Gantry Stuttering (solved, loose motor coupler)

Machines (Elite Series)
1

Hi all,

I’ve been using my Elite Journeyman a little bit here and there and I just attempted a ten minute cut, but halfway through, the X gantry began to stutter. By this I mean, the controller screen showed the spindle moving when it was in fact not moving. The spindle would move a bit more and stop.

I shut the machine off, cleaned and oiled the ball nut. The ball nut does not have set screws and white pieces like the X-35 and X-50 maintenance videos show, so I just blew compressed air into it and moved the nut up and down the ball screw until no debris was left on the ball screw. I re-attached the ball nut and moved the gantry by hand, it moved pretty smoothly as far as I could tell.

I turned the machine back on. When homing, it still exhibits this behavior. The ball screw moves the gantry an inch and halts, moves an inch and halts. The whole time, the controller is showing the X moving at a constant rate towards the left.

What could be causing this problem? Thanks!

3

I hear some kind of light “crackling” but I think that’s the sound of the bearings, not sawdust (probably).

I haven’t taken off the motor to verify the connections, I’ll do that tomorrow.

4

I took off the motor and everything looks in order. The ball screw side of the joint where the motor and ball screw connect, spins freely with my finger, not rotating the ball screw. I’d imagine this is the issue for me. I’m writing support to verify.

5

Loose motor coupler:

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