Hooked up my Blockbox today for the first time. My laptop connected ok but as soon as I powered up my power supply my laptop rebooted. This happened twice. I made sure power cable wasn't near USB. And that seemed to work. However, I tried moving the stepperss to zero but nothing happened. It sounded like the stepper were trying to turn but nothing moved. Ant suggestions?
Is you are using OpenBuilds CONTROL: Load one of the machine profiles from the Grbl Settings Tab (We set $4=1 in all the profiles for you already) Or if you are not using CONTROL, send $4=1 (at the very least)
Yes I'm Using OpenBuilds CONTROL. I'll have to try that tonight when I get home. I couldn't find much in the way of documentation on how to use CONTROL I'm very new to this and could using whatever help I can get.
OpenBuilds® has a couple tutorial videos (Hello World Project is a good one showing the software). The 'wiring and software' videos deals with the Grbl settings (Some videos are being reshot for the BlackBox so just stand by as they become available)
OK loading the C-Beam profile fixed the problem but not before crashing my laptop again! I've figured out that you cannot plug in the USB cable between the Blackbox and the laptop until the PSU is powered up and the Blackbox is turned on. That is **** annoying because my laptop didn't want to come up. Took me almost an hour to get it running again before I could test loading a machine profile. I also then had to rewire the the leads from the stepper since the color sequence you show in the documentation wasn't correct. Instead of a smooth whirl of the steppers I got an awful grinding noise. Fortunately I knew enough about steppers to know what the problem was. But now I have a new problem. The Z-axis isn't working. I swapped the stepper with the Y-axis to verify the stepper was working properly which it was. It was then I noticed, the "!" under the Z-axis current adjustment is glowing red so I suspect a problem with the Blackbox. Hopefully this was not caused by the problem that keeps shutting down my laptop.
Just powered up everything without the laptop. Now the red "!" under the Y axis current adjustment turned on in addition to the Z axis. After reading the documentation I adjust both down a bit but the lights did not go out. I turned the Blackbox off waited a few minutes and turned it back on. Both lights remained off for about a minute before I turned the power off. I don't have time tonight to hook everything back up and test so I will do that tomorrow after work.
Reach out to http://support.openbuilds.com/support/home and they'll get you a replacement out when the new stock comes in.
I have a similar problem. Finally got my Blackbox installed yesterday on my C-Beam that I bought a year ago. Powered it up and successfully connected to it with the CONTROL program. However, it would not jog any of the NEMA 23 steppers. The Blackbox is showing faults on the X, Y2 and Z drivers. I verified that the coil pairs on the steppers were accurately matched and have tried to find a solution to clearing the faults (they are present whether the motors are connected or not - although Y2 has never had anything connected). The BB does control the CNC tool, ring light, etc. just not the steppers. I also allowed the BB to sit overnight in a powered-down state in case it was an overheat fault. This still did not resolve the fault issue. Please help!
I had a similar issue. Peter was able to fix mine with acetone. Its worth a shot. If not, contact the store and they will get your sorted. Here's the acetone info: Need help with new Open Build BlackBox
I gave it the acetone treatment (twice) but still showing faults at X, Y2, and Z. Thanks for the recommendation anyway! I will contact the store to see what they can do.
I appreciate your time to do the acetone check. Excellent data for us to work from. 1/3 success ratio so might not be a flux residue problem as suspected. Thanks for helping out @sharmstr!
Peter, I emailed the Openbuilds Parts Store about resolving this issue but haven't gotten a response yet. What is their usual turn-around time?
