TMC 1000 + Mach 3
Here is my finished up TMC 1000 and running and am glad it works. Doing something for the first time is the hardest because the outcome is unknown. I am using a T30 ThinkPad with XP (optimized) which is very stable in Mach 3.
I had to keep updating my wiring diagrams every time something changed when doing the actual wiring. I needed to have a correct schematic to finish the wiring. The control panel running with Campbell breakout board and 202 Gecko drives connected to my TMC 1000 though the original 9 pin (Z harness) and 15 pin X+Y harness) connectors. I couple of the limit switches where common used the same pin assignments in the original wiring. In Mach and on the breakout board LED’s I had a X- limit switch grounding with the Z limits which I thought was separate. I retraced the wiring and found that the X- limit switch was common with the Z+ limit and that pin assignment was with the Z harness so I revised the wiring again.
I did have a sporadic problem with a frequency spike every 3 seconds. I had no problem with the laptop the first day I used it. I cut the roadrunner on 3 or for plates with no problem. I even ran a modified smaller roadrunner code twice in the same aluminum plate to see if it would be repeatable. The next day I was cutting the roadrunner on some new scrap pieces of ½ Plexiglas to see how fine a line I could get. I cut around 4 them and then the motors sounded weird and the endmill went deep into the Plexiglas. When jogging the motors every resolution there was a knocking sound in each stepper motor and not understanding steppers I thought I had bad steppers.
At this point I need to stop and thank Bob Campbell for his help with a problem I had with the X motor step and direction which was resolved by using the A motor pin assignments to Mach. I had also asked Bob if he sold stepper motors because I thought mine were bad. I then told him about the knock I had in my motors but after I said that even at a faster jog speed, the knock remained the constant at around 3 seconds. Bob told me it was a frequency spike that was causing the knocking sound.
I didn’t know what I did to change the computer to cause the spike until I saw the green battery light blinking every 3-seconds. I remembered I had disconnected the AC charger from the T30 to use a spotlight on the back of the mill when reinstalling the screws for the back panel. After I was done with that I repluged in the AC cord and then is when the milling changed.
There are three staged charging for the ThinkPad. 1st is a constant yellow light for most of the battery recharge. 2nd is a green blinking light to indicate a trickle charge to top off the battery. 3rd is fully charged and the charging system is off. The trickle charging system was my 3-second spike. I ran the roadrunner code 7 times on the same piece of Plexiglas with no deviation to the cut lines AFTER the battery was fully charged.
Below are pictures of the Mach 3 on my T30, control box, mill and Roadrunners.
Here is a movie on YouTube too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H7UG8nfHxEFrank
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