Hi folks,
I’ve been struggling with this a few days now, searching the forums extensively and trying to troubleshoot on my own, but can’t seem to fix this problem.
The X-carve is going along just fine and then all of a sudden it starts to skip steps in the Z direction and gets itself stuck way up high to the point where it’s not cutting anymore. It seems to stall mainly at the very top, both when cutting and when I toggle it up and down with the computer. (I’ve also noticed that the drive rod wobbles a little as the spindle mount moves up and down, but don’t know if this is a related problem or separate.)
Other people who have had problems with skipped Z steps have been told to adjust the potentiometer. I went through the whole process but I can’t seem to find that sweet spot - there doesn’t seem to be a middle ground between too high and too low where it actually works. I go to where the voltage is too high and it trips, then keep turning it down bit by bit to try to find where it stops tripping. I keep thinking I’m there but keep moving it up and down to be sure, and it inevitably stalls out. I move it down again. It stalls out. Finally I reach the point where the voltage is too low, but at no point in between has the motor been happy.
I’ve also tried tightening and adjusting nuts here and there, some were loose but don’t seem to have made a difference.
I’m wondering if I’m doing something wrong adjusting the pots, or if there’s a problem with my wiring, or if something else is going on. I have a video of moving the spindle up and down, if that helps, but attaching it isn’t working for some reason.
Thanks for your help - hope my description makes sense and that I didn’t miss some simple fix already on the forums. Excited to finally get to work once I manage to get this thing running properly.
AJ
