Lowrider resetting / stopping in the middle of cuts

Hey Gang! My machine keeps resetting itself before it finishes the project. 1/8" stock and a very simple outline.

I’m cutting speaker grills. My project has two of them side by side. It cut the first grill fine, then stopped in the middle of the second grill. I reset the machine and started over 4 times now. Just keeps stopping and resetting itself. I’ve now wasted 2 4x8 sheets of stock and a full roll of double-sided tape.

Any ideas?

You don’t state what controller you’re running. If running from a USB connection to a PC, is the PC going to sleep and cutting the USB connetion?

Does it stop in exactly the same place each time? If so, look for something odd in the gcode.

If it’s just at about the same place (or about the same time running) look for sources of EMI and/or static electricity. For example, don’t run the power cord for the router parallel to or right next to the stepper motor wires, and if you’re using dust collection ground the hose somehow to eliminate static.

Is it anything like my problem?

Thanks for responding, Tom. I’m running the original Ramps board. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to when and where it stops.

I am running the power cords parallel I’ll see if I can change that. I did run a ground wire for the dust collection, but that didn’t seem to have any effect.

Maybe I’ll try the cut without dust collection just to see if that may be my challenge.

Stay tuned!

How are you sending the gcode? Lcd screen and sd card?

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Is it possible a cable is being stretched and pulling something?

Hey Jeff. Exactly right. SD card & LCD.

Not that I can find. but I guess that’s a possibility. I’ll dig more. Thanks!

OK. Here are some ideas:

  1. To stop from ruining more material, try an air cut, or cut in foam. If you are not using the router and it makes it all the way through the air cut, then that really points to EMI or power issues.
  2. I have made mistakes in the past where I didn’t copy the entire file to the SD card. I still don’t know how I did it, but I have done it several times. Check the gcode and make sure the whole file is there.
  3. The LCD cables are very susceptible to noise. If you have the longer ones, that may be causing the issue. You can try a different sending method, like repetier host, cncjs, or universal gcode sender from a computer.
  4. EMI, wiring, and power supply issues could all be causing this. They are all a pain to debug. They won’t be consistent either. So it pays to pay attention to where in the gcode file and where on the machine it is failing. If it is consistent, hopefully it isn’t one of these issues.