I have a Arduino Mega and a Ramps 1.4 board I am using with my MPCNC. I was able to “Drive” it around the work surface with the Repetier firmware after flashing with Marlin per the MPCNC Tutorials, but the end stops would cause the board to reboot.
I recently flashed the board with Estlcam’s firmware to see if it got any better. I was able to “Drive” all the axis, however, when I hit and end stop, the board rebooted and my laptop died!
The laptop wont power back on and it’s not even 2 weeks old I think the endstop somehow sent 12v up the USB line and fried it.
Anyone seen anything like this? Any recommendations on what to do to prevent this from happening again and getting my end stops working safely? I’m a little gunshy at moving forward after frying a new $700 laptop.
Full disclosure, I did not buy the board from ViciousCNC. It was an Amazon deal with Arduino, Ramps 1.4, and stepper drives for about $35… Maybe I got what I payed for…
I will have to review my wiring again closer and go over it with a continuity meter. After looking at the schematic, I think I may have connected Signal to 5v. I found this link: http://www.instructables.com/id/Configuring-Endstops-on-Ramps-14-with-Marlin-firmw/ that talks about the 3 pin end stops like I have and cautions against exactly what seems to be happening.
The laptop came back around and booted up again after a bit. It does not have a removable battery or any user serviceable parts. I suspect it had a thermal fuse of some sort… Thank goodness, it’s brand new!
Thanks for your response. I’ll review my wiring again next time I am in front of the machine and report back if I did indeed cause this… I will be using my old laptop next time!
For the laptop, if you can’t get at the battery there is a tiny reset hole on the bottom that I believe momentarily disconnects the bat. That usually resets it faster.
Be careful with endstops. On the MPCNC you life will be easier without them.
I saw a few computers where the USB have been plugged directly into the main power (240V). Computer survived, but the USB ports were dead. Had to change the south bridge on the motherboard.
Just check your wires, or even remove your endstops, you actually don’t need them, especially if you just begin to use the CNC, keep it simple.
You’ll need them later, once you’ll learn about tool changes, so I suggest you make it step by step until you feel comfortable enough to use this function.
I found my wiring issue a while back and corrected it, however as Ryan said, your life will be much better without the endstops.
I really wanted them to work so that I could use a fixture and have the exact same X/Y/Z ZERO points, but I gave up on them. They would randomly make the machine loose connection to the board.
I would recommend following Ryan’s advice. Ditch the end stops, they are not worth the hassle.
Yeah Barry, I have made some wiring but all wrong :S I have makerbot endstops but i can´t find the way to connect it right. Even a normal endstop, allways reboot my complet system.
The os on the board shouldn’t matter. I don’t know anything about those end stops though, it looks like they require power, which is stupid, they’re just supposed to be switches.
I think the endstop somehow sent 12v up the USB line and fried it.