I hate to say I can no longer hold back the frustration I and many other people are having with the redline controller and/or the machine combo. If you are considering switching to or buying the redline anything I tell you beware.
The first thing I would say is if you are buying this machine to make products to sell as a business - I wouldn’t recommend it. If you want a nice flashy machine and like to tinker and make cool stuff. Go for it. But if you are going to put expensive materials in this machine and need it to perform its job as instructed. I’d tell you to buy something else. PERIOD.
I came from the BB controller like 5 years ago. Was not flashy. It had a few weird issues that I learned and just did not do what caused those issues. Simple stuff. Other than that it was bullet proof. It just worked.
Now the redline? Flashy. Cool. Up to date. I am running the 4x4 elite with the redline package. The machine is smooth as butter. Spindle is butter. LOVE IT. IT ROCKS.
****50% of all jobs I turn in this machine FAIL from software glitches and issues. There is SO many issues I am tired of emailing onefinity. It is not just me. I have become friends with a few other users and we chat about new frustrations weakly. Joypad issues. Tool setter issues. Probe issues. The thing is an absolute mess. The amount of times I have lost the point of origin on the work piece from the machine jogging in the wrong direction. WOW throw that material out. There goes 500 bucks. Jog the machine from tool setter too fast. Whoops. Lost home. Start over. I am just going to tell you. I regret buying this machine and just wish I had the 4x4 with the good stuff and a BB controller. It just worked. Never used a Masso. I hear they seem to work well maybe too.
Hi Boyd,
We checked with the support team and the last support ticket we have is from 12/19/2025.
We have 3 tickets and they were all about understanding how the tool setter wizard is properly setup. There is no indication of any other issues in the tickets.
If you would like more assitance, please reach out to support at support@onefinitycnc.com so we can get your issues fixed up!
We want your expereince to be the best it can be! We’re on your team and here to help.
Also, make sure you always have the latest firmware on your redline controller! Each one includeds bugfixes and enhancements to the controller.
We have this writeup for how to use the tool setter on the Redline / Realtime controller:
That’s about my experience as well. I also don’t bother with support tickets with OF because they were unable to solve my static issue (despite doing all of their suggestions and then removing one of those when they changed their recommendations but failed to let me know - thanks to the forum poster who forwarded their update).
I have gotten good results when dealing with @RTCNC who usually can only acknowledge the issue but then they include appropriate fixes in the next software update. They seem to be really good at replicating and fixing issues.
Problems that seem to be widespread (like the ones you referred to) or where I can find a workaround I just ignore. I don’t have time to be going back & forth with Support to get nothing out of it. It’s quicker just to do whatever extra step is necessary to get around the problem or at least recover from it.
I don’t have dust collection on my machine so I just chase it with a handheld hose. I take a photo of my machine position settings before each job so when the home position is lost or the HMI freezes I can power cycle it and recover. I just hit Abort and use the jog buttons when it gets stuck in “MDI executing" and it stops processing MDI commands. I suspect most of these problems are EMI based but that doesn’t seem to be something they can fix. They had those issues (although I never experienced them) with some of the original BBs. They just repeated the same design flaws in the RL.
It’s definitely a PITA but it doesn’t appear that the problems always affect everyone which makes it likely a long & painful process to diagnose from afar which is part of why I don’t bother trying if I can find a workaround. The ones that do affect a lot of people are getting fixed.
I still have my BB JMan and in retrospect could have just upgraded to a spindle but I was worried that the BB version would be abandoned in favor of the Masso & Redline versions so I upgraded. Lots more problems with the RL version, but with the BB going end-of-life after all, it was probably the best decision to upgrade. I signed up for problems because I went with the original release and will just wait to see if they iron out the issues. Since I’ve never owned an Altmill, I’m not sure that I wouldn’t just be having similar issues with that one.
Hi Jim,
You can try removing the usb from the back of the HMI and try running from a laptop/pc (Downloads - RealTime CNC) (you’ll need to power on the HMI for power to the motors in the test), and see if you disconnects continue.
I was having some of these problems as well with Masso, and the fix was changing out the factory Masso-supplied USB stick for a different one. All the EMI-like symptoms went away, and my machine works well now. It’s been about two months of success since I swapped them.
Glad you tracked it down. Of course it’s not on any supplied lists of fixes (none of the OF or RL supplied “solutions" worked for me). Unfortunately the USB stick isn’t a solution for me as I transfer files via the web interface. For a long time I only had the joypad USB stick installed when I was using the joypad. Now I just have the wifi antenna they recommended installed but that was a late addition.
Maybe we should start a sticky post of user-discovered undocumented static/EMI solutions.
Jim
Did you do a ground continuity test for the outlet and path back to the panel?
Someone mentioned in a previous post that the ground pin on the outlet was not actually grounding.
Yes. I have tried multiple circuits as well (not outlets, circuits). When I built the house in ‘23 I had the shop wired specifically for my maker machines. Multiple dedicated 220 & 120 20A circuits.
You don’t have any more open tickets from me cause I would have to email you every single time I use the machine with issues. One of the issues I had you sent me directly to redline and I had a 2 hour video chat with him and we found multiple issues that he did not even know about. I check for software updates weakly. The amount of times the machine lost origins is insane. I will start sending tickets again. The first one will be pressing down on the joypad and the machine goes up.
