Homing action for X axis and limit switch at the top of the right side motor

After months and months of trying to get this GGflex to actually work with DDcut, I can FINALLY get it to start the homing process.

If I click start and get "Machine locked due to error", I can unplug the 12v, then click the reset button on the CNC Shield. When I click start again, the machine starts to home.

It first moves Z (end-mil) rearward. Hits limit switch and moves off a few times and stops.

It then moves Y to the right +. Hits limits switch and moves off a few times and stops.

It then begins to move the X (table) all the way down until it crashes at the end. If I flip the 2 cloned plugs of the steppers backward, it moves up all the way until it crashes at the top. Smashing the X limit switch at the top closed but not stopping the machine at all...

1st question; Home in DDcut should move X table which way. Up or down?

2nd question; Why is it not seeking a limit for X in order to know its exact starting height? I found each time I tried to insert an AR lower, it was at a different starting height.

(this needs to be resolved before I can edit the cutting code to start probing in my magwell in the correct starting position.)

3rd question, HAS ANYONE EVER GOTTEN A GGFLEX TO RUN DDCUT AND MILL AN 80% LOWER????? I AM HIGHLY DOUBTING THIS AT THIS POINT.

1. Depends on the .dd routine, but the general first move method is to seek X- switch (moving 'up' to that switch).

2. This is what the home move is attempting to do; it locates Xmin and then uses it's known Xmax as the upper bound, never exceeding either (and tripping an alarm if X- switch is ever hit outside of a homing move). The machine zero is ultimately not important though - only the probed material position, which is why the original method of completely discounting and removing the limit switches on the frame worked... again, the GG2 manual has info regarding the WCS, material probing, and the axes configurations under sections 5.1 and 5.2.
You said previously that you made it to the insert tool/probing stage, have you undid something that is now causing issues with the Xmin homing move?

3. Yup; it's three extremely simple slotting operations followed by three drill operations with two setup stages and relatively loose tolerances. DDCut is a little weird to work with on account of the closed source software and awkward and outdated GRBL flavor, but it's still fairly straightforward.
Outside of DDCut, the .dd contents can also be pulled and run as their own routines, which has been our method of moving the project towards 32-bit controllers and the advanced features set. DDCut only uses two odd methods/commands in its gcode library, and editing those out allow the code to be run on a wider variety of controllers.
That said, the electronics you're using are mechanically identical to the first two generations of GG1/2 machines before the GRBLDC board was developed and there are literally thousands of those older machines and several hundred FLEX's out there operating with minimal issues. Dropped USB connections, signal noise, and chatter from the aggressively ramped .dd routines tend to be the only complaints out there.

Well, my X axis is not behaving correctly.

In DDcut starting any OEM cut program homes Z +, then homes Y + but then tries to move X + which moves table down away from top limit switch and bangs end point. So I can NOT start measuring edit of bit starting point in my jig for probing.

When I open GRBL and $X then $H, only Z and Y home.

X does nothing.

If I test X by entering command $X10 it moves X + down. If I enter command $X-10 it moves X - upward. So X axis is working. But not homing???

Sounds like X is flipped. DDCut should home Z+, then Y+, then X- (which is "back, right, then up" relative to the user).

If you've hit an alarm triggered by a single axis you'll need to reset before being able to make software defined homing actions again.

Currently ALL steppers are plugged in same connector direction. You want me to flip X and A cloned to be backward from the rest?

Isn't GRBL moving X in the correct direction?

Ok, I flipped the X and A connectors over. Now when DDcut homes. It moved Z rear, Y right and X up. But it keeps going up, smashing the right side on the limit switch and taking the left side all the way top and they both keep jamming upward like the X limit switch is not working....

And yes, limit switches and homing has to be done in DDcut in order to start the lower and jig in the correct position for PROBE action. If not in correct place the bit seeks and hits no magwell walls. Axis are locked so I can not manually place jig in correct placement to bit for probing

Your limit switch should attached to the motor mount at the 'top' of X, which is X-, and that is the direction that the homing moves in .dd files will go.
I specifically called out the manual sections that explain this; it is absolutely essential that you read and understand the manual when it is referenced. The FLEX is a physical and operational clone of the GG2, and the GG2 documentation is required reading for operation of the FLEX.

