spindle control

[groundhog]

   Short history - I just bought a used Syil X4+ from Keith in Canada. I am using an old Dell Dimension 2400 and have installed a Rosewill parallel board (removed the on-board parallel and serial ports via the BIOS) and Mach3 (ver R3.043.022).
   What little I have tried seems to work except the spindle direction (and I think the dwell or delay). The spindle will only turn CCW. Changing the DirLowActive setting or checking/unchecking the reverse option do not make any difference. Keith has been helping me but we have not had any luck.
   I tested the cable with an ohm meter, all pins have continuity from end to end. I took a look at the wiring in the back (pushed all plug-ins to make sure they are seated). Today I added the parallel port card.
   Keith said they tested everything before it was shipped and it ran OK. He has still to send the exact *.xml file that they used to test with, but I have been using the generic file that Keith usually provides with an X4+ (I have tried a few others I found, all with the same results).
   A couple of things I notice but don't understand. When I start the spindle a lot of times I get the message "PWM bumped to minimum setting" What does that mean? The green "led" around "CV MODE" is lit. Don't know what that means either.
   With my limited knowledge in all areas covered by this forum I don't have much to reciprocate with other than my sincere thanks, but you will surely have that.

Mike aka groundhog

[Tweakie.CNC]

To run CW or CCW you need two relays (or solid state drive circuits) which modify the wiring to the spindle or activate different pins on the VFD.

Do you have any info on your spindle / VFD ?

Tweakie.

[groundhog]

Tweakie,

Sorry, no I don't know enough to know anything about the spindle except that is a stock Syil x4+ mill.

In manual mode (using the "buttons" on the mill itself) the spindle will run in both directions. It is just in Mach3 that I am having problems.

I am starting to suspect a loose connection or something, but haven't been able to find anything.

Any other ideas would really be appreciated. This is starting to get frustrating.

[olf20]

When you say manual mode, do you mean the controls on your machine
or from the Mach3 screen / keyboard?
If you are using the manual controls on the machine then as Tweakie
said you need another relay in the control cabinet for Mach to tell your
machine / spindle to run the other way.
Think of it as two seperate control that need to be interfaced with each
other (via relay).
olf20 / Bob

[Tweakie.CNC]

Groundhog,

Looks like you have already done all the basic checks etc.

The X4 spindle is controlled by a direction signal on pin1 of the LPT parallel port. When this pin is high the spindle will rotate in one direction when activated and rotate in the other direction when the pin is taken low. Therefore you should be able to change the spindle direction from CCW to CW by changing the 'dir active low' config in Mach (as per arrow). Then by entering G0 M3 in the MDI box it will go one way and G0 M4 it will go the other and stop with M5.

I have tried the generic .xml and it all works fine here so if your Mach configuration is correct then it is more than likely a broken wire relating to the LPT pin 1 and its connection to the X4 terminal board. You should be able to check this with a multimeter (positive to pin1 and negative to ground [pins 18 to 25]) using the MDi and commands M3 and M4 to toggle the pin state between 0volts and 5volts (approx).


Tweakie.

[groundhog]

Tweakie,
First, thanks for helping.
I checked pin #1 at the mill end of the parallel cable (cable unattached from the mill). It is high (5V) no matter what Mcode I send. Not a flutter between M3, M4 or M5.
I tried changing the Dir Pin # from 1 to 3 (which I didn't see being used anywhere) but the same thing. I wasn't sure what I am doing there so changed it back.

At least we seem to be isolating the problem towards the computer (which is bad because I'm on my second computer now)!

Any ideas from here?

PS this has been a consistent problem since I got the used mill a week ago. 2 computers, 2 on-board parallel ports and 1 pci parallel port (switched from one computer to the other), several profiles and all behaving exactly the same way.

Thanks

Mike aka groundhog

[groundhog]

Tweakie,
Not sure what happened. I took a break for awhile, mill off & computer on. Went to test again just because and it test GOOD!
Hooked mill back up and spindle will reverse now. Speeds are a little off, but I haven't tuned motors yet.

Turned everything off, rebooted and all still OK.

I'm always leery of things fixing themselves but... I was ready to cut pin 1 to make it go CW.

I' need to go for a motorcycle ride for an hour or so just to get away from it for a bit. Will shut everything down and let you know how it works after resting for a bit.

Thanks
Mike aka groundhog

[groundhog]

Problem returned - as they usually do when they fix themselves.

Since I was seeing problems at pin#1 on the cable I decided to start there. Good place to start. Found a broken wire at the mill end of the cable on pin#1. Re-soldered it and all is working properly (again)!

Glad to get that over with.

Tweakie, thanks again for your help.

groundhog

[Tweakie.CNC]

Great news that you got it fixed. You are now good for making chips 

Tweakie.