Hey guys, anyone have experience with their controller stopping mid-program? This has happened to me now multiple times on my first programs (flattening my waste board).
It seemed to lose home/zero and when i ran the program again it buried the bit and ruined my waste board. Luckily it wasnt overtop screw and the bit is ok.
Is this something I am doing wrong? Or is this a controller issue?
Something sounds wrong - your machine should not do that! I’ve not had that happen to me in 9 months of ownership. Can’t say what exactly may be wrong - could be EMI, or a loose wire somewhere. I’d definitely call support.
Yeah. Support has been pretty responsive over the weekend via email and have been helpful. Sounds like it might be EMI. On their recommendation, going to try some ferrite core EMI suppressors to see if that fixes the issue.
If you suspect EMI, pull all of your cables apart so they are away from each other - it will at least prove/disprove the theory. Ferrite cores won’t hurt anything, but waiting could delay other troubleshooting if that’s not the problem.
Good luck!
INTERESTING…
So I actually just got the ferrite cores and threw them on there. While running, the onefinity blanks not only during a program running, but when the router is actually CUTTING. (This has always been the case, no change since the ferrite cores BTW.)
At one point I thought … “maybe the dust hose is causing issues” and lifted it off the steel front rail.
So this is a pic of my table. It is all steel construction with vibration isolation feet. And those feet are rubber. (This is important)
While monitoring the cut I randomly touched the front rail… and I got a little shock. 
I did it again immediately and nothing. But I did it again about 30 seconds later… and I got another shock. 
So get this, I think my table is building electrical charge and is discharging and interrupting the signal to the controller because it can’t discharge the electrical charge it is building!
So to verify I ran the rest of the program with the table grounded [read: I kept my hand on the front rail] and ZERO blinking out! 
I think I need to ground my table!
Yup. Table is grounded.
Router and dust collector are on a different circuit now too (that caused some issues too).
Everything doing what it should now!
I hope this is my issue as well. I had I randomly shut down Saturday night 2.5 hours into a carved I grounded the table (it is an old drafting table so it has metal frame which the controller is screwed too.)
I also grounded all the dust collection back to the unit.
In the last picture you can see I have a grounding point at the stepper, when I connected this ground, the motor started making a humming clicking noise. I disconnected it before operation but it was concerning as I wanted to ground the rails. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than I could explain this.
Also I should I note that my controller was already fed via a UPS on a separate protected circuit.
Hey John,
the other day there was this issue, the cause was that the stepper wires inside the rail were pinched between rail and rail hole cover, making a short between one stepper wire and the rail. The issue came up when grounding the machine. Usually grounding the machine is not done when following manufacturer’s instructions when assembling, but recommended regarding security and is a result when using a spindle anyway.
Seems you posted your message before all pictures were uploaded! 
Fixed, thank you sir.
Sh&&&&&&&&&&t, I do not want to take the whole thing apart for short cable after I got it all squared and dialed in but I may have to. On a side note. I accidentally connected the magnet probe to the rail, and I immediately got a fault. Is that indicative of anything?
Hey John,
You can check if it is this issue the following way if you have a Multimeter:
Unplug all power from the machine (shut down the Controller properly before).
Disconnect all ground wires from the metal parts of the machine. If you use a spindle, or a grounded milling motor, unplug it.
Set Multimeter to “Resistance/Ohms” and attach one measuring tip to the machine (e.g. machine’s foot; ensure good connection on metal).
At the connector on the CNC Controller case, unplug the plug coming from the stepper motor which makes the noise.
On the cable you just unplugged from the Controller, you see a four-contact Amphenol/Molex Plug:
If you have a multimeter you can check it the way I described in the other posting.
Probably. Magnet probe is ground. What is the exact error you see?
@Aiph5u
I will be a couple days before I can get back in the shop but I will test it out and get back to you.
It appear you are correct. See attached video. Two wires appear to have a short. I checked the other Y rail and did not get continuity on that one so that is plus.
Note this video is unlisted and only available via this link.
Also this is the error I am getting. When the probe attached to the rail.
Hey John,
if you are sure that there were no other contacts present (short through your body, (fingers)), you will have to proceed with step 6 
What was the Ohms range you’ve set the multimeter?
I think it is automatic 
So not sure.
I am not very experienced with a multimeter.
For hunting this issue, I would start with megaohms, and see if the resistance is stable, and then go smaller. If the number shown on display is not stable it is either out of range or you have oil on the rails or something which disturbs contact. Best would be to clamp one measuring tip to rail or foot with a clamp.
Note that like when Darren had this issue, as long as only one stepper wire has a short with rail or foot, the machine still might work without issues. It’s when you ground the machine that the issue shows up. Or when two or more stepper wires have a short through rail/foot. In the first case the motor error shows up when you ground the rail or foot, in the second case possibly always.
In both cases any short between stepper wire and rails is a fault.
Yes machine seems to work okay for awhile. Since i got it though I have been having issues with interference on the screen since I got the machine. It flickers and goes out. I have also had a lot of issues with disconnections. I contacted support about this previously and they said it was a software issue and the upcoming patch would fix it but the recent patch didn’t fix my issue. They also sent out a new controller for a different issue at one point and I am still getting the screen flickering and disconnections.
Yes I saw that issue Darren had. I wonder how common this is?
Thank you for the light reading material 
. I have contacted support as I am hoping they will send out a new harness that I could swap out. The harness I got with my X-50 rail was an improvement over the original harnesses.
If you don’t mind me asking @Aiph5u what is your day job? You seem very knowledgeable on this subject.
Hey John,
to access Inner Rail Tube Motor Wire only after having received the replacement wire is wise
Something totally different. But with electronics I got heavily infected during childhood and they haven’t found a vaccine against it since then
