Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => General Mach Discussion => Topic started by: Stubby1 on February 01, 2010, 11:31:53 PM
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Hi, I a noob to the CNC world. I have finished my machine and now trying to get the software, boards, and motors to talk to each other. I have ran the driver test on my Tobshiba satellite laptop with excellent results and set up the software the seller of the interface and driver boards but with no luck on getting the motor to turn. I am test one motor here in the house then I will move out to the shop when completed. The motor appears to be lock when the power is applied. I have tried several different setups, on a PC, and another motor with no luck. The LEDs on the driver board and a multimeter show a constant voltage to one side of the motor. Using Danaher 2 phase 1.8 degree stepper motors.
Any help or suggestions before I ruin something? ???
Thanks
John
Independence, OR
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can you attach your xml please, also any documents (or a link) for the wiring.
Hood
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Will this work?
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Will have a look tonight when I get home, busy day today in the workshop :(
Hood
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The motors should lock up when the power is applied. That means the power has made through the drives. Now you need to get Mach set up, not an easy task when you first look at it, but really not that hard and the folks here love to help.
Dave
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These manuals are not very cear at all, or at least to me they are not.
What wires have you got hooked up at the moment and to where?
Hood
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When you do wire up just do one axis and get that working how you want it, then do the rest.
Steve
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Bowber: That is what I am doing now. One axis at a time.
Hood
Here is a picture of one driver and the how I have the wire connected.
I paired up the wires doing a continuity check.
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On the breakout do you have a power supply (or USB) connected?
If you open Mach are the motors locked when the Reset is flashing or is it after the Reset is green that they lock?
Hood
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I am using a power supply and connect at the + / -
The motor is locked when power is supplied. Doesn't seem to matter when reset or not.
I done the driver test in Mach and come out with excellent results.
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Not sure if you are meaning the + - you have in the above pic or not. If it is I am meaning the power supply to your breakout board itself.
What I would do is if you have a voltmeter disconnect the cable from the breakout and test the Dir pin to a gnd pin on the cable and see if the voltage goes 5v to 0v and vice versa as you jog the axis.
Hood
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I disconnected the lead from the breakout board to the driver board, check the pin voltages. All of them including the other ports on the breakout board are reading 5 VDC. (as circled in the pic)
I am trying to see if there might be a jumper I might need to change. Hard to tell with the NICE ??? instructions I got from the seller.
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I was meaning to check on the parallel cable on Pin 2 to a Gnd pin (18 to 25) and see if the voltage changes as you change jog direction, that will let you know Mach is set correctly.
Hood
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It is at a constant 4 - 5 VDC using the motor turning option under config tab on the main screen
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Use the keyboard Jog keys, left and right arrows, if its still the same change the active state of the Dir pin in ports and pins and see if it goes Zero. If it doesn't then measure direct on the port as it could be your cable. If you still don't get any joy then it would seem you have the wrong port address in, check in device manager and see if the port address is correct.
Hood
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I will give a shot later tonight. Time to feed the critters (kids).
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I got the motor to move in both directions using the jog keys. Thanks. I did what you suggested and made a change in Mach.
Now I don't know what setting I set the resolution and attenuation dip switches on the driver board.
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Any suggestions of what type of switch I should use for my limit switches on the CNC itself?
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It will depend on what resolution you want but I would probably go for 1/8 and set the steps per accordingly.
Attenuation I imagine is to tune out the mid band resonance that steppers can be bothered with. If it is then suppose it will be trial and error.
I prefer quality switches such as Honeywell 14CE/914CE Series, they are expensive but I have large machines so prefer to err on the side of safety. Having said that my Bridgeport has optical switches and they work well, I use Optek OPB917B and have them in a housing with a spring loaded plunger sticking out either side, the plunger is held central by the springs to block the switch when inactive.
If its a small machine you have then I would look at opticals or even just some of the micro switches, they are cheap enough.
Hood
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I use micro switches from Maplins, they have been fine and are repeatable within a few thou and so far havn't been bothered by swarf and coolant splash.
I'm sure they'll fail some time but they are really cheap and easy to replace.
Wire them in series then you only use one pin and use them N/C so that if a wire is broken or pulled off then you know right away and not when it's too late.
Steve
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Thanks for the info. You have been a great help. :)
I was looking on the breakout board and trying to figure out which port I would use to turn on the tool. I know a relay would be needed but 2 questions arise. Which port to wire the DC trip to activate the relay to run the AC tool and what type of relay is needed? ???
Once or if this can identified, could I use a similar setup to control a tool coolant pump? :-\
Can Mach be programed to estimate and control the RPM of the tool since there is no encoder in the tool? ???
