I have the same problem with a FabCreator cutter using Smoothie and GRBL
I tried to use the Z axis when attempting to identify how to focus the laser.
At some point I reached the highest position for the axis using the up and down arrows in the Move panel of LB
Since then I can’t use the Z axis button without getting the same errors
ALARM: Hard limit -Z
...
error:Alarm lock
This is very interesting.
Is the laser (or spindle) resting on the limit switch?
There is a pull-off or pull-back setting in GRBL and in Smoothie for limit switches. When the switch is triggered, the motor should reverse and ‘pull-off’ to return the limit switch to its original state. Please share the Smoothie config file or the Machine Settings $$ report from the Grbl profile.
If there is no switch on the axis where the laser (or spindle) has come to a stop. Please test to confirm that the mechanism isn’t binding and that the motor turns freely.
We solved the problem. By physically pulling down the bed, we released the switch.
A more knowledgeable operator than me used the belt (not sure this is the right term) to pull down the bed a bit, which resulted in making the smoothie happy again.
So I guess the switch got activated when trying to mount the bed too much and the motor didn’t “pull-off” enough to deactivate that switch.
Note that the smoothie didn’t seem to return the correct value for the Z-axis position anymore when the switch was activated. Always returned 0 when by experimenting we found out it was in approx. +18.3 position.
Also, I don’t know how the smoothie locking/unlocking works, but even with a Z-axis activated switch we could operate/use the laser on X and Y axis.
So, solved for me but the smoothie locking issue and feedback for users is confusing.
Thanks for coming back to us with this information. I’ll move your contribution to it’s own thread so it will be easier for others to find.
Thanks again.
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