.

Settings seem off. $4=3? Seem right?
Custom build? Or stock?
Did u recently run a set up through easel?
Update grbl to Inventables newest fork?
Update easel?

I have not modified grbl settings in any way, i updated easel two weeks ago i think, and i did run a setup through easel last week. honestly i am not sure of what all those settings are for, i’ll look for a descrption.

well, it died pretty soon i think, i don’t know how many time is it supposed to last. Anyway im considering to upgrade to deWalt.

Try This:

$31=0. (rpm min)
$30=1. (rpm max)
$27=1.000 (homing pull-off, mm)
$26=250 (homing debounce, msec)
$25=750.000 (homing seek, mm/min)
$24=25.000 (homing feed, mm/min)
$23=3 (homing dir invert mask:00000011)
$22=1 (homing cycle, bool)
$21=0 (hard limits, bool)
$20=0 (soft limits, bool)
$13=0 (report inches, bool)
$12=0.002 (arc tolerance, mm)
$11=0.020 (junction deviation, mm)
$10=115 (status report mask:01110011)
$6=0 (probe pin invert, bool)
$5=0 (limit pins invert, bool)

$4=0 (step enable invert, bool)

$3=4 (dir port invert mask:00000100)

$2=0 (step port invert mask:00000000)
$1=255 (step idle delay, msec)
$0=10 (step pulse, usec)

thank you very much. I have tested the spindle out of the loop and actually it produces sparks when it starts spinning, and keeps producing them from one of the brushes, i don’t know if that is normal, but i suppose it is not. i tried to solve that, but since the spindle is well enclosed, and the brushes are permanently attached, i found it very complicated. I have already assumed that the spindle is dying, and, as i mentioned before, i will upgrade to a DeWalt router.

Just to be sure, does anyone could confirm if there is supposed to be continuity between S- and V-?

Again, thanks to all who were interested in this topic, all your help is fully appreciated.

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:innocent:

Once the spindle is disconnected do you still have the issue?

I mean completely disconnect and eliminate that as an issue.

the problem only occurs when the spindle is on, i ran some “air carves” with the spindle off and the machine stayed on path. So yes, it is for sure a spindle issue.

Cool! Mark this solved and get a dewalt or a watercooled spindle if your upgrading anyway!
Look into it!

Might we have a new record holder for the longest lasting original spindle?

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