Hello all,
I have recently ran into an issue with my X Carve. I currently have the arduino/gshield version of the x-carve. Everything has worked well for the last six months with light use. This last week when I power the x-carve on, I no longer hear an audible “gunk” sound that it would normally make from all the stepper motors getting power. If I try to move the Y and X axis with my hand the x-carve moves way easier than in the past with less resistance then it use to have. But It will run jobs ok but will get off path a little. I am assuming its because the lack of resistance from the stepper motors. It does not appear to be just one motor but all of them seem to have the same amount of resistance. I honestly don’t know where to start with troubleshooting this. My first thought is that I need to see what the volts/amps going into the motors are to make sure that they are getting the right amount of power maybe. I just don’t know what those values would be. If anyone has seen this or know where to start I would appreciate the help.
Because it is all your motors I would start with the power supply.
Double check the wiring between the power supply and the gShield
Double check that it is set to the correct source voltage (there should be a little slide switch somewhere.)
Then throw a meter on it and make sure it is giving the correct output.
After that?
Double check that all the motor wires are good and that the gShield is properly seated on the Arduino
Sometimes those little pots get dirty. Try turning them and set them back where they were.
Alright Phil, I checked my settings and it was $1=0. I changed it to what you said and now the Y axis is stiff like normal. the X is still loose as a goose. I did add a Jtech laser to the system a month ago. but I thought all was well.
Would you or anyone else have any input on the rest of my settings. I didn’t know if there was another setting that could be making the X axis loose as well. I am open to any good set of settings. pretty sure the Z is the same thing but harder to tell Bec of the ACME rode. Any help would be grateful!! 
thanks I check everything close tonight with my wiring and everything looks good.
Don’t just look. Tug gently on each wire for the Y axis and see if any of them are loose.
If all the wires check out, exchange the X and Y connections at the gShield and see if the loose axis changes or stays the same.
I’m sorry I was not more elaborate. By looked, I checked each connection and then verified continuity to all posts on all axis going to the gshield. I can try switching axis in the morning to see what that does. Thanks for the imput.
I checked everything again this morning. switched Y and X axis. both of them where working. Switched them back. they are still both working right as of now… So I don’t know what happened but something somewhere must have came loose. thanks for the help.
A few people have had some issues with the terminal blocks on the gShield. You may have run into that issue. By changing the wires you may have eliminated the issue.
If it comes up again, first place to look is the terminal blocks.