Cutting to deep - software problems?!

LowRider CNC Troubleshooting
1

Hey, the Lowrider is running pretty well so far! However, I’ve noticed that the cutting depth is always a bit deeper than set.

I know this could be due to curved material, but it’s consistently at least half a millimeter deeper than the set depth.

Could this be because the Z-probe thickness is doubling? The start gcode in Estlcam contains “G38.2 Z-110 F200 P0.5 (probe down set thickness)”

and the preferences stored on the ESP32 contain “probetouchplatethickness”: “0.5” - could this be the problem?

I’m also having a problem where the ESP frequently resets (the Wi-Fi connection drops and needs to be reconnected) or FluidNC simply switches to alarm mode – usually after homing or simple jogs.

I’m using FluidNC 3.9.9 with WebUI 2.

And is it normal that about 70% of the flash memory is occupied, with the index.html.gz file taking up most of it?

Thanks for your help

2

yes, the FLASH storage is very small. This is on purpose.

This is only the storage drive, not the running memory of the ESP32.

1 Like
3

No, that setting is only used with the Probe tab. That G38.2 start gcode is independent.

If it’s going too deep, there are a few things that could be happening:

  1. It could be that the board isn’t secured to the spoilboard well enough. So, the probe is pushing the board down against the spoilboard more.
  2. You could be skipping Z steps so it’s losing Z positioning.
  3. Similar to #2, but your grub screws could be loose.

Post a picture of how the wires are routed to the Jackpot. If there are wires running over the ESP32, that will cause problems.

The alarm mode one is a bit trickier. You’ll need to show the terminal output when this happens. It can happen with homing if the switch is triggered from the start.

1 Like
4

There’s also option 1 in a variant:

The workpiece isn’t secured well enough and the (presumably upcut) endmill is bending / lifting the work up

3 Likes
5

Thank you so much for the great advice.

It was a combination of a few things.

Firstly, the coupler for the Z-axis lead screw wasn’t fully tightened on one side.

I noticed a squeaking noise coming from this side, and it turned out the lead screw wasn’t turning smoothly in the copper nut.

The Z-axis lead screw occasionally slipped in the coupler when the X-axis beam moved up.

I cleaned and greased the lead screw and tightened the coupler.

I also discovered that my spoilboard was warped. A few more screws and I now have evenly deep milled grooves across the entire width. Over the full length is still slightly uneven, but that’s because my base plate is a bit warped – it’s not a big deal, though.

I couldn’t solve the connection problem, only work around it.

In AP mode, the ESP32 sometimes lost connection, sometimes during homing, sometimes during a simple jog, and sometimes when uploading a file.

The connection is stable in STA mode. Perhaps it was also due to my device.

6

I’m dissappointed that nobody told @Frosti94 to tighten the grub screws….:upside_down_face:

7

Jason did!

2 Likes
8

…

2 Likes
9

OOOOOW, now I am dissapointed that I can’t read properly :slight_smile: Thank you for the reprimand.

Man, you are quick!

2 Likes