stg
commented
8 years ago I've had this issue a lot and there were two distinct reasons.
1) According to the author, serial-port-json-server has this issue on Windows with the latest version. If memory serves me, 1.80 is recommended for Windows for now. A new version seems to be drawing near.
The next one only applies to subtractive cnc machines such as mills, routers, lathes or anything that otherwise involves plenty of rubbing between different materials.
2) ESD. Seriously. A CNC mill can build up some pretty mind boggling levels static electricity. When cutting PU-foam (model board) I got zapped several times with enough juice to scare the living daylight out of me. Getting zapped by my 25kV/25mA laser cutter power supply was nasty, but not that scary, which should tell you something about just how bad it can get. Static electricity can creep along wires and discharge at the controller. While the discharge, due to high surface impedance of the plastic cable housing, is typically not strong enough to fry the electronics it is more than enough to screw up the processor in all the strangest ways. I've had memory changes, g-code misinterpretations, wonky motion, crashes, etc. but most frequently by far - communication losses!
By grounding the spindle and the control board ghetto style with crocodile clip lab wires my problems nearly went away completely. The proper solution of course would be to encase the controller in a grounded metal box with ESD cable inserts (slightly conductive plastic) which will catch any ESD discharges before they can reach the internal electronics.
It's easy enough to try if you have ground available at your power outlets, so perhaps give it a shot?
johnlauer
troisiemetype
aldenhart
ril3y
I'm experiencing a strange thing with TinyG and coolterm: while running a program (Gcode file), the connection is sudenly lost. At first it happenned at an end of line, after a gcode instruction (that is: I suppose so beacause it happens at the end of a move), but once it hapened right in the middle of a straight line (move G1 from Y105 to Y-5, stopping at about Y40). Closing and reopening connection make the move start back, as if it was just paused, sometimes with a move in G0 instead of G1. Sometimes this G0 instead of G1 move happens immediately, sometimes after several moves, sometimes not. At first I tought it was a problem with the flow control, as the setting was $ex==1 and XON marked on Coolterm. But having set back $ex to 2 and CTS to on, the problem persists. I had the problem several times, and then had another one that I think is linked, even if I don't understand how: doing an homing (G28.2X0Y0Z0) X- switch has not been detecting, and motor forcing. I tried to fire the other switch, but without any result. But once the tinyG shut down and ligted again, the homing happend whitout problem.
here are the settings of my card: