Been having lots of connection issues with my X carve, while troubleshooting tonight, while watching Easel I will have Arduino connected and have the Green “Carve” in easel. When I plug in Gsheild my computer disconnects from Arduino and the carve button goes blue.
The gsheild seems very restricted in the case… Am I just not getting it connected in the right spot of the Arduino?
Most likely. It is difficult to plug the gShield into the Arduino in the supplied electronics case. If you don’t have the pins lined up properly when you plug it in, the COM port will disappear.
Make sure that your power is off when you plug in the gShield (24 volts off and USB cable disconnected).
So I bought this from a guy online, it looks like he soldered the pins for the limit switches differently than what the pictures show online, the black plastic is actually after the 90 degree turn in the pins which i think is restricting me where I cant get the pins from Gsheild pushed down into the arduino.
Iv tested and when I remove the arduino and plug them in all is good… how important is it for the arduino to be screwed down? I can fit the gsheild and arduino in the enclosure already plugged in and make it work, but I cannot screw the arduino in then plug in gsheild because of the restriction
There are people that have their machine running that way. The issue with this is that if the electronics shift in such a way to contact metal you can damage the electronics.
For me (a personal thing) I would unsolder the header and fix it, but I’m very good at soldering and it is not such a big deal for me. Depends on your skill level.
An alternative, which some people do, is to use a different case.
Some people use a dremel and modify the case.
I have no issues with soldering, just at disadvantage with not building the machine myself and new to CNC, its just a bead of solder at bottom of pin, heat it up and the pins should pull right out?
In another question, do I even need to reinstall this header if i dont used and dont plan on using limit switched anytime soon?
Yes, You do have to be careful since there are a lot of pins to heat at once. If you get the plastic holding the pins too hot you will pull the pins out of the plastic.
Don’t need the header if you are not going to use homing switches or spindle control.
