Hi everyone!
I just upgraded my xcarve with GT3 belts and tightened up everything perfect. I then went and adjusted $100 and $101 to calibrate it and the movements seemed correct. On 2 test cuts however, everything is out of tolerance. The x axis is off by up to 5mm in some areas and Y axis can be off by 2mm. Ive checked belt tension and i even checked to make sure that when i put the command for it to move 10mm in any direction, it actually does accurately move 10mm.
Any idea what could be the cause of this? Im wondering if it is possible its the board not giving enough juice to the steppers but i really dont know. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
You have one of the older gshield?
Have you measured over a longer distance than 10mm? For calibrating travel measure over the longest possibe distance.
Do the bit return to same spot it started at? (exactly)
If not you have lost steps during the carve.
1 Like
i actually upgraded to the X-Controller as well
How does it measure over a 10" distance?
- Check GRBL paramenter $1, make sure it is =255
- Set dip switch 4 on the XController to OFF, you down want idle torque reduction
- Do the bit return to the exact same spot after a completed carve?
Hi Haldor thanks for helping me out with this!
So i made it travel 300mm in 1 pass and it actually overshoots by abt 24mm.
I’ve changed $1 to 255 (it was 0 before)
I’ve set the dip switches to ON as well (they were OFF before)
The bit returns to the relative same spot about 2mm off in both axes after the carve.
Background:
$1 govern the time before power to an idle stepper is shut off in milliseconds. Value 0-254 is millisecond to shut-off and 255= always ON.
Idle reduction (switches) when ON reduce power to 30 or 40% of max when stepper is at idle.
When they are at idle you run a greater risk of it getting bumped/vibrated off by a few steps.
If that is the case then something is either slipping or steps are lost during the carve. Check your pulleys and set screws thoroughly, reseat them with blue loctite to be sure.
Once that is done recalibrate X/Y step per mm so a 300mm command = a consistent 300mm travel.