GG2 Manual wrote:

5.1 - Referencing the Machine
Ghost Gunner prohibits motion until the machine is referenced (a.k.a ‘homed’) to a limit switch on each axis. Software limits are then used to prevent out-of-bounds motion that could damage the machine. Tools 3” or less can remain installed while referencing. Remove tools over 3” before homing, as they won’t clear the T-slot plate. Parts can remain installed while referencing as long as they don’t interfere with the fully retracted tool. ‘$H’ initiates the referencing routine, which first retracts Z, then simultaneously moves the T-slot plate up and the spindle right. Each axis is them pulled 1 mm from its limit switch. Grbl operates all three axes in negative space (i.e. quadrant III operation). Once referenced, the software origin (0,0,0) is at the machine’s bottom (X+), right (Y+), and rear (Z+). However, since the limit switches are located at X-/Y+/Z+, the machine position immediately after homing is (-74,-1, -1).

5.2 - Understanding the Work Coordinate System Ghost Gunner is designed to cut holes much deeper than most hobbyist CNC machines. Ghost Gunner uses a horizontal spindle to prevent chip accumulation in deep pockets. The horizontal spindle also increases 3D printed jig rigidity. All three axes operate in negative
coordinate space and follow standard right hand rule nomenclature:
*Maintain a gap to prevent accidental limit switch tripping.
The figure at right shows physical axes movement. The Y & Z axes
physically move in the same direction as seen by the part. However, the
X axis physically moves in the opposite direction than is seen by the part.
The direction shown in the figure at right is the physical direction the T-slot
will move. Appendix C contains larger labels that attach to the machine

Pegasus wrote:

And yes, limit switches and homing has to be done in DDcut in order to start the lower and jig in the correct position for PROBE action. If not in correct place the bit seeks and hits no magwell walls. Axis are locked so I can not manually place jig in correct placement to bit for probing

Alarms should not persist between hard resets, or they can be cleared manually.
A reset is recommended since it also clears coordinate variables.

Yes, my X - limit switch is mounted to right side X motor mount. Home moves X axis up and clicks X - limit switch and tries to keep going up jamming it upward. Perhaps my switch is dead??

Pegasus wrote:

Yes, my X - limit switch is mounted to right side X motor mount. Home moves X axis up and clicks X - limit switch and tries to keep going up jamming it upward. Perhaps my switch is dead??

It's possible for the mechanical switch to be damaged from those hits, but relatively rare and usually visible (the metal arm being bent or broken off well before the switch component is damaged).

I have limits plugged into Y+ X+ and SPNEN. Should I change any?

Ok, flipping my X,A stepper plugs backwards solved the travel direction issue.

But because DDcuts 1st operation is to home Z,Y and X. My X limit switch is not communicating to stop upward travel of the 2 steppers. So it takes both full top making the X table 1 Inch higher on the left side due to the limit switch in the way of the right side. And they both bang the top positions until turning off.

There would be NO way to continue to next step, probe of rear magwell because DDcut can not center for jig install.

I tried moving X limit switch from X+ to X-. Same problem. I moved back to X+ and flipped it, same problem. I moved off green and black and tried black and red. Same problem.

So my X limit switch is not reacting? Nothing looks damaged, or bent.

Thought: Is it possible to skip 1st operation of homing. Manually level and place AR jig in machine, move all steppers by hand to put the Milling Bit in rear of magwell. Then launch probe operation and let it proceed from there?

It is possible to skip the 01/02 (and 03, since there's no BLDC support yet) homing actions/alignment to go straight to well probing.
The user can manually move the axes to the start point in the magwell (or start the machine up with the tool located there) and then proceed from 04 onward to probe the edges and determine the material home.

OK, I think after countless of months and thousands of hours I have to finally give up on this POS. It's clear it "CAN NOT WORK AS A GHOST GUNNER CLONE".

Due to the home action of DDcut banging the X axis upward and not stopping when the X limit is touched, I bought a pack of 6 new limit switches and tried 2 of them. Both with the same result. DDcut not stopping when the x limit is reached.

So I tried ignoring the home feature all together. I leveled the X axis table, mounted my AR15 jig with aligning by hand the bit in the magwell exactly as it needs to sit before probe function. I hooked up my red and black probe wires and opened DDcut. I ran the AR15 cut program and DDcut has NO way I can see to skip to the PROBE step- bypassing all the Home and warm up stages?!?!

How do I go about getting this returned and refunded??? It's clearly never going to function as advertised.

Pegasus wrote:

Due to the home action of DDcut banging the X axis upward and not stopping when the X limit is touched, I bought a pack of 6 new limit switches and tried 2 of them. Both with the same result. DDcut not stopping when the x limit is reached.

