Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => General Mach Discussion => Topic started by: Jmk on February 06, 2018, 12:00:09 PM
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Hello everybody, my xp desktop crashed. Now i've got A Windows 7, 32 bit version and i'm trying to get my cnc router working again.
I have movement but only in one direction. On this forum I read A topic with the same problem, solution was the difference between the old and new parallel port, 5 and 3.3 volts. I changed mine for A 5 volt version today but the problem remains the same.does anybody have ideas how I can fix this?
Jeroen Kingma
Oudebildtzijl, Holland
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a first easy step would be,
to check the voltage with a Voltmeter
at the dir pin.
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Just expanding on what TPS has already said...
You should see approx. 0Volts on a direction pin when jogging in one direction and approx. 5Volts when jogging in the other direction.
Tweakie.
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After I pushed. My cnc out of form I disconnected the motors and put Some tape on the shafts. I wish I did that earlyer.:(
3.6 volts. You where both right!
The port I bought has A universal slot, for 3.3 and 5 volts. The slot in the computer is A long one so I expected it to be 5 volts. Nope!
By running A G-code the voltage was 4.6 volts so when I jog the motors get powered bij the parallelport and running A G-code by the USB 5 volt connection.
Do I need A other motherboard? Or is there A way to fix this and get 5 volt on the port. The powersupply of the computer is 12 and 5 volts so somewere on the motherboard iTS being redused to 3.5.
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After I pushed. My cnc out of form I disconnected the motors and put Some tape on the shafts. I wish I did that earlyer.:(
3.6 volts. You where both right!
The port I bought has A universal slot, for 3.3 and 5 volts. The slot in the computer is A long one so I expected it to be 5 volts. Nope!
By running A G-code the voltage was 4.6 volts so when I jog the motors get powered bij the parallelport and running A G-code by the USB 5 volt connection.
Do I need A other motherboard? Or is there A way to fix this and get 5 volt on the port. The powersupply of the computer is 12 and 5 volts so somewere on the motherboard iTS being redused to 3.5.
Sorry i am Overwhelmed with my bad Bavarian English.
@Tweakie, i hope You can "jumpt in"
Thank You
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Besides my bad english my iPad also changes my typings in to dutch.
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After I pushed. My cnc out of form I disconnected the motors and put Some tape on the shafts. I wish I did that earlyer.:(
3.6 volts. You where both right!
The port I bought has A universal slot, for 3.3 and 5 volts. The slot in the computer is A long one so I expected it to be 5 volts. Nope!
By running A G-code the voltage was 4.6 volts so when I jog the motors get powered bij the parallelport and running A G-code by the USB 5 volt connection.
Do I need A other motherboard? Or is there A way to fix this and get 5 volt on the port. The powersupply of the computer is 12 and 5 volts so somewere on the motherboard iTS being redused to 3.5.
Many of the breakout boards will step up the voltages to 5v. If you are just using the p-port on the motherboard then this may be the way to go.
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Do I need A other motherboard? Or is there A way to fix this and get 5 volt on the port. The powersupply of the computer is 12 and 5 volts so somewere on the motherboard iTS being redused to 3.5.
My suggestion would be to fit a PCI parallel port card which outputs the required 5 Volts TTL signal.
You can identify if your computer motherboard can provide 5V from the PCI slot and which PCI card you need to buy from the data presented here; http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,34848.0.html
Tweakie.
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I did use this post to identify if I had A 5 volt slot and to buy A pci card. It didn't work so far. Tried it with xp and with two other older desktops.
The problem remains the same. I was thinking that maybe The driver for the pci isn't the right one. The pci I bought is A delock.
Specification
• Connector:
external: 1 x Parallel DB25 female
internal: 1 x 32-Bit PCI standard 2.1
• Chipset: Moschip
• Data transfer rate up to 1.5 Mb/s
• FIFO: 16 byte
• Automatically selects IRQ and I/O
• Supports PCI IQR sharing
• SPP, PS2, EPP, ECP compatible to IEEE 1284
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Use a multimeter to check the voltage on a Direction pin - when jogging in either direction what is the maximum voltage you see ?
Tweakie.
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Now I am really lost. 5 volt max voltage on the dir pin. When jogging or not. Also on the com pin and About 0.4 on the step pin.
I can't figure out what settings I could alter. At this point it's only the ports and pins settings to get my motors running. What am I doing wrong?
By the way: i'm an building/construction engineer and not an elektronic engineer so forgive me if I don't get it.
About two years ago I finished my home build cnc. The software and elektronics took me A lot of YouTube tutorials viewing but I got it working. I'm supprised that it doesn't work anymore.
Thanx for the help til so far.
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just as a sanity check,
why not try taking the step and dir signals going to the axis that works (x) and put them on one of the other axis drivers, for example y.
so since you know the x axis step and dir signals are good, when you move x in mach 3, physically the y axis of the machine should move instead. does it move?
do a similar test for z.
if teh axis DO move at least then you know for sure it is a problem with the signal between mach 3 and the step/dir output pins and NOT a problem with your motors or the connections from the stepper windings to your drivers/your drivers, etc.
i know you said the machine used to work, so it seems the wiring is ok but just double check since sometimes contacts corrode and conduct poorly etc... it doesn't hurt to check.
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5 volt max voltage on the dir pin. When jogging or not. Also on the com pin and About 0.4 on the step pin.
You should see 5v on the DIR pin when jogging in ONE direction. It should drop to 0v when jogging in the OTHER direction.
The voltage on the STEP pin will be proportional to the frequency of the pulse stream dictating the axis speed.
Check the terminals at EACH END of the conductors to insure that there is no break, or opening in the circuit.