Was performing a second surfacing pass when the machine (Longmill Mk2 w/ PwnCNC water-cooled spindle) stopped moving in the X-axis before program completion. It will move in the X+/- directions on Precise setting in GSender (v1.4.4) but on Normal/Rapid settings for each mouse click there is a small amount of movement (<1/4") and a “clunk” sound. The “clunk” and limited motion occur all across the X-axis. Y and Z-axes move normally.
I have adjusted the v-wheels to proper tension and checked that the anti-backlash bolt is just barely engaged. Have also adjusted both of these on either side of normal to no positive effect. No alarms are triggered during the movement, nor were triggered at problem initiation. Longboard and GSender have both been power cycled. X-axis lead screw turn freely when Longboard is off.
I had a similar problem this week. After install the PwnCNC on my MK2 I noticed the x axis hanging up when it moves from the far left side. It didn’t matter where on the Y axis, but if the spindle was on the left side, particularly 2-3 inches from the rails, it would bind/hang up. I could sometimes get it to work at normal jog speed, but never at rapid. I had just done a complete maintenance run through and lubricated the screws with 3-in-1 oil and everything has been smooth and quiet. Eventually, what worked for me was adjusting the black delrin anti backlash block on the Z axis gantry. It was a pain to get an Allen wrench in there, but I removed the old metal dust collection bracket I no longer needed. After adjusting the backlash screw many times, I finally found a sweet spot where it no longer binds. Try this and let me know if it works for you.
Side note: How does anyone know when it’s time to replace the black backlash block? I’m not sure, but the sell them at the Sience store so I expect they are consumables.
I have a similar issue. Installed a few months ago and x-axis would bind with a noticeable noise coming from the motor. This usually only happened when it was on the left side, from 0-8 inches or so, then it got better. Movement would drop to maybe 10% of normal. I finished the install, got everything squared up, adjusted, lubed and dialed in and it seemed to go away for a while. Over the next few months, I would have an occasional problem where the x-axis seemed to lose its zero in the middle of a job and I ruined a few pieces. I was doing an inly job on Friday and was running at a higher than normal speed to do a clear pass and the problem came back. I am an aircraft tech, so the mechanicals are not a problem for me. I went back over everything and lubed, adjusted, torqued, etc. And afterward I tried a test run for full travel at max speed. That’s when it got worse. I was back to the left side x axis binding/grinding for the first 6-8 inches. Ordinarily, you would think the spindle carriage or delrin nut may be the cause, so I removed them from the shaft and they are both perfect. With the carriage disconnected, I then tried to run the x-axis at high speed and much to my surprise, I had the same bonding/grinding sound and slow speed. The shaft turns freely by hand and has the same effort level as turning either of the y-axis shafts by hand. It is now repeatable when I try to move it at high speed. Intermittent when I try normal speed and I still have never seen it happen at low speed. As most of my work so far has been in the normal speed range, this explains my occasional ruined piece. I can only guess that either the motor is bad or there is a setting somewhere that needs to be changed. I think I have exhausted my troubleshooting for now. Does anybody with more experience have any suggestions? I’ve only been at this for a few months, but this has me sidelined for now. I have a video, but it says that a new user cannot upload…
What are your speed settings? Too high of speeds can cause the binding you are seeing. You can go to the Firmware Tool on gSender to change these. Correct values are below:
110, 111 and 112 are set at 5,000. 113 at 8,000 and 121, 122 are at 1,000.
I am curious if any other settings are out of range. I would think that telling G-Sender that an MK2 48x30 as picked from the drop down list would have these already set. Is there a way to get a listing of what all of these are optimum settings?
I will make these adjustments and re-check everything. Thanks for the speedy reply!
BTW, 10 minutes into testing and all is well! Looking good! Thanks!
