Is Mach Stopping My Stepper Driver?

[Cosha]

Hello Everyone...

Im Begging Anyone to help me with this, i have tried everything I Can Think Of.....


Ok, i have been using Mach3 for 2 years on my little desk top CNC Machine.

I took out my machine to take to a workshop to get a few bits sorted, i got there any for some reason my X movement has gone totaly...

I have opened my CNC controller, all 3 stepper boards have power, all LEDS are showing that there is a correct signal from My desktop to the controller, and 2 of the 3 stepboards are working perfectly...

So what changed in the 30 min drive to the workshop?

I have spend 2 days SOLID trying to workthis out and i just can't im totaly upset about this as i dont think there is anything i can do...


Can Mach3 totaly stop a signal getting through to my cnc controller?

I cant find any documentation on my stepper boards, all i know is there 'Langenfeld 2.1a stepper board rev 1.2'

I have checked and re checked everything, but i can find out whats stopping this motor from moving...



I/O Port On PC = 0x379 - Same as Mach3

Like i said the other 2 motors are working fully under Mach3 control, now im at a loss...

Can someone throw some ideas that i might have missed out on?

Thanks in advance...

Cosha

[Hood]

If you have a scope check to see if the step pulse is coming out of the port when you jog the axis. If you dont have a scope you can check with a volt meter and you will see the voltage change as you start jogging, its not the best way but will let you at least see if there is an output.

If there is a signal coming out then the problem lies in your cable, drive, motor  or breakout board. If it doesnt then its either the port or your Mach Config.
Hood

[Cosha]

Hood, Thanks You For Helping Me!

You helped Me Back in 2008, when these same boards were in 'Sleep' Mode' (Enabled Port 1 Pin 17)



I have attached a quick sketch to show what i have found:

The 'Interface Card' Looks to be working fine, 4 LEDs indicate C/Z/Y/X Are getting information/have power

Each Board is Recieving 36v From The PSU

Each Board has green LED On (This Tells Me its getting signal I Think)



On the Stepper Board that is working, i get something like this: (But dont quote me - its in the ball park range)

5v - 3v - 5v - 3v - 5v - 0vGND

i have checked this at the pins

On The Non-Working Board

0v across all of the pins on the actual board - Nothing at all...



I have taken the board out to check / look for dry joins, broken parts etc, nothing! Still looks like new!

The boards are:

Langenfeld 2.1a stepper driver rev 1.2 - (No documentation ATALL on the internet)

I just dont understand where to fault find?



Mach3 Configuration:

All I did was unplug the Unit (Powered Off) & Un plugged the Stepper drivers

No Changes made to Mach3

The i found out it was not working, I deleted my Cosha.xml configuration file from Mach3 folder - then dropped a back up .xml configuartion back in...still the same problem


Now thats as far as i can go, i just don't know what else to do!

Any help would be great!

[Hood]

It would seem from your description that it is the drive that is faulty, one way to check is swap it with another axis drive and see if the problem follows the drive. If it does then its the drive, if it doesnt then it could be the interface board.

Hood

[Cosha]

Now this is where i think somethings not right with Mach...

If I plug Say for example:

The 'Z' ribbon from the interface to the right hand board - I get no movement
The 'Y' ribbon from the interface to the right Middle board - I get no movement

The 'Z' ribbon from the interface to the middle hand board - It works
The 'Y' ribbon from the interface to the right hand board - It works

It would seem that each output from the interface is spacific to the driver (i don't know how that would even work, as its only a signal & all boards are the same

Also the interface board as a small (looks Like & monitor plug) for dignostics i think:

Its just all strage very strage...

My other option is just to bin it, or make a CNC lathe just using 2 axis!

Im gutted that i cant find any information at all

[Cosha]

I found some paper work...

http://www.pro-tos.de/site/download/handbuecher.html

But i cant work out what im actualy looking for

[Hood]

None of the drives manuals open for me

Hood

[Cosha]

No me either!

I feel so lonely with this now, i can see this costing me ££££

I just dont understand how it can go from perfect to junk in a 30min drive!

Well - Since its dead, i might aswell post some pictures of my machine in its prime!

http://fpv-community.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=47&highlight=workshop

[Graham Waterworth]

The German ones open but not the English version, no real detail though.

Graham

[Cosha]

I have had a look over the german one, but i dont actualy think its the correct board anyway?

My only next step it to look for an electrical person, to test it all, as im not overly confident to what im actualy looking for!

There is no reason for MACH3 to do this is there?