First time trying to run the Maslow 4 and it’s my first CNC so bare with, I managed to get the communication working and extended all the belts, hung on to the nice new frame, so far so good, next tried to take the slack in, one of the belt motors would not retract. It would however extend more. several attempts later and no joy. anyone got any idea what is going on? side issue the cable to the motors look a bit suspect, one has cracked and shows scorch marks and the others look like they have taken too much current.
Gareth Jones wrote:
First time trying to run the Maslow 4 and it’s my first CNC so bare with, I
managed to get the communication working and extended all the belts, hung on
to the nice new frame, so far so good, next tried to take the slack in, one of
the belt motors would not retract. It would however extend more. several
attempts later and no joy. anyone got any idea what is going on? side issue
the cable to the motors look a bit suspect, one has cracked and shows scorch
marks and the others look like they have taken too much current.
The motor mounts in the arm have some room for adjustment in them (not really
planned, just slop in the holes) depending on where the motor is mounted, it can
make it very tight to the idler gear. Some people have adjusted this to help
In addition, in the maslow.yaml file there are retraction and calibration
current limits, you can increase those to allow the motors to pull harder for
retraction. Sometimes cycling the belts a few times can make them move a bit
better.
(part of the issue is the amount of belt packed on the spools, it’s the max that
is possible, but that means if it’s not packed well, it will rub against the
idler, some people shorten the belts, others just extend/retract them under
tension to get them packed better)
David Lang
This makes me think it would be possibly interesting to put a small recoil assembly near each anchor. Clip off the fixed anchor to the recoil when retracting will apply this tension automagically.
I’m not sure what you are suggesting.
Like a tensioner?
I might just be missing a bunch of information, but the little I do know gives me the sense that this would interfere with normal operation.
you unclip from fixed anchor to a retract mechansim. the retract mechanism applies restoring force to keep belt tension like a lawnmower recoil. it wont effect opertation because you only use it when M4 needs to pull in the belts.
I see. So it would be keeping the belt straight while it retracts into the spool, and then being detached from the belt, spooling back into it’s own assembly next to the anchor point like a tape measure?
The only issue I would see is for vertical frames where the maslow would also need held in place in the center of the frame during this operation.
yea that’s the idea. and for vertical configuration defnately need to a quick disconnect way to anchor M4 in place, wherever it is on the spoilboard
Building a better way to do this is actually high on my to-do. I have a solution that works well when there isn’t a workpiece in the way, but it requires putting screws into my mounting surface to let the sled rest against and isn’t ideal. Will definitely share when I make progress outside of my mind.
you can lock M4 vertically if you mill a pegboard hole pattern in your spoilboard and use a ledge – but not with workpiece on top
The maslow will tilt away from the frame if you’re only supporting the bottom edge of the sled. I have to also use a bungee cable around my center frame beam and hook the linear rod supports.
This sounds like the current threshold might need to be increased. It’s pretty common and there is a setting for that.
This doesn’t sound normal. They should all be brand new and never used so I wouldn’t expect anything like that.
Here is a video which will walk you through the first time setup process:
Thanks David, it makes sense ill have at this, I have reordered the belt spools and the same one is still not pulling in, it is defiantly something for me to check
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Thanks Bar, the set up process is different to what comes up on mine, I guess it’s not up to date on the firmware, thats the first step then the retraction force if I rase this to 1500 it should give is a bit more to get over the resistance of the new build.
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So a quick update and a possible issue, I have a error message (MSG:ERR: Failure on bottom right encoder, fail to read 196 times in the last second) I think there’s an issue with the board on the one belt.
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That does sound like it could be an issue with that encoder board or the connection. If you press the “test” button what does it print out?
I’m away from the workshop today but will try the test button next time and let you know. I have carried out a couple of things.
I’ve pulled the belt spools out and re wound the one that isn’t working, checking it wasn’t snagged or stuck and the magnet was in the correct position, in re fitting it was placed in a different position, as it acts the same I’ve ruled out the main board as the problem. So I followed the steps on the video you sent and got to the calibrate stage, this is where the coms error came up, the three working belt spools having a green light and a orange glow and the non working spool only a green light. I then switched the data links around to rule out the cable and got the same error and light sequence.
So I think it’s the it’s the pcb on the spool
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We can send you a replacement right away just so it’s in the mail now and you have it if you need it.
The lights aren’t too much of a concern because the yellow light will turn on and off as the encoder rotates, but the green one should be always on