Messages

61

General Mach Discussion / Re: HELP! - breakout board diagnosis help needed

« on: December 01, 2010, 09:36:57 AM »

Jen,

All our boards have buffered signals.  They will take the 3.3v signal and draw from the parallel port less than 0.02mA. So they will work with any parallel port.

From what you say I believe a chip might get damaged on the board.  When this happens usually some of the I/Os do not work, and the ones that work might have problems.  Because if a chip is damaged it can create an internal short that draws power, leaving other chips underpowered.  It is very strange in your case that signals like the driver enable were not working.

I appreciate if you can send me the serial # on the board so can look up the inspection record.  I only found you in our database with the order of the second board.  Where did you get the first one from?

Arturo Duncan
http://cnc4pc.com

62

General Mach Discussion / Re: HELP! - breakout board diagnosis help needed

« on: November 30, 2010, 03:40:54 PM »

Jen,

This is the first time I hear someone enjoying having a problem:)  I understand, I have been there.  It feels so good to overcome a challenge.

I appreciate if you can send the board back.  I would really like to take a look at it.  I can refund it, or replace it, or whatever you want.

Please contact me offline: aduncan@cnc4pc.com

Arturo Duncan
http://cnc4pc.com

63

General Mach Discussion / Re: HELP! - breakout board diagnosis help needed

« on: November 29, 2010, 10:54:04 AM »

Jen,

If you are not even getting the enable terminal, I doubt it would be something associated with the board. This is enabled just by sending +5vdc and it's ground from the BOB.  If it was not for this, I would suggest you check the guide on troubleshooting chips: http://www.cnc4pc.com/Store/osc/product_info.php?cPath=38_66&products_id=298.

If this does not work with the new board, it is better we go over this over the phone.   I will not be available on the phone this afternoon, but do expect to be in all day tomorrow. 

Arturo Duncan
http://cnc4pc.com

64

General Mach Discussion / Re: HELP! - breakout board diagnosis help needed

« on: November 29, 2010, 08:12:48 AM »

Jen,

The important thing is that you confirm the step, direction, and enable are getting to the driver.

You did not say if the EN (enable) terminals in the Keling drivers were getting +5vdc.  The C35 should do a hardware enable on this driver.  Use a multimeter on the terminals of the driver to confirm this.

Remember that the dir terminals are easier to measure on the driver; they should change states as you change direction.  Use Dir+ and Dir- to measure this.

I appreciate your feedback.

Arturo Duncan
http://cnc4pc.com

65

General Mach Discussion / Re: HELP! - breakout board diagnosis help needed

« on: November 26, 2010, 11:35:39 AM »

Jen,

You should have contacted me if you were having trouble with this.

From what I understand the problem is that step and direction signals are not getting to driver.  Here are some things to keep in mind:

-   There is an LED that shows the status of the outputs, it should be lit.  This tells us that the signals from the parallel port are getting to the driver (or any other output device).  What is the status of this LED?

-   3 conditions must be met to enable the outputs:
o   The board needs to be connected to a parallel port.  There is a watchdog using pins 18 and 19.
o   There should be +5vdc on the EN terminal, use the terminal next to it to source the +5vdc to be sure.
o   The Safety Charge Pump must be disabled or enabled and active in the controller.  I suggest for trouble shooting purposes, to leave it disabled for now.

-   Are you sure you are connecting the correct step and direction signals? It is very common to confuse the pin order in the RJ45 connector. The first revision of one of our manuals had them backwards, that confused a lot of people.

-   What drivers are you using? Are you sure you are connecting the correct common for the drivers?

-   We offer driver connector boards, which ease the connection to the driver.  Especially when using servos, with complex enable/disable and driver monitoring features: http://www.cnc4pc.com/Store/osc/index.php?cPath=33_59 

-   You can always put a scope, or by using a multimeter, you can see that the direction terminal is changing stats.

Please check this and let me know how it goes.

Arturo Duncan
http://cnc4pc.com

66

SmoothStepper USB / Re: SS-C23 problems

« on: November 05, 2010, 08:58:15 AM »

Are you still having problems with this?  The jumpers in the SS need to be set to send +5vdc to the 26 pin headers.  This is how the optos are powered.  It could be a possible cause for the problem you are reporting.

Arturo Duncan
http://Http://cnc4pc.com

67

General Mach Discussion / Re: Relay for TTL signals?

« on: November 05, 2010, 08:51:16 AM »

Tony,

You can find some relay options here: http://www.cnc4pc.com/Store/osc/index.php?cPath=24

If controlling relays with mach3, it is better to use a breakout board that does come with relays and a safety charge pump, like the C11G: http://www.cnc4pc.com/Store/osc/product_info.php?cPath=33&products_id=46

Arturo Duncan
http://Http://cnc4pc.com

68

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach problem or hardware problem?

« on: October 10, 2010, 10:59:40 AM »

Rich,

Could it be that the breakout board is underpowered.  A C11 is an optoisolated board, it requires two power supplies.  The main power supply must be rated at least at 1.5Amps.  The other side of the circuit can be powered with the provided USB cable.

Arturo Duncan
http://cnc4pc.com

69

General Mach Discussion / Re: router spindle

« on: October 05, 2010, 09:43:15 AM »

This is what you are looking for: http://www.cnc4pc.com/Store/osc/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=155.

We also have a new version of that same circuit: http://www.cnc4pc.com/Store/osc/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=155 .

It goes between the PC and a basic breakout board or parallel port drivers, such as HobbyCNC, G540, Xylotex or Rockcliff.  Since it provides Safety Charge Pump, buffered signals, and terminals for inputs it can really enhance the setup of any router based system.

Arturo Duncan
http://cnc4pc.com

70

General Mach Discussion / Re: Parallel Port Voltage

« on: October 01, 2010, 08:51:09 AM »

Jim,

Is this solved?

Arturo Duncan
http://cnc4pc.com