Messages

81

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Why is this not an arc?

« on: August 07, 2021, 05:27:05 PM »

I don't see any error on the history line, so Mach thought it was running an arc.
At first I thought you might have forgotten to set the XZ plane, but status line shows G18.
Did you try running this in air and watch the motion. Could it be a display artifact, but actually cut correctly?

82

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: PMDX --> VDF Grounding

« on: June 20, 2021, 02:08:25 PM »

It never occurred to me that you did not have a PMDX-107. You can use the relays to control On/Off and Direction, but the PMDX-126 will not produce an analog voltage signal by itself. You may be able to get your VFD to work by using external components to filter a PWM signal to become an approximation of a 5 volt analog speed control signal. This would require a connection from PCgnd on the PMDX-126 to the ACM of your VFD. Depending on your VFD, this may cause isolation and noise issues.

83

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: PMDX --> VDF Grounding

« on: June 20, 2021, 08:33:35 AM »

The relay outputs and analog control voltage from the PMDX-107 are isolated from the PCgnd and no connection to PCgnd is needed. The ACM signal on the VFD is the ground reference for the analog control signal.

The PMDX-107 has an on-board power inverter and can operate in two wire mode without the VFD 10v+ signal from the VFD. There is a DIP switch setting to control to select 5 volt or 10 volt mode when operating as a two wire interface. If the 10v+ signal is connected, then it will override the switch setting and 10 volt analog signal will be generated.

In all cases, we recommend that you use the Test button on the PMDX-107 to diagnose wiring and VFD configuration because the Test modes are internal to the PMDX-107 and are not affected by the Mach and SmoothStepper software configuration.

The SmoothStepper PWM management in Mach3 was a little unusual in that it REQUIRES a setting for acceleration of the spindle. If it is left at zero, then the spindle will not spin up. I am not sure if this is true of the Mach4 SmoothStepper plugin.

Documentation about the Mach3 / SmoothStepper / PMDX-107 setup can be found in this application note:

http://www.pmdx.com/Doc/AN002_PWMSpindleSmoothStepper_02.pdf

84

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: mach4 uninstall problem

« on: April 04, 2021, 10:36:47 AM »

Did the problems exist even if you did not re-edit or reinstall your macros? This type of problem usually happens if there is a coding problem with a  macro. Does the problem exist if you do not install any plug-in device driver?

85

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: mach4 uninstall problem

« on: April 04, 2021, 09:02:11 AM »

When you uninstall Mach4 it does not remove custom macros. They remain behind in the directory structure where Mach4 was installed. To totally start over you need to delete these macros, or if you are sure you have backup copies of any you need, you can delete the entire Mach4 folder before reinstalling.

86

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Planned expansion board

« on: March 29, 2021, 11:04:59 AM »

Please look again. If you connect the COM pin of the ULN2803 to the +12V or +24V that supplies the relay coil, then the internal diode is indeed across the coil. That was the whole purpose of including it inside of the ULN2803 device.

87

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Planned expansion board

« on: March 29, 2021, 07:42:37 AM »

The external diode is not needed in this case. There is a diode inside the ULN2803 between the output and its COM pin which is intended to serve this purpose. Just connect the COM to your +24V or whatever is the positive supply of the relays.

88

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Planned expansion board

« on: March 28, 2021, 10:39:14 AM »

A clamp diode for reverse back EMF is needed.

While all MOSFETs will self zener and clamp, the devil is in the details. Unless the manufacturer specifies a maximum energy (typically in joules) to be absorbed it is not safe to run without an external clamp. Toshiba does not specify a maximum energy, so assume that this is not safe. A simple 1n4001 diode is fine for DC but you will need a MOV if the load is AC.

89

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Planned expansion board

« on: March 28, 2021, 09:07:11 AM »

Caution... many SSRs are A/C only output and would not work to drive 24 VDC relay coils.

90

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: NAMUR Sensors, how to wire?

« on: March 18, 2021, 09:29:24 AM »

To use these sensors with any of the Mach4 supported motion controllers that I know of, you will need NAMUR signal converters. These are expensive enough that replacing the sensors is cheaper assuming that is allowed in the work environment where you would be installing the equipment.