Y1/Y2 Tracking issue. New User

Hi! New user here, after assembly and adjustment on the first carve the right side of the Y axis was lagging behind, and then jumping forward. as a result, the left side of the carve was almost perfect but the right was totally messed up.
I called support and they said to adjust belt tension and check all the rollers and readjust. Last night I did all that including matching belt lengths and tension, readjusting all rollers and even swapped the steppers side to side all to no avail. ANY SUGGESTIONS? Would really love to be able to use my machine!
Thanks,
John Hatch

Are you sure that side is moving under its own power?

I will certainly check that this evening!

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Its either not powered or its going in the opposite direction than the other. Check and double check the wire colors for Y1/Y2 in the manual, you´ll see they one pair (two wires) on one of them is flipped over.

To easily visualize rotation on both steppers disengage the belts and put some tape on the pulley, they are easier to see when moving.

When I initially set it up the Y Axis(s) were moving opposite each other but that was corrected.

Corrected? Or improved?
If you swapped the wrong pair of wires, the stepper might not be moving correctly.

Haldor was correct, the stepper is not rotating. Does anyone know what voltage they are supposed to be getting?

I let Easel correct that issue.

Easel can’t reverse one Y motor.

Correct, my mistake, Y axis was reversed. I must have a bad controller board. Cable has continuity, Y1 has output voltage in both directions but Y2 is totally inop. Time to call Inventables again.

Where are you measuring voltage?
Are you sure your wires are in the correct order? If it was working before, albeit reversed, something changed.

A thought… You said you swapped Y1 and Y2 (“and even swapped the steppers side to side”). Did you physically swap the steppers by removing them from their carriages and putting them in the opposite side? But you left the wiring in the drag chains and just plugged the steppers in? And the result was the same (left side worked, right side jumped and halted when the carriage was working on the right side of the design)? Check the wiring.

My thinking is if the spindle is moving properly when the carriage is to the left (nearer the xcontroller), and you say the carve looks nearly perfect on the left side, but halts and lurches when the carriage has extended across the x rail to the right, where the carve is a mess, have you considered the wiring for the right y stepper might be getting pulled loose when the spindle carriage moves away from the xcontroller? Or it could even have a fault in so the connection is in and out as it gets bent and straightened. I’d definitely check the Y2 wires.

Also, can we see a photo or even video of how it’s behaving on both sides?

All wiring is correct. I physically swapped the two steppers and after getting the same results, just left them where they were. I had to cut the zip ties routing the y2 cable so i could reach both ends of it to check continuity of the wires, they are good. I checked for voltage at the y1/y2 terminals on the back of the xcontroller. Y1 gives me readings, y2 gives absolutely zip, nada, nothing!

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Hmm. It sounds like the problem is on the controller board itself… That’s unfortunate. You need to let Inventables know so they can sort it out.

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Sounds like a bad driver. That COULD happen when you attach/detach steppers while the drivers are powered. Unfortunately, as @KimberlyFranzen said, you’ll probably need a new board.

Neil, Haldor, Kimberly;

Thank you for all your assistance, Inventables is shipping me out a new controller board today!

John Hatch

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