Reiyuki

I don’t smoke, but my Xylotex does

Here’s the jist..   My old connectors (4pin molex) were not treating me very well, pins kept coming loose.  To resolve this, I decided to rewire the motors to RJ45 connectors/jacks.

Alas, I must have put the wires on improperly, as my  board made a high frequency whine, and 5 seconds later, a puff of smoke came from the board.  I pried off the heatsinks to find a dark burn on one axis of the drive.  Bummer.

I won’t make that mistake again, that’s for sure.  The xylotex website states 90$ for repair of the board, but I suppose an 8$ chip and some practice with SMD soldering wouldn’t hurt.
In the meantime, I ordered a replacement board, 4axis Xylotex.  It’s a little bigger, so I have to build a new chassis, but it will give me the option for 4axis whenever I decide to upgrade.  The 3axis can sit in a dark corner until I build a router table one of these days.

In the interim, it’s a good time to start forming a box and thoroughly clean the Taig.  It’s been a season since I’ve fired it up, and it’s a good a time as any to turn my finely calibrated machine out of whack.  I’ve been reading about resonance issues above 15ipm which may be solved by a damper (link here) which may also be looked at.