Sounds like a wire may have worked itself loose. Did this just start happening? If so, check for loose terminals with the motor wiring. Did you solder the motor wires to the extended wires that lead to the driver? If not, I strongly suggest these wires be soldered and a heat shrink tubing cover the soldered connection to eliminate the possibility of shorting.
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I am just now starting to work with the machine. Was on vacation. It has never moved smoothly on the X. Was hoping to get some phone time with you or Juan tomorrow. All the connections are solid as far as I can tell. Nothing is interfering. I'm wondering if the rail spacing is off. It moves fine when I manually move it.
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If it moves smoothly when manually moving it, but the stepper motor runs rough, then it is definitely a motor wire connection. Also, check to make sure the driver is set to 1/16 microstepping and the motor amps is around 5.
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What gauge wire did you use for the motor to driver connection?
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It was the black wire that was included. Pretty sure it's 18. I was worried it couldn't take it. Some of the 18 I have seen is only rated for 2A. I can rewire with that 4-lead cable you included If you think I should. The connections seem solid so that might make sense.
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It was the black wire that was included. Pretty sure it's 18. I was worried it couldn't take it. Some of the 18 I have seen is only rated for 2A. I can rewire with that 4-lead cable you included If you think I should. The connections seem solid so that might make sense.
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18 gauge is more than sufficient for this stepper motor wiring. We use 20 gauge stranded wires in the 4 conductor motor cable.
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Sometimes wires can get chaffed, or there is a conductivity issue in some wires.I'm wondering if it would be goo to do a test rewiring the motor to the driver, but not putting it into the cable carrier, just to make sure that is the problem.
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What do you suggest I do? Just go over the wiring? The 18 is fine for 5.5A? All the switches look right. Set at 1/16. What are the natural steps on this motor?
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I’ll check the conductivity on the wires. I can just re-run it with that four conductor. That cable works fine for you guys?
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The 4 conductor cable is the only cable we use for these stepper motors. It's a special cable used for motion applications.
Here is a link to that cable that we sell just to confirm the cable we are discussing:
https://www.buildyourcnc.com/item/electronicsAndMotors-cable-wire-20awg-wrcon
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Yeah, that’s it. However, I ran the stock File on the laser cutter, the duck, it seems to run fine it’s just when you make the small adjustments with the arrow keys that it’s so rough. The other problem is that the speed on the stock file is way too fast.
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Ah, the jogging speed. I did not consider this. You definitely need to reduce the speed when you press the arrow keys.
The speed when running a job (the file) can be modified in LaserCad.
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So, I’ll look into that. Everything is done besides for Putting the tube on and adjusting the mirrors. When are you guys available for a quick phone call?
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In LaserCAD, go to the options -> system options -> User parameters. Make sure to click the read button to bring the parameters from the laser controller to the software. Our Key_Move_Speed is 100 and our X/Y_Home_Speed is also 100. I wouldn't go any faster than that. Curious, what are your values for these parameters?
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Key speed was set to 200 and XY was at 50. On the duck file on the machine, it says the speed is at 200. How can I import that file to change it?
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Much smoother after that change. File is still too fast, though.
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In the file, the speed is built into the geometry. You will need to open the file in LaserCAD, select the geometry and modify the speed. Make sure to change the intensity as well to compensate.
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Patrick, I am having issues with the x axis on the vlxl..very rough movement. What should I adjust? Check the rail spacing or can I modify anything in the software?