Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => General Mach Discussion => Topic started by: BORDER PATROL on September 09, 2009, 07:45:32 PM
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I started a thread asking for help with Mach3 and my Techno, but no one replied. Where do you talk to the people who took your money for the software? I need technical support, but do not know where to ask. Thanks
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Ask here, your last post wasnt exactly specific and unless someone actually knows your machine then its unlikely you will get help. Provide documentation or pics of the drives, motors etc then you will more than likely get help.
As for people taking your money for the software then yes that is exactly what they did, they didnt take money for doing the retrofit ;)
There are manuals and videos and this support forum all designed to give you help but you need to ask specifics or provide info as people are not mind readers.
Hood
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it's a fair point. Mach3 has so many applications it's impossible to offer hardware support. I've seen it used for glue dispensers, mills, lathes, pipe benders, plasma cutters, routers and all sorts of uncommon applications.
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I also want to speak to the developers about why the rear toolpost is a problem still.
I did ask nicely about a solution in my thread, but no answer as yet.
Phil
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Ask here, your last post wasnt exactly specific and unless someone actually knows your machine then its unlikely you will get help. Provide documentation or pics of the drives, motors etc then you will more than likely get help.
As for people taking your money for the software then yes that is exactly what they did, they didnt take money for doing the retrofit ;)
There are manuals and videos and this support forum all designed to give you help but you need to ask specifics or provide info as people are not mind readers.
Fair enough. The controller is a Mac 100, and I will post pics of the motors and drives. TY
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Here is a top and side view of the stepper motor:
(http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u313/hangem_high/001-24.jpg)
(http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u313/hangem_high/003-23.jpg)
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Where do the Green Brown and White wires go to?
Also do you have pics of the drives?
Pics of the connection to the controller/pc?
Hood
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I'll get back with you, thanks
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No problem, its late here but will look tomorrow or maybe someone else will jump in if you get the info posted.
Hood
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Hi, BORDER PATROL
It appears that you have 8 wire steppers to me, If your driver is bipolar then ref to the attached pdf for 8 wire connection options.
If your driver is uni-pole then there is only one way to wire the steppers.
Lit us know as Hood stated.
Chip
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Hi, BORDER PATROL
Dose the att pic show the wire color code you have, I think your steppers are wired parallel, Bipolar.
Chip
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Thanks for the help guys, it is much appreciated.
Here is what I have decided to do, and need your opinions on this course of action, as well as recommendations for the proper equipment.
1. Change from Vista to XP , either home edition or PRO, whichever is recommended.
2. Purchase a new 4 axis controller that will work with MACH3 and my stepper motors.
I would appreciate any and all advice, and entertain buying a controller from someone here on the forum that has one compatible with my motors.
Best regards
BP
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Hi, BORDER PATROL
Dose the att pic show the wire color code you have, I think your steppers are wired parallel, Bipolar.
Chip
[/quote]
Hi Chip,
the color coded wires look to be as follows:
yellow, white/red stripe
white/yellow stripe, red
white/orange
white/orange stripe/black
then brown/green/white
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Thanks for the help guys, it is much appreciated.
Here is what I have decided to do, and need your opinions on this course of action, as well as recommendations for the proper equipment.
1. Change from Vista to XP , either home edition or PRO, whichever is recommended.
My personal preference would be XP, home or Pro shouldn't matter, I use Pro but thats just because its what I have.
2. Purchase a new 4 axis controller that will work with MACH3 and my stepper motors.
I would appreciate any and all advice, and entertain buying a controller from someone here on the forum that has one compatible with my motors.
Best regards
BP
If you are wanting a 4 axis in one then the Gecko G540 should work fine with your steppers and has 4 axis built in.The good thing about the G540 is it is actually individual drives so if one goes bad you just need to replace that, most of the other, if not all, multi axis drives are all built on the same board so if one goes bad you need to replace the whole thing.
I have used Geckos G201, G202 and Leadshines 8 Amp drives and all work well but are individual drives so a lot more wiring is needed.
Hood
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May I humbly suggest a new drive box I'm building that employs a Gecko G540: http://soigeneris.com/CNCPartsPage4.aspx. One other things I noticed is that your steppers are the older round style. You might want to consider getting some newer 'square' steppers as well. The newer square bodied steppers are more powerful and as an added benefit starting out with a new drive and steppers will remove a lot of the unknowns you are experiencing with your current set up.
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Thanks for the help guys, it is much appreciated.
Here is what I have decided to do, and need your opinions on this course of action, as well as recommendations for the proper equipment.
1. Change from Vista to XP , either home edition or PRO, whichever is recommended.
My personal preference would be XP, home or Pro shouldn't matter, I use Pro but thats just because its what I have.
2. Purchase a new 4 axis controller that will work with MACH3 and my stepper motors.
I would appreciate any and all advice, and entertain buying a controller from someone here on the forum that has one compatible with my motors.
Best regards
BP
If you are wanting a 4 axis in one then the Gecko G540 should work fine with your steppers and has 4 axis built in.The good thing about the G540 is it is actually individual drives so if one goes bad you just need to replace that, most of the other, if not all, multi axis drives are all built on the same board so if one goes bad you need to replace the whole thing.
I have used Geckos G201, G202 and Leadshines 8 Amp drives and all work well but are individual drives so a lot more wiring is needed.
Hood
Thanks for the advice. Can you recommend the proper power supply for the motors I have in the photo? I ordered a G540, will need a P/S and what other components to construct a working controller? Thanks in advance again. BP
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May I humbly suggest a new drive box I'm building that employs a Gecko G540: http://soigeneris.com/CNCPartsPage4.aspx. One other things I noticed is that your steppers are the older round style. You might want to consider getting some newer 'square' steppers as well. The newer square bodied steppers are more powerful and as an added benefit starting out with a new drive and steppers will remove a lot of the unknowns you are experiencing with your current set up.
