X axis gantry is very stiff and wont slide

So i just finished my first night of building and my 100mm xcarve is pretty mutch assembled. And i stopped before the electronics stage. But im a bit worried that its acting funny.

When i first put it together and belted it. The whole thing ran slow and smoothly if i needed to adjust it. But after i wired it. The x axis feels jamed. I was careful not to let it get damaged and it doesn’t seem to be. Ive loosened. Tightened the v wheels via the esentric nut and nothing. It just really wont budge. The motor feels like the main point of resistance. But i dont think it should be so stiff. The others arent

Before I even started the wiring I noticed that the gantry was extremely stiff. Noticed a couple wires hanging off one motor were touching each other. Separated them and the gantry smoothed right out. So if something is shorted together the motor can get hard to move.

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Double check the wiring, sound like the motors are fighting each other

Ill check the wires. My drone motors used to get stiff like that with the battery unplugged . I assumed on some level. spining the motor can carge it with energy and stiffin it up. But i dont think its shorted. Im a very careful with wires as i do it all the. Ive built 13 drones and fixed and rebuilt several rc models. But ill check again.

And GlennMDutcher
My 2 y axis motors are fine. But my x axis is the stiff one.

ooops had my X and Y mixed up, I guess that’s why I failed algebra lol

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PhilJohnson

Thank you sir. I already said it was the other axis. But just for that bet. I did switch the motor polarity on the y axis. :slight_smile: And it works fine.

Ive built serveral rc models and i get to reverse wires on my drone builds all the time to get them spinning right. So it was nothing new for me.

And its cool guys. I understand this is the more common problem. But ive been around the block a few times :slight_smile: it just my first automated cnc build

you me five bucks. but ill let you keep it since you made me laugh.

also, rpegg

you are an absolute genius. i did believe i had the wire separate. and i did. kinda. in order to feed the wires through the drag chain. i taped the cables together… at the tip where i had already striped the ends. so all the wires were touching, but without electricity. and as soon as i disconnected them. smooth as butter. touched them again, and it refused to move.

this is why i never rule out my own mistakes. i said i doubt i had wires touching. but i still check.

id actually like to recommend this tip to the customer service crew. because even they suggest the taping of the ends together to get everything through the drag chain

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You likely already checked this, but ensure your USB is not plugged into the computer. This will stop all the motors from allowing movement in the default mode. I believe others have released motors in their gcode but it is not the norm setting for the Arduino/gshield.