I have been having this issue since I first put my MPCNC together. It randomly stops during the middle of the job. It pauses then the display resets as if I rebooted it. It was very random at first, now I can’t finish a cut or drawing without it happening. It happens in different parts of the job. I have made sure all cables and connections are solid. I have tried use another SD card. I have upgraded my power supply, it did this with the power supply that came with the kit too though. I have reflashed the firmware and this didn’t help either. I move all the cables by hand to see if I can get it to happen, and I can’t replicate the issue. At this point I think my RAMBo board might be defective.
Have you tried to run it headless without the LCD and plugging into a computer running repetier host? That might give a little more info.
That has to be pretty frustrating to troubleshoot.
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It sounds like you have tried all the right things first. Like Marion said, maybe the LCD is part of the problem. Unplug it and try drawing over USB. Luckily its not rare so if you get a few successful in a row it will narrow it down pretty quick.
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Lets see some of your gcode. If it is really bad it will overload and reset the board…at least it used to before we figured that out. Not sure if it has been fixed in marlin or not.
I have not tried running it with repetitive. What do you mean by “headless”?
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Usually refers to not having a display or any kind of input for a computer. Just network connected and you use ssh for command line connection or a web interface. In this case, repetier would be the control software that connects through the USB cable. It allows you to use your computer to control the movement. It’s a great solution.
I ran the job again so I could record the issue with my cell camera. I keep running the same job from the same spot on the same piece of MDF. I just realized that it only happens when it’s actually cutting wood, so the project gets done a little more each time I test it. It doesn’t happen when the machine is cutting through the air. This has to be a big clue. Could this happen if it’s cutting too fast?
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Are you using dust collection of any sort?
My Lowrider would reset due to static from the dust collector. I’ve also found running the shop vac on the same circuit as the Lowrider would occasionally cause resets.
I added a ground wire inside my dust collection hose, and make sure I plug the shop vac into a different circuit if I feel the need to run it while CNC’ing.
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Crazy, I’ll turn on the vac and run it
Thank you Pete. To my surprise it was my shop vac. At first it was on the same circuit, so I plug it into another circuit, it still happened. Then I turned the vacuum off, and it works perfectly. How weird is that! Thanks for the advice Pete, I really appreciate it.
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Glad I could help. I’m a little surprised switching to a different circuit wasn’t adequate.
I THOUGHT the EMI (Electro-magnetic interference) from the shop vac is travelling through the household wiring and getting into the CNC control board, but your example makes me doubt that.
Static shocks from the hose will do it too though. That’s what my dust collector was doing. The shocks don’t have to hit anything connected to the CNC directly. Shocks in close proximity to the CNC will do it too. I suspect any limit / homing switches are more susceptible than the stepper wiring…
If you were getting shocks from the hose than some shop vac hacking might fix it. Securing a bare copper wire inside the hose somehow, and connecting it to a good ground somewhere should do it. On my dust collection I put a wire in the dust hose and connected it to the mounting screw on an AC outlet. If the shop vac has a 3 prong plug there should be someplace inside where you could connect to the ground lead…
If EMI from the shop vac motor travelling through the house wiring is the problem, then some snap on ferrite beads on the AC cord as near to the vacuum as possible should help…
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I verified it was not the circuit by running a complete job and using the same shop vac with a different hose. I have a spare hose and held it by hand to remove the dust. The shop vac was plugged into same circuit as MPCNC.
Im curious, does Marlin keep any logs of any sort to troubleshoot (general problems)?
If you are overloading how do you troubleshoot that, and does 24v help with that (instead of the 12V supplied supply?)
Overloading, like over temp of the driver? The dummy drivers won’t tell Marlin if they are over temp. The TMC will, but only if they are configured to enable debugging. Marlin will not keep a log of when this happens, but you can request it from the drivers.
In the past, when I have overheated my drivers, they completely shut down, and they stay off for a while. At least 30 seconds.