Messages

6181

General Mach Discussion / Re: Motors stall when using Goto Z's

« on: November 17, 2011, 02:29:37 AM »

I think the problem is that version R3.043.022 is not compatible with the Pirate license file you are using (please correct me if I am wrong).

Tweakie.

6182

General Mach Discussion / Re: Help with setup of driver and breakout board?

« on: November 16, 2011, 07:16:56 AM »

Great news Pog, extremely pleased you have got your motors running and you are making progress 

The motor tuning is related to many factors and rather than repeat stuff here it is best described in the Mach manual http://www.machsupport.com/documentation.php

Calculate your steps per unit based on leadscrew pitch, set microsteps, motor steps and any gearing you may have - the velocity setting relates to your machine's resistance to motion and the acceleration relates to the mass of the moving parts with both of these settings usually found by trial and error. The velocity setting needs to be set some 20% or so below the maximum you can achieve in order to get reliable machine operation.

Tweakie.

6183

Tangent Corner / Re: Getting the right gear cutter

« on: November 16, 2011, 02:19:56 AM »

Just a thought but if you are liable to make more gears and are likely to require more than one size of cutter then it may be worth considering Art's Gearotic Motion gearotic.com

Tweakie.

6184

General Mach Discussion / Re: Help with setup of driver and breakout board?

« on: November 15, 2011, 11:54:45 AM »

Pog,

Setup Mach as shown here.

Tweakie.

6185

General Mach Discussion / Re: Sound with out movement (JOG)

« on: November 15, 2011, 07:28:45 AM »

Hi Lou,

This may sound really stupid but you have "twisted to release" the EStop button on the front of your mini controller haven't you ??

Tweakie.

6186

General Mach Discussion / Re: Help with setup of driver and breakout board?

« on: November 15, 2011, 07:18:20 AM »

Pog,

After some further reading up on these motor controllers I have discovered that the ENBL+  PUL+ and DIR+ should all be connected to + 5 Volts. The ENBL- can, I think, be left open circuit for testing purposes but if necessary, to enable test operation, connect this to GND.

Tweakie.

6187

General Mach Discussion / Re: Motors not working

« on: November 14, 2011, 11:08:17 AM »

Hi Claus,

That sounds an excellent idea.

Please keep us informed of the outcome as this will no doubt be of help to those that follow.
I have read good reports and bad reports for this Chinese imported controller board and priced at around £30 GBP I am sure there are a lot in circulation.

Tweakie.

6188

General Mach Discussion / Re: Motors not working

« on: November 14, 2011, 02:36:52 AM »

Claus,

Did you manage to get your voltmeter checks done ??

Check the direction pins from your computer, as Hood said, you should get approx 5 Volts when jogging in one direction and approx 0 Volts when jogging in the opposite direction.
If you only get a maximum of 3.3 Volts then your existing combination of computer / controller is unlikely to work as is. Some options are to fit a PCI parallel port to the computer which has 5 Volt outputs or try another computer, get an improved quality controller such as the Gecko 540 or possibly use an external, USB operated, motion controller such as the Smooth Stepper.

Hope this helps.

Tweakie.

6189

General Mach Discussion / Re: Motors not working

« on: November 13, 2011, 08:29:49 AM »

Another point I forgot to mention.

The pdf does not show an EARTH connection to the power supply incoming mains terminal block - this is incorrect, the power supply is technically class 1 insulated equipment and must be earthed (EU countries).

Tweakie.

6190

General Mach Discussion / Re: Motors not working

« on: November 13, 2011, 08:19:39 AM »

Claus,

Just a thought but try configuring Mach / Ports & Pins / Motor Outputs as shown below. ( not sure why Mr Marchant gave you those pin numbers in the pdf ).

Tweakie.