IslaWW wrote:Frunple...
I (we) may have been hung up on the lost steps verbiage. Can you confirm that no matter what you cannot get the machine to move negative?
If this is correct, then there may be no loss of steps, you may have a loose or broken wire on the Z axis direction pin. There could also be a bad chip on the direction circuit. This can easily be checked with an inexpensive multimeter. Disregard if only positive movement is the case.
Not sure what you mean by "no matter what"??
The axis moves in both directions fine, in fact, I've done a lot of cutting on it and had no noticeable problems with it (2D and 3D). The only time I noticed it was when I tried to cut a lithophane last week or two. That's when I saw the z axis rising, the litho was actually ramping up and the bit wasn't even touching the material by the end of it.
I'm thinking it may be the heat on the G540 based on how it cuts fine for a "while" then it starts 'ramping'. I'm assuming that may be where the heat is taking over.
Another thing I'll try is running a ground to the pc chassis as zeeway suggested. Right now I using an intel NUC as the control pc, I might go back to a regular desktop to see if it makes a difference.