Hello all,
TLDR: Clip the thru pins on the encoders JST-HX headers. It will save your headaches.
I had an issue after initial assembly where my control board didn’t indicate it had power even when plugged in. Power supply was fine and some of the components got hot but it wouldn’t start up. Thinking it was a control board issue after troubleshooting I received a replacement board and i checked it before assembly and it started up just fine. After installation I plugged in the power and… Nothing. Knowing the board was good I started unplugging cables one at a time and found that if one of the encoders was unplugged it would start up fine. Couldn’t find any issues with the wires or board itself and the board would boot up with the wire and encoder plugged in while the components were loose but when assembled it wouldn’t. Turns out the thru pins of the JST-HX header can stick through enough to graze the bearing below them creating a partial short and blocking the board from starting up OR shutting the machine down (I tested plugging the cable in after the board had booted up and it also shuts the board down).
After clipping the pins back to the solder there is plenty of clearance and the system boots up fine. Unfortunately that means I’m now going to have to go back and rebuild the other 3 arms…
If you read this before assembly somehow CLIP YOUR PINS BEFORE YOU ASSEMBLE!!
If your having odd intermittent shutdowns I would disassemble your arms clip the pins and reassemble its likely vibration is causing the short to occur during operation just long enough to kill the system.
