My LongMill just started acting up. Losing connection, Going off on a tangent. etc. I suspect it has to do with static or some other EMI (It has been very dry here)… My questions are:
Should I ground (to earth) my Makita router?
Should I ground to earth my X rail, my Y rails, my Z gantry and my motor mount?
Is there any need to ground the stepper motors (ground back to 0V (GRND) on the LongMill brain box.
I have ordered some tinned , copper braided shielding conduit but being here in Mexico, no telling when it will arrive.
Any advice out there?
PS. It is not a dust collection issue. I don’t (currently) use one.
@LosOjosRojos FWIW, I ran a wire to ground from an M5 bolt through a ring end of a ground wire and securing it to the router bracket. The connected between the router bracket and the router is good, so that serves to ground the router. I did not ground the rails, but it can’t hurt. I did not ground the stepper motors. I thought that the wire from them running to ground would be enough, but I don’t really know if that is accurate.
If you do ground all these parts and your problems disappear, please report back. I’m always looking for ways to make my Mill more consistent.
Did you add any limit switches, or homing switch? If so the cables needs to be shielded and you have to add a capacitor in parallel of their the inputs onto the controller box.
It can help you determine the source of the problem because, when used in DC circuit, a capacitor blocks the flow of current through it because the dielectric of a capacitor is non-conductive and basically an insulator. That is why they are used on the switches inputs.
I replaced the blue usb cable sent with the unit with a better quality cable. I also powered my usb port(buy one on Amazon). I also completed Windows updates. These three things stop the intermittent connection issues. Good luck