Machsupport Forum

Mach Discussion => General Mach Discussion => Topic started by: MikeW on December 29, 2009, 12:11:04 PM

Title: Can't get motors to turn
Post by: MikeW on December 29, 2009, 12:11:04 PM
Hello,

I did a search on this very subject and have read quite a bit, but seems that although many of the posts cover my problem, they are all very different in nature so here goes:

I am setting up a 3 Axis system and am using a package from Kelinginc.net which is 4030 drivers using a C10 breakout board.

I am getting torque applied to the motors when power is applied to the electronics system so am confident that all input power requirements are set as I am also getting power lights where i am supposed to.

On the C10 board, I have jumpers set as follows:

Pins 2 - 9 jumpered for output
Pins 2 - 9 jumpered for pull down
com jumpered for com=gnd
input pins 10 - 15 jumpered for pull down

Pin 2 = x step  pin 3 = x dir
pin 4 = y step  pin 5 = y dir
pin 6 = z step  pin 7 = z dir

motors are just laying on the table currently and am trying to just spin them

there are no limit/home/estop switches connected.


PC:  Dell Dimension 2400   2.4Ghz CPU   2GB RAM   512MB Vid Card
       System Config => Hardware => Device Drivers => ECP (LPT1) at port 0378-378F

Interface:  DB25 straight thru male to male parallel cable

Software is Mach3 Trial version at this point

Mach 3 Config => Ports and Pins
        Port Setup and Axis Selection
           Port#1 enabled and set to 0x378 and Kernal Speed at 25000Hz
          
         Motor Outputs:
              X- Axis  Enabled   Step 2   Dir 3    Dir and Step Low off     Step / Dir Port set to 1
              Y- Axis  Enabled   Step 4   Dir 5    Dir and Step Low off     Step / Dir Port set to 1
              Z- Axis  Enabled   Step 6   Dir 7    Dir and Step Low off     Step / Dir Port set to 1

              Input Signals :  all off except EStop but that is set to Port #0 pin10

              Motor Tuning:
                  Nothing set but defaults of   2000 steps per     120 Velocity     4 Accel         Step/Dir pulse at 0

Just tryng to spin air atm.  Motors I have are Keling 425 Oz/in. will be using 10 turn screws right now until I get enuff $$ to up to 5 turn 2 start. was recommended to use 1/4 microsteps
based on that, really not sure how to set motor tuning.

Per suggestion from a gent at Kelinginc.net,  I put a meter between gnd - pin2 and also from gnd - pin3 on the cable and have 4.5vdc on each pin.
From a post I read either here or on cnczone,  when jogging mach3 using arrow keys, this voltage did not fluctuate, but remained constant.  I may be wrong here, but I believe that it should drop so the motors know that they are supposed to spin.

When I bring up diagnostics tab in mach3,  The only green lights I have are:
 - Jog ON/OFF
- Toolpath on/off
- X, Y, and Z Pos near top left.


I have run the Driver Test  and when the system is under Mach3 Control, in the middle of the screen, it shows a green horizontal bar about 1/2 way thru the width with a System Excellent.
Timer Variations although is hard to see the pulses as it is at the very top of that window at 80uSec

ready to pull my hair out.  I am most certain that this is definately an interface problem and not sure how to correct it.  Don't have the resources avail for a new PC.

Mike

Title: Re: Can't get motors to turn
Post by: mr.c on December 29, 2009, 12:51:45 PM
Mike: Try with a low velocity setting in the motor tuning and work your way up.
Title: Re: Can't get motors to turn
Post by: MikeW on December 29, 2009, 01:13:24 PM
Ok.

I found in another thread a reference to a Parallel Port monitor, so I downloaded and ran it.

I set it to show Red on the pins that are High and Green for low.   Interesting to find that the top row  1 - 13 are all red and none of them change state when jogging any axis in mach3.

I think that this is a solid indication that I am infact having a lpt problem.  now just am not sure how to go about correcting this one bit.

Getting a new pc and buying a pci printer card is out of the question.

Although, I may be able to disable the onboard parallel port in the bios and just spend the 25.00 to get a pci card that has 1 lpt / 2 com

May be my only option at this point.
Title: Re: Can't get motors to turn
Post by: mr.c on December 29, 2009, 01:19:11 PM
Mike: I am running my system with the same computer. It does function OK with the onboard video card. Sounds like the frustration level is up there. Try walking away from it for a while and get a fresh start. I have been there.
Title: Re: Can't get motors to turn
Post by: MikeW on December 29, 2009, 01:37:25 PM
Hopefully you meant onboard Parallel Port and not onboard video card :D.

since you are using the Dell Dimension 2400PC  what do you have your bios printer port settings at?

Options are  AT, PS2, EPP, and ECP    I currently have mine at EPP

I do find it strange though that the parallel port monitor I have installed and running shows all of the pins 1 - 16 as high and 17 - 25 low.   jogging mach3 does nothing to change the state of the pins.
Title: Re: Can't get motors to turn
Post by: mr.c on December 29, 2009, 02:00:37 PM
Mike: Yes, onboard video card functions with Mach3 , at least on my computer. The onboard PP functions as well but I did add another PP card from another of my computers to gain some pins. I will need to check the settings later. Don't be offended by this. Did you click on the little check box in mach3 to enable the port? I did some changing around of some settings a while back and couldn't get it to run. I found that little checkbox unchecked. I just hadn't noticed it. Everything else looked right. I just missed seeing it.
Title: Re: Can't get motors to turn
Post by: MikeW on December 30, 2009, 11:16:02 PM
Ended up making a 2 hour drive into Colorado Springs to pick up an pci LPT card.  got home, installed it,  disabled the onboard lpt then set mach3 port to the new address assigned.
Plugged in a new 6' RS232 pass-thru cable, which I had them break it out of the package in the store and give me a multi-meter and did continuity checks on each of the 25 pins before I purchased it.  Was able to get it for 1/2 price since I gave the (ahem, computer tech) a little lesson on how to use an analog meter to do some simple tests...he litteraly had no clue!

Anyway.....plugged the cable in between pc and breakout board.  gave the power supply a little juice,  started up mach 3 and successfully jogged all 3 motors...YES, SUCCESS!

Am all ready to get these motors mounted but shut the front door...dang lovejoys I had ordered a little over a week ago still aren't here...grrrr.   in the interim, have some 3/4" solid aluminum rod I suppose I could cut to about 1-1/2 to 2" length,  drill  1/2 - 1/4 on ends, then drill and tap for set screws on the side.

Am hoping by tomorrow eve, I'll be able to surface the table and drill some 1/4" holes 1/2" deep for some shelf pins I'll be using for a clamping system.

Thanks for the help you guys provided in this.

Mike
Title: Re: Can't get motors to turn
Post by: eran_k on April 12, 2010, 04:09:16 PM
I know it's an old theread but i'm currently have the same problem, the only diffrence is that my machine worked and then stopped after i re-installed mach3 - it was freezing the entire PC when started.
since the re-install i have no motor movmnet and exactly the same thing on the Paralell port pins,i get 4.34volts on all the pins all the time.
I guess i need to get another LPT card and give it a try too.

Eran