I have a General 40-915x cnc router that I got a few years ago and used to use regularly. General never really made their way into the CNC market - I have one of the few out there. It's a very entry level machine but it's worked fine for me up till now. I haven't used it in about a year and went out today to do some work on it. For some reason the router motor stops turning as soon as the bit is under load. I have to slow down the jog speed to the slowest and take ridiculously light cuts to keep it from shutting down.

To recreate this I've taken a known good file, opened it, then just turned the spindle motor on. If I grab the spinning bit (the shaft above the cutting area of a 1/4" straight bit) with a needlenose plier and apply even the slightest pressure the motor will stop.

I understand that these motors will shut down if you overload them but I don't know how overload is sensed or how to determine where the problem is.


The motor in it says Madeson BLDC-55 115VAC 21,000 RPM motor from World Gaudih Industry Co. Ltd.

Any advice on how to troubleshoot would be much appreciated.