Z axis moves in the wrong direction

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  • #3380
    xMishka
    Member

    Hi,

    I got a Grbl shield as part of my CNC kit from Shapeoko and I am having some issues with my Z axis and am wondering if the shield is the culprit. My X and Y axis don’t have any problems but the Z axis commands sometimes turn the stepper in the wrong direction even thought the commands are the same.

    Example:
    G91
    X10 X10 X10 X10 – All commands move in the same direction
    X-10 X-10 X-10 X-10 – All commands move in the opposite direction of the above
    Y works the same way.

    Z10 Z10 Z10 Z10 – Some move up some move down.
    Z-10 Z-10 Z-10 Z-10 – Some move up some move down.

    I am running the grbl08_basic GRBL code with preset settings for my CNC machine. I ran the Z axis with a drill a few times to smooth it out so it doesn’t bind and so it moves freely. I tried changing the speed on the Z axis. I tried messing with the pots a bit (I didn’t change them much since I can’t find any docs on how to set them). I am not sure what else I could do. Could it be a defective Grbl shield or motor?
    Any help is appreciated.

    Thanks,
    -Victor

    #3387
    alden
    Member

    Victor,

    Thanks for registering at the forum. Your questions handled one-by-one:

    – Here is a link about setting the pots. They are one turn pots so *please do not turn them more than 270 degrees* or they will break. However, I doubt the pot settings are your problem, so I wouldn’t mess with them right now. Just set them in the middle of the range.

    https://www.synthetos.com/wiki/index.php?title=Using_the_grblShield#Setting_Motor_Current

    – I’d like to confirm that you (1) have the kit from Inventables and that (2) your grblShield has the Z axis mod. Does your board have the little wire to the switch like the one in the last picture on this page? (scroll all the way down)

    https://www.synthetos.com/wiki/index.php?title=Z_Axis_Mod_for_Shapeoko

    – If it does not let me know. Can you please post your grbl settings? Z should not be more than 1200 ($3=1200), and might possibly need to be set to less, depending on the friction in your system.

    – Check the Z axis motor plug. DOes this give good contact? If any 1 of the 4 wires does not contact or contacts intermittently then it could cause what you are seeing.

    – If you swap motors – i.e. put the Z motor on Y and the Y motor on Z – what happens? This may be hard to do given that the motors are in the machine – you may need to remove the Y belt and/or change the grbl settings. Does Z work OK and Y have problems, or the other way around?

    Please let me know how this goes.

    • This reply was modified 12 years, 3 months ago by alden.
    #3395
    xMishka
    Member

    Hi Alden,

    Thanks for the quick reply. I got my kit from Shapoko.com and my Grbl shield has the Z axis mod. Below are my settings and what I tried.

    Settings:

    $0 = 43.74
    $1  = 43.74
    $2 = 300
    $3 = 30
    $4 = 500
    $5 = 1000
    $6 = 0.10
    $7 = 28
    $8 = 25
    $9 = 0.05
    I checked the connectors and wiring to make sure everything was connected securely and correctly.

    I swapped the X and Z axis connectors on the Grbl shield and ran some commands after changing $2 to 43 so it didn’t hit the end of the axis and  the motor moved in the correct direction each time.

    I swapped the connectors back and tried changing $3 higher and lower and the Z axis is still having the same issue.

    I also tried changing $2 higher and lower.

     

    Considering that the X axis motor worked fine on the Z axis I am thinking that it may be the Z axis motor. Any thoughts?

     

    Thanks.

    #3396
    alden
    Member

    Let me make sure I understand correctly. You moved the X motor to the Z axis board connector. You changed $2=43.74. You sent a “Z” command like G0Z10 to the board and the Z channel drove the X motor and X axis just fine. Do I have that right?

    Second, when you swapped the X and Z motors did you also run X commands with the Z axis motor and axis ($0 should have been set to 300)? Did that work OK too, or did the motor still behave erratically?

    Third, when you moved the motors back to their original configuration the Z axis was still having problems.

    It sounds like the Z connector or possibly the Z motor itself is bad, especially if it was unable to be driven from the X channel (if you did that second test). The board sounds like it’s fine.  If you have not done the Second test, can you do that as well to confirm?

    #3408
    xMishka
    Member

    Yes. The Z channel on the board drives the X axis motor correctly however the X axis channel on the board did not drive the Z motor correctly. It had the same issue. Same command being sent consecutively made it move up and down so I am pretty sure it’s the motor. I have checked and rechecked all the connections and everything is connected well. I will see if I can get it warrantied since it is brand new. Thanks for the troubleshooting tips. Your help is much appreciated.

    -Victor

    #3418
    Riley
    Keymaster

    Did you get it working?

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