I keep having an issue where the X-Carve disconnects from Easel or Easel disconnects from the X-Carve. I know the X-Carve is connecting to the laptop as it is being acknowledged by the computer as a connected USB. I have restart the laptop to have it work then right after a cut I can’t move the arm back to remove the cut piece because it disconnects again. I have no idea what is happening and was thinking of removing and reinstalling the drivers for easel. Has anyone encountered this before or know how to fix it?
Are you possibly bumping the USB cable during the process? Most disconnections are either noise or something that causes communications faults over the USB connection.
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Brandon Parker
I’ve always had issues. I still do. But here is what I’ve done to reduce them.
- Bought powered USB hub. This ensured pc side wasn’t issue, wasn’t losing power. I think. Maybe snake oil. Lol.
- Use a single USB 3.0 cable for no further than 6ft. 3ft ideally. No joints. Anything further than 6ft increased my faults.
- Put the CNC controller on a batter backup. Separate of the router or anything else. This helped a lot.
- I’ve recently now added a circuit so I have all devices on dedicated circuits. Controller, pc, router/vac.
After all is said and done. I’m convinced my issues are my xcarve but nothing I can really do.
Nothing has changed since last week when it worked fine with no issues.
Wow that is a lot of things to make it “work”. I will start looking into all these suggestions and see what happens. I just don’t understand how I’ve used it for almost a year then it just stops. I really wonder if there was an update that came through or something. None of my other usb devices have changed or have had any other issues. Weird. Thanks for the feedback.
Checked the brushes on you Dewalt? Worn brushes = more arching/sparks = more RF-noise.
These machines are like helicopters. Thousands of little parts that all have to be working, and then a single bolt fails, the rotors fall off and…
Seriously though, I’ve built three X-Carves that get hard use in a school setting. Time, use, vibration, kid-rash, and phases of the moon all cause wires and parts to work loose. Initially they would fail quite frequently, but after each failure I ended up with a better, more accurate, more reliable machine and you will too. Some things you will only fix once, other things will plague you again and again. But stay with it and you will eventually have a machine that runs for months with just a few minor tweaks now and then.
Watch and learn your machine, know what it sounds, looks, feels and even smells like when it’s running well and this will become your early warning system if something is about to fail.
Initially my first machine was kept on a wobbly table and connected to a laptop when needed. Often it suffered from loose or failed wiring and would not communicate with the computer. Now each machine has it’s own permanent set up (two on sturdy, stable, wheeled carts) with dedicated computers (from the thrift store and running on Linux, I ain’t rich) monitors etc. For each machine, I’ve installed the best cables and power cords I can find and made sure that every wire is neatly and securely run and fastened with purpose made wooden clamps and strain reliefs. I no longer have any communication problems.
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Another thing to double check is to open up the X controller and make absolutely certain that all cables and connectors are 100% FULLY seated in their home. This can be deceiving, because some of the ribbon cables will appear to be seated, but are not 100% connected. It can take more force than you think, and sometimes these (and other connectors, too) can work themselves loose over time.
Remember, these machines run 5 motors with almost every command to do what we want. Vibration can do more damage than you think.
Also, search for my post about interrupted carves and premature disconnections.
Al
So the worn brushes would make sense if this happened every time I’m running the machine. This is happening when I just turn the machine on and connect it to the laptop. The router isn’t even on yet. I’ll still check the router our though. Thanks.