X axis "works", but always drifts barely to right

I have the 1000x1000, full kit, from last spring, but I’m just getting to it now.

When I try to cut a rectangle out of 1/2" plywood, with 1/8" bit, and a depth-per-cut of .06" or any depth…the second pass is always drifted a tiny bit (like .05") to the right, so then it continues the next depth of rectangle, but .05" over to the right, and then often the next pass is another .05" to the right as well.

The problem is extremely regular and repeatable.

I’ve tried the x-axis belts extra tight, medium, and loser, no change.

I rotated the x-axis potentiometer on the shield to the right a little bit, which didn’t fix it, and I tried all the way to the right, which made it even worse, like it would turn off the x-axis completely sometimes.

The x-axis motor is getting hotter than the other motors, but I can’t tell if that’s “too hot”, or just because it’s running on 1 motor while the Y has 2.

Help? I can run the same job 5 times, and it messes up in the exact same spot, which just makes it hard to imagine it being some weird fluke thing, or a V wheel, eccentric nut, etc.

Here’s just a sample pic, you can see where the second pass is shifted to the right.

Would it do the same in a much softer material like insulation foam?
Drift is often the result of either decimal truncation (code issue) or pinion slipping on the shaft. Loosen up the pinions and check if your stepper motor shaft have a flat spot, make sure the set screws connect to the flat spot :slight_smile:

Oh man! I was skeptical that my set screws could be loose, but I was like ok, guess I’ll check…and it seems the one on the flat spot was a bit loose. Seems better now. Thanks!

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