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Troubleshooting Chart

This is a simple troubleshooting chart in case you have errors or other issues

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bernd.dk has reacted to this post.
bernd.dk
Cheers, Paul awesome.tech

Two people had the same limit switch error this week which they could not troubleshoot. They could not get inkscape to work so after I did some debugging I found it was the homing command option that got executed and grinded the machine to a halt with gerbil saying ‘error 8, home failed”. If you set $H option in the Inkscape plugin then the machine will and must home first. If an end switch (also called limit switch) is not triggered, it won’t continue. Obvious test is to raster or cut from a relative position (G0 - relative), so don’t use the option “$H- home”. If that works then investigate why and which end switch is causing the homing issues. Set the reporting config $10=19 to include the limit switch statuses and move the laser gantry in consecutive end stop positions. First x followed by y. Read the status each time via the “?” Command whether an end switch is triggered (pn-XZ). Use a gcode sender like cncjs to issue the $10 and “?” Status commands. After finding the broken end switch, try to find out what type it is. Magnetic, opto or mechanical. The first 2 types uses a flag that travels between an gap between two parts of the end stop. It can be dirty or the flag is misaligned or the electronic switch is broken. If it is mechanical, then check whether the arm of the switch gets engaged, or broken. On mechanical switches you need a noise suppression capacitor (100nF). Simple solder that parallel on the mechanical switch. Try again to test the switch statuses and hopefully it works. Broken magnetic or opto switches can be easily fixed or replaced by mechanical switches (ask for a micro switch with a long arm). The gerbil shield has separate broken out end stop connections which makes it easy to wire it up without the need to use the ribbon cable (note: x motor is also wired via the ribbon, so don’t remove the ribbon cable but disconnect the broken end switch mini ribbon). X, Y and ground are used for mechanical switches. For magnetic or opto, you need also an additional 5v connection to feed the electronic components of the switch.

Cheers, Paul awesome.tech

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