Messages

141

General Mach Discussion / Re: Only X-axis motor is working

« on: March 29, 2018, 01:39:24 AM »

Go for it.
Cheers
Roger

142

General Mach Discussion / Re: Only X-axis motor is working

« on: March 28, 2018, 11:54:37 PM »

The second I plug the cable in, the relay triggers. That's cool. It could be a brake release or whatever
That is possibly a function of the active Hi/LO levels around the place, inc on the BoB.
I made all my outputs Active HI so that the effect of a disconnected cable etc was just the same power-down.
This does not cover the motor output signals.
You should also check any use of the Enable outputs from Mach3. Under normal conditions you can happily avoid using any of them.

Tested X and it works for about 5 cycles or less.
??
Use the LEDS and see exactly what is happening here.

Tested Y and it works perfectly
Good. You can/should also use this axis to check the drivers and motors for the other axes.

Tested Z and have zero movement
If the Z axis driver and motor check out OK when driven by the functioning Y axis, then the problem may be in the BoB or the Mach config. Guess what? LED time!

Tested A and no matter which direction it's supposed to move, it moves clockwise.
OK, Step pulses getting through but not the DIR signal. LED time and check Mach config.

No worries. You are on your way to having a good understanding of the Mach3 signalling, which will ALWAYS be an advantage. You also now have a functioning LED diagnostic tool.

PROGRESS!
Cheers
Roger

143

General Mach Discussion / Re: Only X-axis motor is working

« on: March 28, 2018, 02:43:05 AM »

Take cable back to store for refund?

Cheers
Roger

144

General Mach Discussion / Re: Only X-axis motor is working

« on: March 28, 2018, 01:55:51 AM »

I take it the cable was 'collected' from a different bit of equipment.
You can't undo the shells and unsolder all the wires at one end?
Or do the connectors have injection-moulded covers?

Cheers
Roger

145

General Mach Discussion / Re: Only X-axis motor is working

« on: March 27, 2018, 11:40:16 PM »

Ahhhh ...
I am not entirely sure I understand your diagram. If it really means that you got continuity between p21 at the left side and pin4 at the right side, then I am boggled. That is NOT a DB25 extender cable!!!!!!! I dunno what it is!

146

General Mach Discussion / Re: Only X-axis motor is working

« on: March 27, 2018, 11:12:38 PM »

Pin 2 on the parallel port emits on pin 3 on the cable.
HANG ON!
Where are you getting your pin numbers from?
The pin numbers seen on a ribbon cable connector are NOT the same as the numbers we use for I/O pins on the PP. In particular, pin 2 in CNC numbering scheme is pin 3 on a ribbon cable.

Cheers
Roger

147

General Mach Discussion / Re: Only X-axis motor is working

« on: March 26, 2018, 08:00:50 PM »

Oh.
May I interpret that as meaning that you could not get any signals from the Parallel port connector itself, except from the X axis pins?
If so, then I make the following deductions:
Mach3 and the parallel port driver are correctly installed and able to drive the X axis.
The other parallel port pins are not working, although you could check this further by trying to move the X axis onto some other pins.

All of which means, to me at least, that the parallel port chip on the computer motherboard may be damaged. If so, this is not recoverable (unless you replace the MOSTEK chip on the motherboard).
 If correct, then your next choice is to buy an external pulse engine. I strongly recommend against a USB version as they are very prone to noise interference. Buy an ethernet one.

Cheers
Roger

148

General Mach Discussion / Re: Only X-axis motor is working

« on: March 26, 2018, 04:17:27 PM »

Scrap the 'new' profile and go back to the distributed one.
Get the output pins working (changing state) when you change the Active Hi/Lo settings in Ports&Pins/Motor Outputs.
Then set up speed& accelerations & try jogging back and forth.

Cheers
Roger

149

General Mach Discussion / Re: Only X-axis motor is working

« on: March 26, 2018, 12:15:38 AM »

USB -powered MB-02 ... It is so long since I had to even look at mine at had forgotten!

I power my ESS from the BoBs through the DB25, and the BoBs from a separate PS.

Cheers
Roger

150

General Mach Discussion / Re: Only X-axis motor is working

« on: March 25, 2018, 11:01:13 PM »

Hi Inferno

Now I am a bit confused. (That's not hard.)
Is the BoB hooked up to the PP on the computer or via a USB connection? And how do you plug a USB cable into a BoB anyhow?

You may not WANT to be an electronics engineer, but if you are running a hobby CNC you WILL become one sooner or later. But that can be fun anyhow.

I am running Win7, ESS, 2xHomann Designs MB02 BoBs, Gecko 320s, Mach3 .062, and the whole hums away. I was running this morning in fact.

Cheers
Roger