There was a request for a more clear and easy to find set of instructions for how to solder the encoder boards (the previous answer was buried in a thread and not easy to search for or find) so this is duplicate information but in a more searchable way.
The issue is that the encoder chips have a pin which can be used to set the direction that the encoder reads (IE is rotating counter clockwise positive or clockwise positive). We left this pin unconnected (our mistake) which seems to under some circumstances lead to the encoder detecting rotation in the wrong direction. It seems to be somehow related to static electricity or humidity or something like that.
The offending pin is this one, closest to where it says C1:
If you have this issue and try to fix it and mess up the board, or if you don’t want to try it at all I can send you some free encoder boards which are already modified.
I was so excited! I was finally cutting and it was glorious! Then…
It quit part-way through—lost track of where it was—and when I went to retract and extend the belts and finish, one of the belts retracted…most of the way. It won’t extend, and when I click retract all, all the belts are reported as fully retracted.
Could my issue be related to this issue? Or is it more likely that the arm is jammed solid, so the motor thinks it’s fully retracted?
Mahalo for all you do, and I can already tell how awesome this tool is going to be for my purposes soon!
When I tried to extend it, it didn’t seem amenable.
sigh curse
Time to take the machine apart (again). Can’t until tomorrow, though.
It cut four of five pieces beautifully!
Still love it, even if my experience thus far has been a series of “learning experiences.” And when it’s working reliably, I’ll love it even more.