Jeff, thanks for the offer, but I have already placed an order for the G540. I appreciate your willingness to assist me with my project, and may well need to use your services before this is over.
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I'm not sure what the exact specs on your steppers are (inductance) but judging by the current requirements I would suspect that this power supply would be a good fit: http://soigeneris.com/CNCParts.aspx. I have sold a lot of them for use with the G540.
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You may well have a suitable power supply already on the router, if you can power it up and know how to use a voltmeter you will be able to measure the voltage, you want to measure the DC voltage. The DC voltage will be the wires from the power supply that go to the drive, if you are unsure take some pics and someone will be able to advise I am sure. If you are not used to working with electricity please be careful, especially if there are large capacitors in the power supply.
As for other components, you wont really need any as I presume your router will have limit switches and E-Stop switch etc already.
Hood
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As Jeff has said, the steppers are the old round frame style. May well be they are variable reluctance type requiring high voltage - like most of the older ones. Only way to find out (considering you don't have any specs of the steppers) is actually testing them with the G540 I guess. You'll easily see if they are not suitable - no sufficient speed, no torque.
Daniel
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Bp
go back to your last thread. I am doing the same thing as you and have a thread going on CNC ZONE. lots of info there. more info on your last thread on how to get there. sometimes it takes a while to read all the requests and we all have lives that get in the way. be patient. it took me all summer to get the right info. my 540 gecko drive arrived today. I'll be documenting my progress in my thread.
your motors are servos, wired in a bipolar stepper configuration same as mine. the three extra wires are for the limit switches. all the wiring is on my cnc zone thread. the m100 box is old and won't process the mack 3 software, it was designed for dos based software. the g540 is a good move. my thread shows which motor wire goes to which pin on the g540. you should be able to use the power supply from the m100 box, it is a 24 volt output system then you can use the power on/off switch and e-stop and use the box. you will need modern software also to do your cad/cam requirements. I got bobcad which I am happy with, but there are others out there. you will learn about them as you go.
Good luck.
;D Ted
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your motors are servos, wired in a bipolar stepper configuration same as mine.
Huh? Servos wired as steppers? I think you meant to say they are STEPPERs wired in a certain configuration...
it is a 24 volt output system then you can use the power on/off switch and e-stop
The 24 volt power supply may work but may not be ideal. If the inductance of the stepper motor is known you can estimate(calculate) the ideal power supply voltage. Generally speaking a higher power supply voltage will give you better performance and let you get the most out of your new G540 drive.
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Jeff
You could be right . In looking back at my thread I was told they were unipolar wired in bipolar not servos wired as steppers.
The motors worked well with this power supply in it's original state so I don't see why they wouldn't work with the g540 at the same voltage, after all it is rated at 18 to 48 volts ( the gecko that is). I guess we'll see as I am doing it to my machine. Don't want to hijack this thread but you are right ...better motors and a higher voltage should give an optimized performance. Depends on where you want your machine to be. and how much you want to spend.
;D Ted
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Turns out the power supply was 26 volts ac not dc output. I am now looking for a new power supply..Gecko wants dc.
Ted
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Rectify it and smooth it, easy enough to do and will give you 36.6v DC. Look here for info http://campbelldesigns.net/files/power-supply-part-1.pdf
Hood
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I asked this elsewhere but got no responses. Hoping someone here can help.
I need to know what output config I can use to respond to M10 and M11. These typically support pallet operations, though I want to use it to fire a laser without the usual (M3/M4, M5) delay.
Specifically, "How do I tell Mach3 to respond to M10/M11 with signals to a specified Port 1 pin?"
Alternatively, I am open to any other ideas that will get around the delays associated with spindle command.
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You need two macros and you need to name these macros m10.m1s and m11.m1s and place them in the macro folder of the profile you use, for example if its Mach3Mill profile you use then they need placed in C:\Mach3\Macros\Mach3Mill
Ideally you should use macros named 100 or over for User macros, so if you can use m110.m1s and m111.m1s.
So to call the macro from code it would be m110 or m111.
What you need in the macros would be, for M110
ActivateSignal(OutPut1)
and for M111
DeActivateSignal(OutPut1)
Hood
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You need two macros and you need to name these macros m10.m1s and m11.m1s and place them in the macro folder of the profile you use, for example if its Mach3Mill profile you use then they need placed in C:\Mach3\Macros\Mach3Mill
Ideally you should use macros named 100 or over for User macros, so if you can use m110.m1s and m111.m1s.
So to call the macro from code it would be m110 or m111.
What you need in the macros would be, for M110
ActivateSignal(OutPut1)
and for M111
DeActivateSignal(OutPut1)
Hood
Thanks, Hood. I'll look into that - I have not done Macros in Mach3 before, but it is time I learn. (I have 34+ years of computer software design and development - maybe I should have thought of that first.)
A little while ago, I posted the following info, which I will try first, as it is a built in method - rather than me doing it.
"Actually, I believe I have found it, after 5.75 hours of searching. I got the info here: http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,6629.msg43375.html#msg43375
Appearantly, I don't need to do much "special" in Mach3. I already have my "spindle" (laser) relay set to output #1. When you use the M10 or M11, you simply add on a "Px" (x = output number you are using). So, in my case, a M10P1 will turn on the laser and M11P1 will turn it off. Delay is reported to be only 1.5ms instead of 500ms.
I have not tried it yet. (My eyes are tired and brain dead from searching the forum and net for this answer.) Hope to try it tomorrow and will report back."
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Problems solved. Here is a post that covers everything.
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,12653.msg82436.html#msg82436
Thanks to all who replied with suggestions.
tim