Z randomly dives into the project. TERRIFYING!

I was but I have done test with nothing on in the shop but the computer and the x carve. same issue.

Any large electrical motors running on the same line? Fan blower, anything?

nope just the carve and the computer

possibly stupid question, could bluetooth devices cause electrical noise? I do listen to my headphones while routing. I started right about the time the machine started acting crazy.

I couldnā€™t give you an opinion on that based on any real knowledge, but I would try weeding it out. Get the head phones out of the room and try a carve without any material.

The ole process of elimination.

will do thanks

the issue persists. any other ideas out there? thanks.

Is it on the same project or have you experienced this with other projects?

Do you have a photo of the last time you tried to cut this. Something looks odd in the simulation but itā€™s hard to tell. It looks like it plunges several layers down and then starts carving back up.

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That is default tool path for 3D Adaptive in Fusion360, it do a helix camp down to a certain preset depth, then do an incremental step up to prepare the shape for detail carving.

There are however a large amount of vertical repositing moves (red) which increase the risk of loosing steps on Z. I am not 100% sure that is the case here, but it is a consern.

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ill try re processing the path. see if that helps. thanks for the input.

@CarlHamilton

You could also try to use a different gcode sender in combination with a different post processor.
Try this PP - GitHub - Strooom/GRBL-Post-Processor: Post Processor for Autodesk Fusion360, delivering GCODE output optimized for GRBL compatible CNC or Lathe
And this sender - Download - UGS (Test 1.0.9 Classic first)

I have had bad interaction between Fusion and Easel myself, but not sure what to blameā€¦could be bad luckā€¦ but this combination have given me no real issues :slight_smile:

Atleast worth a shot?

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Maybe grab a scrap of wood and generate a project with a few odd shapes directly in Easel just to see if you experience the same random movements.

If you can narrow the machine itself out of the equation, that leaves software.

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Ok so I think the problem is solved. I failed to follow normal rules of trouble shooting one thing at at time so im not sure what exactly fixed the issue but I just did a 40% test carve with zero issues. in fact with all the work to the machine it is actually cutting better than ever. so what were the possible culprits?

  1. I rerouted the power to the Xcontroler to avoid even close proximity with the control wires to the steppers.

2 I rerouted the power cable to the Dewalt 611

  1. I replaced the brushes on the Dewalt 611 motor out of fear that they were possibly causing signal noise as well.

  2. I also completely cleaned out the top of the Dewalt to ensure clean and smooth running.

  3. last but not least I cut the speed of the router down by a few steps to see if the high rpm was causing signal noise.

so im am unsure which of these things had an affect and which did not, but I would highly recommend doing each of them if you face this issue in the future.

to those of you who helped with comments and ideas, THANK YOU!!! this community rocks. now back to making things. have a great day!

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Good news. I rarely ever run my router off of speed 1. Occasionally, Iā€™ll bump it to 2 if it sounds strained.

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From what Iā€™ve seen ā€œrandomā€ usually = electrical issues.

Check for ground loops too.

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Set your Z0 to a height above your material that will not let it touch, say 2" above. Then run you program and see when the issue occurs. Slow down the z feed rate also. I have been working professionally designing and building CNC for 35+years. Iā€™ll check back to see how your doing. Soldier on!!

Rich Whicker - Arc-E-Ology.com

I find this issue fascinating. I have used Easel to produce g-code. But I then import the codes into an open source g-code sender for a Synthetos Tiny G control board which drives an OpenBuilds C Routing system.

I have seen the exact same behavior from my system at times, either dragging the bit through the material on the way home or going home and then attempting to ā€œdrill for waterā€ at the home position. This was particularly unnerving when I was using a 1/2ā€ bit to level a new waste board. No water was found, but it produced a great amount of smoke.

I usually do a part of an air cut before starting the actual cut. I realized, with my system, that after the air cut, I need to do a complete system reset before starting the actual cut. The g-code generated by Easel is just fine. The rest of my system is completely different from an X-Carve, yet it will display the same behavior at times.

Hello

I know this may sound random , if you are using florescent lighting in your workshop change the starters. I was a Telephone Service Engineer for about 40 years old mechanical exchanges up to modern IP systems . I used to get problems on the Electronic systems at times due to Florescent starters and only found it by default one day when someone came in to where I was working and turned the lights on and the phone nearest the light lit up like a Christmas tree , changed the starter and hey presto problem solved,
Just a thought , Iā€™m glad you got it sorted.