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I use micro switches from Maplins, they have been fine and are repeatable within a few thou and so far havn't been bothered by swarf and coolant splash.
I'm sure they'll fail some time but they are really cheap and easy to replace.
Wire them in series then you only use one pin and use them N/C so that if a wire is broken or pulled off then you know right away and not when it's too late.
Steve
Steve
Thanks for your suggestions.
I am heading to the electronic store now to get the switches and wiring now. I will also check with them to see if they might have a solution for the tooling relay idea I mentioned to Hood.
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Any of the outputs could be used to do that for both spindle and coolant. What kind of spindle do you have and is the speed variable now and if so how do you vary it?
Hood
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I appreciate your info and patience with me.
The tool is an off the shelf rotary Roto Zip up to 30000 rpms. Currently is not setup with RPM control and I was thinking of using a manual variable speed controller. I was thinking if it could be wired up and used thru Mach would be better.
I would need a relay to activate the tool, right? Could Mach control the RPMs also? What type of setup would I need to have Mach send inputs to another variable speed controller?
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Afraid I know nothing about roto zip, is it DC or mains? If the controller can take a 0 to 10v voltage for speed then you can buy boards that will allow Mach to control the speed.
Hood
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I am totally clueless on how to get my limit switches wired and configured in Mach.
I have went over the instructions several times and the information for the breakout board is not helpful either.
Any suggestions ?
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Oh, I don't know what ports/pins etc to use either to trigger the tool.
It is all hard to me, but the instructions on the break out board really suck.
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I forgot to add new pictures of the close to finished machine.
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I am going to ask probably a question that I should be able to find out.
What does Step Pin #, Dir Pin #, Port # mean?
Pin #, I am guessing, is referring to the actual pin number located in the parallel cable?
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Yes the pin number is as you say and port number is the port you have it set to, with Mach you can use two parallel ports so it will either be 1 or 2. With other devices there can be more ports, for example if you are using Modbus device such as a PLC it is Port 0, if you have a SmoothStepper you have Ports 1, 2 and 3. If you have a PoKeys that gets set to Port10.
Hood
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Thanks again.
Step Pin#??
Dir Pin#??
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For a stepper or servo drive that works with Mach you need a Step pulse and Direction signal, the Step pulse will go out through a pin on the parallel port and whichever pin you have it connected to is the pin number you set in Mach as that axis Step pin, same idea for the Dir pin
Hood
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I am totally confused. I have no idea how to get the tool to switch on, the interface board instructions don't help, my A-axis is slaved to the X-axis but the limit switches do not stop the A-axis motor when tripped. I have no idea on how to setup Mach to fix either of one these issues.
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Sounds like your limit switches just go to the board and not Mach, if they went to Mach then all axis would stop. If you trigger a switch do the limits light up on the diagnostic page?
I think what you will need to do is connect all your switches in series and put them to one of the inputs on the breakout and configure the limits in Ports and Pins.
When you say tool I am presuming you mean spindle? if so then you will need to connect a relay with a 5v coil to one of the outputs on your breakout and then configure that output and also tell Mach which output you are using for the spindle relay. Make sure the relay you get is sufficient for your spindle.
Hood
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That is one of the areas I am confused in. What pin, output, etc, to use. I know it shouldn't be this hard but the old light bulb is not turning on for me.
The switches do go to the board. The X axis switches work just not the A axis slaved to the X axis. All four switches work for the X but not the A at all.
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The limits do not light up on the diagnostic page. I think I know what you mean now. I use the input ports on the board and not the plugs for the axis limit switches on the board.
I did a test today grounding out the input ports on the board and the lights on the diagnostic page did light up, but in yellow.
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You mean I should use the input ports and not the plug ins on the board?
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Yes, I am thinking the plugs may just be connected internally on the breakout board. If you connect the limits to the inputs llike you tried ( when shorting) then Mach will be informed and when one limit is seen all axis will stop. You can use any of the inputs you like, just have to set Mach up to the pin you are using.
Hood
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Got the inputs wired to the Mach side on the board. I get the plugs indications LEDs on the diagnostic page but the motors continue to turn once the switches are activated. When I change the input settings and trip a switch it shut the motors off but I have to reset the system manually in Mach. Is there a way to switch the settings to where when the switches are tripped the motors stop and allow the motors to be ran in the opposite direction with no need to manually reset the system?
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you need to use the limits as home switches also then you set up softlimits and that will stop you from hitting the real limits unless things go wrong. The softlimits will do exactly as you want, you can jog up to the limits but Mach will stop you going further but still allow you to jog the opposite way.
Hood