When to Stop Troubleshooting and Contact Support

Protecting Your Hardware and Your Time

Most issues with a new CNC setup are simple and solvable. Some are not, and continuing to troubleshoot in those cases can make things worse.

This article explains when to stop, why that matters, and how to get help quickly without damaging hardware or burning time.

Stop Immediately If You Notice Any of These

If you see or smell any of the following, power the machine down and stop testing:

Electrical or burning smell
Excessive heat from motors, drivers, or power supplies
Repeated alarms that return immediately after reset
Alarms that appear without motion
Sparks or visible arcing
Tripped breakers or blown fuses

Continuing to run the machine in these conditions can cause permanent damage.

“It Worked Yesterday” Scenarios

When a system works and then suddenly doesn’t, the cause is usually external, not software.

Common triggers:

Static discharge from a shop vac
Cable movement or strain
Grounding changes
Environmental changes, dry air, new dust collection setup
Accidental unplugging or partial connections

In these cases, repeated resets or re-running jobs rarely helps and often makes the situation worse.

Static Events Matter

If you experienced:

A visible spark
A static shock while touching the machine
A shock while vacuuming or cleaning

Stop troubleshooting immediately.

Static damage can be latent, meaning things may partially work or fail intermittently. Continuing to run the system can escalate a recoverable issue into a permanent one.

Repeated Alarms Are a Signal, Not a Nuisance

Closed-loop alarms, homing errors, or driver faults are the system protecting itself.

If:

The same alarm appears multiple times
Multiple axes alarm at once
Alarms appear under light or no load

Do not keep resetting and retrying.

That behavior points to wiring, grounding, or hardware issues that need to be addressed deliberately.

What Helps Support Respond Fast

Before contacting support, gather what you can without further testing.

Helpful items:

Clear photos of the controller wiring
Photos of motor connections
A short video of the error or alarm
A brief description of what changed before the issue appeared
Any recent static event or power event

You do not need to diagnose the problem. Clear information is far more valuable than guesses.

What You Do Not Need to Do

Do not disassemble motors
Do not swap random wires “to see what happens”
Do not keep power cycling repeatedly
Do not assume you caused the problem

Stopping early protects both your equipment and your warranty options.

Final Thought

Knowing when to stop is part of using professional equipment.

Reaching out early:

Prevents expensive damage
Saves time
Leads to faster, clearer resolutions

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If something feels off, trust that instinct. We’re here to help.