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Setting up an AxiDraw V3/A3 for the first time. I am in the US, plugging into standard power, and a MacBook Air with a USB-C to USB-A dongle. macOS Big Sur, Inkscape 1.1. Plug in the power, and green light comes on, and the stepper motor activates as it steps through a continuous cycle. Plug in the USB cable, and I try to do the AxiDraw Control extension to just check the pen up/down – get the error “Low Voltage Detected”). I checked the power supply and it seems to be the right one. Very baffled.
You say that “the stepper motor starts moving”, but can you please tell me if the XY movement of the machine is working correctly?
It is possible that the power supply is indeed producing a low voltage — if that is the case, then the power supply may indeed be failing (In your other message, you indicated that this is an older unit, and power supplies do sometimes fail), but then we would expect that the stepper motors are not moving correctly.
If the XY motion is working correctly, then it seems like the voltage sensor is not working correctly. If so, there is a hidden setting to disable the check, which will suppress the warning message. Please let me know what the situation is, and we’ll go from there.
*That* may actually be the problem. The white plastic arm is driven by the pen-lift servo motor, and it should not start moving when the machine is first plugged in. The pen-lift servo motor is a component that wears out over time, and buzzing when the machine first turns on may indicate that it is not working correctly. When it fails, it can sometimes draw excessive current, producing a low-voltage warning.
I would recommend to follow along with the AxiDraw User Guide for the general steps towards making your first plot, including testing to see if the pen lifts up and down correctly, and if it can make a plot correctly. If it does not move in XY when you try to make a plot, then try disconnecting the servo cable, and see if that makes a difference.
Moving _once_ when power is plugged in, but not buzzing, does not suggest a problem, with this version of the controller board.
Can you please clarify why it is that you cannot get past the warning? It’s a warning message, not an error, and does not prevent anything else from working. If it’s just bothering you so much that you cannot get past it, then let’s temporarily disable that warning, so that you can move along. Otherwise, just ignore it for the moment.
You are correct that there are no directions in the user guide for connecting or replacing the pen-lift motor.
The “first two steps” are connecting the cable and installing the pen clip. That is why the directions there are for how to connect the cable and install the pen clip.
That warning does not prevent you from doing anything – it just reports that a low voltage was detected.
Can you please check to see whether XY motion works with the servo cable unplugged?
If that test was with the cable still unplugged, then this does seem like a power supply issue then; I’d recommend to replace the power supply.
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