hi, i’m very new to all of this (my x-carve is in the testing stage)… but a couple of things i’d like to throw out there.
Probably many of you know this already, but creeping to the right seems to me that a couple of things could be going wrong…
the X-Motor is not getting BACK to its proper place.
it would be good to find out whether it’s
- Skipping while it’s cutting
- Skipping when moving back to the left.
OR,
- being pushed when it’s moving down vertically for the new cut. I know this may seem simplistic, but if the shaft of the bit is not long enough, isn’t it possible that the collet of the spindle may be running into the media and therefore pushing it right as the spindle tries to go down?
I think swapping motors is a good troubleshooting test.
along with the faux carving with a pen or pencil, it would be good to find out if when the left side of the carve gets shifted right, does the right side of the carve get shifted right, also.
Russ from Coral Springs, Fl.
Ok, I went ahead and switched the red and blue wires on the X. Still having issues.
SO, I attached a marker to the spindle and turned it off. Then I ran a job with one pass, and then three passes. Test (1) is the one pass test. Test (2) and (3) are both three pass tests. What I learned from this experiment is that the machine is super accurate on the X and Y. Every line was perfectly aligned (you can see on test (2) where the marker caught a little bit. I used duct tape to attach it quickly.)
The missing spaces are inconsistencies on my waste board (or the paper was buckled a bit.) Regardless, the problem appears to be caused when the spindle is operating. The wires are as far away from the X as possible. Plus, tonight I had to tap the side of the spindle to get it moving. I had this problem before and the spindle was replaced.
Conclusion: I think the spindle is bad or going bad or causing interference.
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Certainly sounds like you have a bad spindle. And you have tried everything I can think of.
My failed spindle just ran hotter and hotter, then failed to start without a push, then just failed. But accuracy remained.
I think you have done everything you can here, time to put in a call for support. 
Cheers
Ian
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Hot Motor Theory:
I’ve been mulling this over a lot. Not that I’m an expert by any sense, but I do have a lot of experience in troubleshooting.
let’s say that the x-axis is skipping somehow, either belt too loose or v-wheels too tight… and it causes the carriage to effectively change 0,0 over to the right a click or so.
think about what happens on the left & the right hand cuts.
- on the left side, the spindle is probably making a new cut further down and if that is the case then that explains the stepping in the board.
- On the right-side however the spindle is down at whatever depth it is,and it will RUN PAST the previous cuts and have to cut into NEW uncut board. therefore as the spindle goes down further, it has to cut all new board to the new depth in one cut.
This would make for a lot of pressure on the bit/router & a LOT of backpressure on the X-Axis motor. I think that may be the cause of the hot motor. this does NOT, however, explain the X-Axis skipping. I’m sure by now (after all the tries you’ve had) are pretty sure that the belt & v-wheels are set correctly.
Russ
@RussellHolt, I did set the cut depth fairly shallow to allow for the inevitable “cut through 3 layers” at once issue. However, the X was barely moving on the cuts, most of the movement was on the Y axis.
What’s weird, and what makes me think it’s not a (1) belt, (2) voltage, (3) v-wheel problem is that the first two cuts, both X and Y are great. Perfect in fact. Then, on the third cut it skips a random amount to the right. Sometimes it’s really bad, others it’s only about 1/8" off.
Tonight, I’m going to try the pen test again but running the spindle without a bit attached. That should help to confirm whether it’s interference.
Sorry Sean, I missed from the beginning, did you say you have 24V stock spindle.?
@AlanDavis, yes I do. Tonight, I ran four tests: two with the spindle off and two with the spindle on (no bit). You can clearly see in the picture where the “spindle on” tests were off.
I’m sure you have Bad spindle. Best way to verify that, turn your spindle on manually, don’t send any command. Just watch green lights. If they start flickering, blame is the bad Spindle.
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just as an observation, it looks like 1 & 3 both not only shifted right, but also shifted “up” (Y-) once also. You can see a “Y” jump in the upper left and lower right corners. Not that this helps in any way I know, but maybe it’s means somthin’.
Russ
Only bad spindle noise can activate Steppers. If your steppers getting pulses while your spindle on. Call Inventables, ask for replacement or other alternatives. Don’t waste time. We all go thru this.
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Inventables support was excellent and I already have a replacement spindle on my doorstep! Unfortunately, I don’t have time this evening to install and test it.
Thanks to everyone in this thread who provided suggestions. I have learned a lot about troubleshooting the machine and preventative maintenance.
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Hopefully this will solve the issue Sean 
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Looking forward to see what the outcome of this is.
Russ
Resolved! So the mystery culprit was the spindle causing interference. Inventables shipped me a new spindle (super fast, I might add) and tonight I ran a few test cuts with zero issues!
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