EastBaySource Maslow CNC main control board damaged

Hi:
I got gifted a eastbay source CNC maslow kit with ZAxis control a while back . and I have just finished up hooking every thing together. While trying to go through the calibration step, I found out that one o fthe capacitors on the main board was loose (Maybe I shook it loose while trying to fix it to the Frame. either way, Right now the motors won’t respond. The board itself seems to be recognized but none of the controls go through. So I have not been able to calibrate the system.

My Question is this:
Do I need to get a new board ? or is this sort of thing covered by warranty ? (even tho its been over 6 months since I got this, its been close to 10 months).

Any help with this is much appreciated

@easybaysource

Thanks

Ramdev

The power is connected to the control board? Motors are not powered via the Arduino but the 12v supply. A bad cap isn’t ideal, but if it isn’t shorted, it should still work to some degree.

Hi:
Yes the power is connected via the 12 V power supply. the board itself is recognized by WebControl. (same as it is recognized by the Arduino IDE). However (if the attached images render) the capacitor itself is “disconnected”/“broken” away from the control board. If I need to buy a replacement board then I will do so. But I wonder if the broken capacitor will render the board useless or is it there to just regulate the power.

The motors were not responding. I was getting an error in WebControl when the board was connected :

15218.79: Message: Unable to find valid machine position for chain lengths -10.06, -1.40 . Please set the chains to a known length (Actions → Set Chain Lengths)

(attached are the logs and the JSON config file).


I guess zip attachments are not allowed… so here is a snippet of the log :

+++++
2021-11-20 17:00:13
+++++
15218.32: PCB v1.30 Detected
15218.33: Grbl v1.00
15218.35: ready
15218.36: ok
15218.36: Sent: G90   
15218.37: [Forward Calculating Position]
15218.54: <Idle,MPos:0.00,0.00,0.40,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000>
15218.55: [PE:0.00,0.00,120]
15218.74: <Idle,MPos:0.00,0.00,0.40,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000>
15218.75: [PE:0.00,0.00,120]
15218.79: Message: Unable to find valid machine position for chain lengths -10.06, -1.40 . Please set the chains to a known length (Actions -> Set Chain Lengths)
15218.80: G90
15218.82: ok
15218.82: Sent: G00 Z0.197 
15218.83: G00 Z0.197
15218.85: Message: Please adjust Z-Axis to a depth of +0.20 mm
15218.86: Maslow Paused
15218.94: <Pause,MPos:0.00,0.00,0.40,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000>
15218.95: [PE:0.00,0.00,127]
15219.15: <Pause,MPos:0.00,0.00,0.40,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000>
...
...
...
...
62742.60: [PE:0.02,0.00,127]
62742.66: Sent: !
62742.67: ok
62742.69: Turning Spindle Off
62742.71: [Forward Calculating Position]
62742.79: <Stop,MPos:0.00,0.00,0.00,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000>
62742.81: [PE:0.00,0.00,127]
62742.99: <Stop,MPos:0.00,0.00,0.00,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000>
62743.01: [PE:0.00,0.00,127]
62743.14: Message: Unable to find valid machine position for chain lengths -10.06, -1.40 . Please set the chains to a known length (Actions -> Set Chain Lengths)
62743.20: <Idle,MPos:0.00,0.00,0.00,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000>
62743.22: [PE:0.00,0.00,127]
62743.40: <Idle,MPos:0.00,0.00,0.00,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000>
62743.41: [PE:0.00,0.00,127]
62743.60: <Idle,MPos:0.00,0.00,0.00,WPos:0.000,0.000,0.000>

The motors did not move at all.

anyways, with the board damaged, I am not sure these logs make sense.

@vayu.rw I am now way an expert, but that capacitor shouldn’t matter too much (I hope someone can confirm for me) as you should not be using that power plug for the machine. Your 12v power supply will plug into the shield that has the motors and what you plug all the motor cables into. That Arduino board will be powered by USB 5v when you plug it in to your computer.

Double check that power connection and see if that works, however, you may need to reset chains first if you are getting that message.

How you reset the chains will depend on what you are using for controlling software (WebControl, GroundControl, Makerverse).

ok, The shield gets power as I can see the green light that indicates power being supplied. I also see a flashing Yellow light the Flashing Yellow light is coming from the Arduino. I will try plugging the USB cable into the other USB ports on the computer and see if it makes a difference.

That said, I am not sure about the statement " but that capacitor shouldn’t matter too much ". I am sure it serves a purpose, I would like to confirm there isn’t a loss in capability or functionality. I will try again.

I am using WebControl for the controlling software. any instruction on how to get setup when using WebControl / (the online docs on Github I see are not really helping a whole lot. Is there something that is specifically for Maslow CNC ?

help is much appreciated. Thanks

Ramdev

Ok, to assist in the calibration and resetting the chains, I will point you to this page: WebControl: how to use the basic and advanced features

That is a super simple page to follow, as well as includes some videos that @Orob put together (I think he did the whole page as well) to show the exact steps. That would be where I would (and have) start.

As for that capacitor, in my very limited knowledge, it’s position right by that barrel connection to the board would tell me that it would regulate the power to the Arduino coming in through that connection. As it shouldn’t be used because the power would come from the USB connection, that is where I was saying “it shouldn’t matter” but I could very well be wrong. If you move that barrel connection from the power supply up to the shield as it should be, then that capacitor shouldn’t have any play when it comes to the 12v power.

I was thinking you could test that and plug the usb into the arduino, and the power into the shield and see if you still get board recognition, and can then move the motors as they now have the requisite power needed.

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You are right, they did put it there for a reason, but luckily we don’t need it for that reason (although it doesn’t hurt). From it’s placement I believe that is a filtering capacitor for the input voltage from the external power plug. Basically power comes in from that jack on the arduino and then gets stored in that capacitor for when the Arduino needs it. We’re not plugging any power in there and getting power from the USB cable instead so I think it should be OK.

Edit: @c00nphrog beat me to it by one minute :grin:

3 Likes

I would listen to @bar. He made the machine, so he would be much more knowledgeable about that than I am!! :pinching_hand: :+1: :+1:

2 Likes

as always the support is just magical. I will try this out tonight and post updates.

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Hi.
As I started to go through the instructions, I realised that I had tried to update the firmware on the board, However after that particular update, my left motor would not stop spinning. To fix that Iwas told by @EastBaySource to flash their firmware as described in this post : Motor won't stop turning - #18 by vayu.rw

I am trying to floow those instructions toupdate the firmware, But now I am getting

avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
avrdude: stk500v2_ReceiveMessage(): timeout
avrdude: stk500v2_getsync(): timeout communicating with programmer

There is supposedly a fix for this where in I add my user (the user I am logged in as while running the Arduino IDE) to the dialout group
I did that. Logged out and logged back in . I am still getting this error.

any ideas ?

1 Like

alright I went ahead and flashed via my mac and there were no errors. and I seem to be able to control the right motor. My journey continues. Thanks all for providing assistance and help. you will all be in he acknowledgements to my great book that I might one day write about how I got started with CNC

Cheers all

ramdev

4 Likes

Glad to hear it :grinning:

Nice work!

Glad to hear you got it to work. My apologies for not getting back sooner, but I was out of town with the family.