Dont flip backward your X/A steppers. Keep them same as rest. Your X axis thinks the limit is clicked on because your endstop switch wires are picking up noise from your stepper motors. Thats why its moving up and down slightly on you. It thinks it is pulling off. Move all your limit switch wires as far away from stepper motor wires as you can. Should solve your home and machine lock issues. May have to run the DDcut reset code and new firmware to clear out before trying again. It will home. But after home going full X up. It will move full down and crash at the end as the X axis does not have as far as travel as a Ghost does. It will click at the bottom trying to keep going. Its fine. That has not thrown off level and proceeded to probe just fine for me. Peace.

We had ruled out signal noise in another troubleshooting topic/procedure (pulled everything apart and manually activated the switches/shorted the pins to check their function).

Pegasus's initial string of issues (split between 3 or 4 different threads on here) were caused by the machine not being properly reset and the alarm flag tripping up DDCut every time he tried to home. He eventually hit the shield reset button out of curiosity and it worked as it was intended, fixing the issue. He reported shortly after that the machine was homing fine and that he was moving on to probe setup.

This new variation of his original issue has since come up, but he hasn't mentioned any hardware changes or code/procedure changes so I've been operating under the assumption that's it's the alarm flag again and he just needs to clear it. Technical details and error logs have been sparse, so I'm not aware of any other changes that would have produced a new issue, but am keeping an eye on it and if anything new issues come up I'll check for a fix.

HueJass wrote:

Pegasus wrote:

Due to the home action of DDcut banging the X axis upward and not stopping when the X limit is touched, I bought a pack of 6 new limit switches and tried 2 of them. Both with the same result. DDcut not stopping when the x limit is reached.

Dont flip backward your X/A steppers. Keep them same as rest. Your X axis thinks the limit is clicked on because your endstop switch wires are picking up noise from your stepper motors. Thats why its moving up and down slightly on you. It thinks it is pulling off. Move all your limit switch wires as far away from stepper motor wires as you can. Should solve your home and machine lock issues. May have to run the DDcut reset code and new firmware to clear out before trying again. It will home. But after home going full X up. It will move full down and crash at the end as the X axis does not have as far as travel as a Ghost does. It will click at the bottom trying to keep going. Its fine. That has not thrown off level and proceeded to probe just fine for me. Peace.

(let me preface this by saying im not an electrical engineer and this is my first experience with cnc controllers.. though i have a small amount of experience with 3d printing controllers and Marlin) i know you guys are saying you ruled out signal noise (EMI) in some other thread, but just a heads up. i just fought this battle. exact same behavior. It was working.. added the endstops.. then i buttoned up my wires and it wasnt working. (yeah the pin swap got me too.. i dont read enough especially when its documented on the board.) i kept testing individual components with no noticeable failures.. but the field coming off the x-axis motor or something over there was randomly tripping the X- endstop switch. not sure if it was the proximity of the rail or issues along those unshielded wires. Seemed like when i separated the wire away from the motor wires i was still seeing the issue periodically though.. so ive a hunch it had something to do with maybe a static buildup on that rail so nicely insulated on both ends and it riding right against the front of that switch. Not sure.. but thats definitely the problem area. i just disconnected that switch and added another one on the opposite side and used the other bracket (slightly modified) to anchor it to the frame and let it knock against the table bracket. and before anyone says the angle will cause it to fail... who cares they're 2 bucks a piece.

move your chassis to the middle so you dont crash something. $20=0,$21=0.. hand on your estop. unplug them one at a time and test them. you can identify which one is failing that way. leave the offending one unplugged.. wire you a second one up and keep it out away from everything.. test it a couple times.. then mount it out of the way so the EMI doesnt screw with you.

i get that you are frustrated pegasus.. but running dd files isnt what this opensource project is about. No i have not ran a dd file.. nor could i. i run linux. but i have a cad of a lower and i just mapped the gcode for it and ran it through this machine. once i work out my probing im going to run a couple test blocks through it and then turn it lose on aluminum. and once i master that.. im going straight into a 0% lower and im going to make one out of a chunk.. not because its economical but because im just that ungovernable and a glutton for punishment.

This project is a pile of parts and a little bit of know how. it is what you make of it. if you want to unload your parts ping me. ill not pay full price.. but i know what they are worth. Im already planning another build with a much larger cutting area.