X-Carve randomly crashes and loses connection - power issue perhaps?

I’m just getting the kinks out of my new X-Carve and I think my only real problem left to deal with is that sometimes my X-Carve will just stop and lose connection. This is really obnoxious because it essentially resets the machine and ruins my part unless I can manage to re-zero it exactly where it was before the crash.

I’ve checked that my USB connections are good and they seem fine. The couple of times it’s done it are when there is an electrical load such as turning on my spindle, in the middle of a hog, etc.

My power setup is my X-Carve and DeWalt spindle are plugged into a power strip mounted on my X-Carve. That power strip is then plugged into my workbench’s power strip which also runs my relatively low-wattage laptop running easel and a shop vac to suck up the dust. My workbench power strip then just plugs into the wall (120v 15A). I’m wondering if I’m just drawing too much power on that circuit, getting a dip in voltage just enough to bomb the X-Carve, and crashing. Just wanted to post up here to see if anyone’s done something similar.

Put your laptop and the controller on a separate circuit with nothing else attached.
When I did that my problems went away.

It is probably a power / USB issue. I have a similar problem with one specific laptop and my dust collector powering on or off. It doesn’t happen with my tablet pc.

I fixed it by adding a powered USB hub and better USB cable between the laptop and the controller.

Hmm… I’ll have to try bypassing the bulkhead then and see how that works. My machine is pretty new (ordered it a little over a month ago), so sounds like there’s a possibility it may have one of the faulty bulkheads.

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I have quite a few projects that never made it to completion due to the same behavior your are describing. I finally bypassed the front usb connector and have not had a problem since. I don’t like the way it looks but at least I can carve without worries.

I just ran a few parts yesterday without running my shop vac and turning the spindle on slowly (I.E. starting it on the slowest setting, then ramping it up once it’s started) and it didn’t crash once. I’m still trying to figure out for sure if it’s power or USB, but it’s kinda looking like power for the time being.

I am using the DeWalt all the way turned up. Wouldn’t my feed rate drop if I drop my spindle speed? Just going by the feel of things, it seems like anything over 20 in/min is already too fast for hogging and making ‘heavy’ cuts even in MDF (no more than 0.3" deep in a pass) before I start to get chatter and too much heat. I already burned up a 1/4" carbide bit in MDF at 20 in/min. I understand there’s something to be said about allowing the bit to grab enough material to cut it away instead of mushing it away, but I didn’t think I was anywhere near that.

Appreciate the feed tips. Unfortunately, most of us don’t scour the forums before firing it up, so perhaps that would be a good note to put in the instructions.

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[quote=“BobJewell, post:16, topic:38784, full:true”][quote=“Kcducttaper, post:15, topic:38784”]
Unfortunately, most of us don’t scour the forums before firing it up
[/quote]

And those are the ones that have the most troubles and end up asking questions that have been answered many times on the forum.
[/quote]

Obviously? Not really sure what your point is… I poked around on the forums a bit before getting started to see what I was getting into and to gather some basic guidance, but the cost vs benefit ratio is absolutely absurd and a huge waste of time if we were all to study the forums enough to have all the answers and become experts before our X-Carves even arrived. It’s MUCH more efficient to ask a quick question and/or use a quick search tool here and there to get us up and running.

I applaud those of you that had the luxury of learning your X-Carve before purchasing as it definitely makes things run smoother. On the other hand, if you think I’m wasting your time, simply don’t bother responding. Nobody’s forcing you to reply, so I don’t feel one bit bad about “wasting the time of others” as they’re replying completely voluntarily. I truly do appreciate the positive input I generally receive from these forums and I try to do some research before asking stupid questions, but the fact is, I’m still a n00b to my X-Carve, so I’m sure I’ll make some mistakes here and there. From my understanding, that’s what these forums are for - to help one another out.

Guys, relax :slight_smile:

Research is good, desire to learn is good, asking is good.
There is bound to be “black spots” during this process :wink:

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