Z axis unresponsive

Troubleshooting
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Brand new 4.1 kit was assembled and connected just fine. I can extend and retract the belts no problem but when I attempt to jog the z axis, the fan comes on momentarily, and both stepper motors lock up for the duration of the jog. Any help would be greatly appreciated since I reached out to the creator of this thing and he wouldn’t help and referred me here…

Things I’ve checked/tried:

  • Z-axis lead screws are not binding as I can manually turn both by hand when I’m not attempting to jog (they lock up when I do jog however)
  • I’ve searched the forum and tried just about every suggestion that seemed to work for others to no avail
  • Visually inspected the drivers solder connections and everything looks to be good under a microscope.

Hoping someone can help because at this point it’s a $500+ paperweight… thanks in advance.

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@bar I’ve posted in the forum

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I don’t know what you’ve tried, but it sounds like a lot.

I’d go back to basics - I would remove the whole router cage / assembly so you just have the two motors with zero load.

I’d try jogging / moving them like that, and with each Z motor individually disconnected.

Do each test after a power cycle, and save the serial logs and attach them here

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I think that this is an important hint. The fact that both motors are being driven by the stepper drivers is interesting. That tells us they are getting power, but for some reason not moving. I haven’t come across that behavior before.

The first thing that comes to mind is something being off in the config (maslow.yaml) file. That file has the settings for how far the steppers should rotate for a given move distance so maybe if that number is off they might not be moving at all effectively?

I’d try replacing that file and see if that does anything.

Which firmware version are you using?

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I have tried this. Both motors are currently unmounted from the base and free to manipulate. I will test again and share the logs sometime this afternoon when I’m back at my shop.

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The most recent

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Try deleting that Maslow.yaml file and uploading a fresh one.

Does the z-axis position on the screen change during the jog? (Like the digital readout of the z axis location)

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Yes, it shows it is moving on the DRO

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I think that also points to something in the maslow.yaml configuration file. Basically it’s moving the way it thinks it’s supposed to, but for some reason the distance that it is moving is off.

Give my Maslow.yaml file a try. I just downloaded it from my machine and tested it there so it’s correct.

maslow.yaml (6.8 KB)

You can update it by clicking here and then on the green file icon:

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image2738×1204 221 KB

Then press “Upload Files” at the top of the screen:

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image1410×1426 151 KB

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If that doesn’t fix it can you save the serial log here:

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image1036×1558 137 KB

And send that?

That will tell us more info about what the machine is thinking.

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So now I’m stuck in an “extend the belts” and “retract the belts” infinity loop. If I would have known that this machine was going to be this buggy, I certainly wouldn’t have invested in it. To say that I’ve had better luck with desktop no name 3018 CNC machines with 3d printed parts and an Arduino nano as the brain is really a shame… is there no clear up to date step by step instructions on how to calibrate/use this machine?? Certainly none that I can find…

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DD wrote:

So now I’m stuck in an “extend the belts” and “retract the belts” infinity
loop.

Explain what you mean. what is happening and what is getting logged?

the process should be
retract belts with them not attached (this sets the zero length of the belts)
extend belts (to slightly larger than is needed to reach the anchors)
find anchors (formerly called calibrate)

the machine should pull the belts tight and move around the machine, do
calculations and figure out where the anchors are.

if it stops before that, it’s because of some sort of error, and we would need
to see the error message you get to help debug it.

David Lang

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