Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / need help with smoothstepper setup for mach3

« on: February 16, 2013, 08:53:34 PM »

Hello,

I am trying to help a friend who is working on a cnc mill conversion. He has a smoothstepper board to connect using a usb.

we have tried for hours to get motors to jog using arrow keys. motors 'grind' but can not get "smooth" or consistant motion. (this word "smooth stepper" seems to be just the opposite). What is the frequency supposed to be? can you set the frequency? we can 'hear' the motor 'trying' to turn, but sometimes no motion. sometimes the same arrow key will make the motor go in opposite direction. Also, in the jog feature, if it is set to 'step' it grinds more; whereas in 'continuous' is 'whines'.. Also, what is the setting for the smoothstepper config: "4mhz" or 128 khz??? is all confusing and frustrating and no good documentations for getting things to go. is there a correlation between computer processor speed and frequency, or step speed? Is there a way to know what all these settings are supposed to be?

can someone send screen shots of what the setup screens look like when this smoothstepper usb board is used?

We keep trying all kinds of motor tuning settings... follow motor tuning video, nothing provides good motion.

screen shots would really help to see what someone else has working.

I have a similar controller for a cnc conversion I am working on. But I am using parallel port, and my controller is working good. So what is the deal with this "not-so-smooth" stepper board?

Anyway, help is needed to make my friend's machine work.

Thanks for any input or suggestions.

HOMER

2

General Mach Discussion / need help and advice on conversion project-motors/drives/mach3 tuning

« on: August 27, 2012, 09:06:29 PM »

I seem to be going around in circles.

I am working a converting a benchtop mill (PM 20) to cnc. MY neighbor friend and I are working on a kind of challenge. He is converting a Grizzly 704. They seem to be the same mill for the most part.

I am a hobbyist and don't know that much about electronics. I have Mach 3. I have used on another project... (I converted an old Dyna2400 to run from MACH3, but it does have much power).

So, I bought a new benchtop mill. added new ball screws.

I have C10 board, Keling drivers; x/y nema 23 5.6 v motors; z is nema 34 6.0 v motor.

First off; I went to Automation Technologies which had "kit" containing 2 nema 23 and 2 nema 34 motor with keling 5056d driver (x2), and keling 8070d (x1) driver; and 48 volt power supply.

I called to ask if the 48 v power supply was sufficient for the nema 34. The person I spoke with explained that it would be a little under power and I would loose a little torque on z. I said I would prefer to not be under powered and it was suggested that I get a 50 v power supply instead. so I did that.

Finally got things wired up. But then seemed to get over-voltage on the 5056d drivers. So I called Auto Tech and spoke with person again. The person I spoke with said that I could use the keling 8056d drives for x/y instead of 5056d drives.

Ok, I did that. I try this out tonite.

Seems to work ok for the most part, however, it seems like the motors are getting very hot. Do I still need to go to a lower voltage power supply? What causes motors to get hot? What causes drivers to get warms?

Also, I am not sure I am getting motor tuning right. I can not get z to move very fast and get "grinding" like sound when moving axis. I get good speed and "sound" ok on x/y when jogging test direction, but get "grinding" like sound with running a sample program.

oh, running windows xp.

I would appreciate any insight or help with getting the right components and configuration.

Thanks in advance,

HOMER

3

General Mach Discussion / need help with c10 board and mach 3

« on: May 27, 2012, 08:10:15 PM »

I am working on a new conversion project. Converting a benchtop mill to cnc. I have a cnc4pc c10 breakout board.

i do not see on the c10 board where I can wire in limit switches. I am not an expert in electronics. Can the limit switch be wired directly to parallel port pins?

does anyone have a good diagram of how limit switch should be wired?

Thanks in advance.

homer

4

General Mach Discussion / need general info on steppers and controllers

« on: October 08, 2010, 08:25:58 PM »

I know I have asked this before.

I have an older cnc machine that I want to convert and run using MACH3 software.

The machine has the following:

one motor is: "VEXTA" "PH299-01" 3V, 4A. (2-phase) (y-axis)
The other "visible" motor is 'VEXTA" "PH296-02" 5.5V, 1.25 A. (2-phase) (z-axis)

I have not taken the machine apart, so I can not see the underside to see the third motor. I assume it is the same as the y-axis.

These are 6-wire motors.

I want to buy or pay someone to get me a controller that I can just wire up and plug in my parallel port and go from Mach 3.

I do not have a lot of money. I do not want to spend $1000 per axis.

Can someone tell me why suppliers that sell low voltage motors sell controllers that don't match. I see stepper motors on line that are, for example 3volt, and the same site sells a board or controller for 30 volts. What am I missing?

Thanks for any suggestions. (feel free to e-mail me directly: to "nltnme_2-at-yahoo-dot-com")

homer.

5

General Mach Discussion / advice for stepper controller wanted

« on: July 25, 2010, 08:10:27 PM »

I have an older mill that I want to control with Mach3 software. I have one machine running with Mach 3 now.

The machine I do not have running I need to make or buy a controller. I currently use parallel port to the computer with the machine I have running, and would like to stay with this.

The machine I do not have running has:

Z STEPPER (6-WIRE, 3V 1.25 AMP, 1.8 DEGREE, 2-PHASE)
X AND Y STEPPER (6-WIRE, 5.5V 4 AMP, 1.8 DEGREE, 2-PHASE)

I have searched the internet, and all the controllers I see do not handle the 4 amp motors

Maybe I should replace all the stepper motors with others and get a controller that will work together.

Suggestions appreciated.

homer