motors not turning - please help (newbie)

[Thys]

Hi Guys, I'm Thys. A newbie to this forum and to cncing. I have just built a mdf cnc machine, motors fitted, software loaded and drivers and power supply wired up etc, but I cannot get the motors to turn using simple g code to move them.
I have Mach3 loaded and am using g00 x1 and similar ro try and move the motors.

When I switched the power supply on for the motor drivers, I could hear them initialise and I even heard a little jump on the motor the first time I send a command through, but now nothing. I see the numbers moving on the computer screen, but no action on the cnc machine. Please could a ""saint"" help me!! Did I mention, it's midnight!

kind regards
Thys

[BR549]

Double check your settings for the step and dir lines. you may have them reversed.

Just a thought, (;-)

[Thys]

Hi Guys, some more details to my problem to help me diagnose the issue.
I checked the settings of step and dir lines and they seem fine as per my book (build your own cnc)
I have marked the e-stop value to 1 to 0.
Port 1 enable and number is 0x378

The problem which i am not able to sort out is getting windows xp to load the mach 3 driver.
- when I check the driver details in the device manager, it still says the old windows driver with a 2001 date or something. I tried to delete the driver and reload from the mach 3 software but still no luck.

do you guys think that this could be the issue..
if not, could it be the break out board, I am not sure how to isolate this to check if it is the issue. I have double checked my wiring and it all looks 100%.

Just a recap, the motors initialise, I can hear the sound they make when they kick in, the software shows the g code instructions i give it but the motors aren't turning,

thanks BR549 for your suggestions so far, please can anybody help me!
thanks
Thys

[Tweakie.CNC]

Thys,

Run the 'DriverTest.exe' file in the Mach directory, if you have not already done so, this should check the drivers.

Check your parallel port cable with a multimeter to make certain that all pins are connected and that pin1 goes to pin1, pin2 to pin2 etc.

Tweakie.

[Thys]

Hi Tweakie, I will do, I did run the test the other day and it said system excellent (if I remember correctly) , but I will run again to make sure. I will also test the parrallel port. I made it up myself so I need to check nothing have come loose etc.

If the driver test comes back ok, does that mean that there is no prob with the driver of the pc, or that everything is ok with the motor drivers on the board I built up?
If one pin or two is faulty on the parallel cable, would that maybe cause the problem I am currently experiencing?

thanks for your assistance so far.

regards
Thys

[Tweakie.CNC]

Thys,

The driver test prog only tests your PC and its capabilities to run Mach. If the driver test runs then the drivers are installed OK.

If you built your own motor driver board then have you measured the outputs voltage from you computer's parallel port ?  If it is 3.3 Volt then have you tested that your driver board will work reliably at this voltage ?

There are many different cables which have the DB25 connectors fitted and look like parallel port cables (some have a crossover function intended to connect two PC's together and some are just serial comm cables) so it is good to check that the one you are using has pin1 to 1 etc.

Tweakie.

[Thys]

thanks Tweakie, will def test the parallel cable. I bought the breakout board and the motor drivers and motors from Keling (incl power supply for the motor drivers - output  36V measured and confirmed).
Please would you explain how and where to test for output voltage.

Out of interest, my board is powered by a 5v transformer. I did notice that when I plug the parallel cable into the board, I saw the power led light come on, on the breakout board. then when I switched the power on of the transformer (external power source) , the light shon a little brighter. Mean anything?

[Tweakie.CNC]

Thys,

What make and model breakout board are you using ?
A picture would be helpful.

Tweakie.

[Thys]

I am heading home for lunch soon, will take pic and post in an hour.
thanks for your assistance. so much appreciated.
Thys

[Thys]

Hi Tweaky, tried to attach images but keeps giving me an error, could I email them to you?
Or any other way of getting them posted?
regards
Thys