Messages

11

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: ESS Inputs and Outputs not doing anything

« on: July 12, 2018, 05:00:26 PM »

Hang on ... they will turn on, but only if the input is toggled after it is enabled.  So all the ones which turned on right when the machine was enabled, from the error feed back coming on, are still off.  But if I manually disconnect and reconnect them they will now come on while enabled.

12

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: ESS Inputs and Outputs not doing anything

« on: July 12, 2018, 04:57:07 PM »

Hi,
so when Mach is not enabled you can cause the LEDs on the Machine Diagnostics tab to come on by flicking the input
pin with a piece of wire? With Mach disabled it wont, is that correct?

Craig

Correct.  When not enabled the machine diagnostic LEDs will go on and off.  After enable they freeze in whatever state they were in before enable.

Hi,
spotted a typo....I don't need the LEDLabel enabled with the machine, rather the LED itself.

Craig

Done, and now they won't turn on at all, with or without the machine enabled.

13

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: ESS Inputs and Outputs not doing anything

« on: July 12, 2018, 12:16:53 PM »

Hi,
give me some details. You have assigned one pin per servo or one pin for all the servos?


Craig

One pin per servo.  Set to Input #2 - Input #6.  Only doing 5 of the axis since the last is actually steppers off a stepper driver. 

14

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: ESS Inputs and Outputs not doing anything

« on: July 12, 2018, 12:09:49 PM »

Hi,
if you have used the SigLib{} table then Mach4 doesn't 'read' the inputs at all.

When a signal changes state, any signal, the signal script runs. The signal script looks in the SigLib table to see if there is an entry
for the signal in there, ie a match between the signal which has just changed and the entries corresponding to the signal we are interested in.

Can you please post the code that you put in SigLib?

Craig

Haven't put it in yet.  Was just checking to make sure the inputs were actually working when I noticed this problem. 

15

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: ESS Inputs and Outputs not doing anything

« on: July 12, 2018, 12:00:30 PM »

So I finally have all the axis up and running.  But now I have run right into another problem.  I'm trying to get the motor error outputs from the servos into mach4 so it will stop the machine if there is a motor fault.  I have everything I need to do this ready to go, including the Signal Lib code for the general inputs I hooked them all up to.  Problem is that mach4 stops reading the inputs after I hit enable.  When not enabled it reads the inputs just fine, as seen in the machine diagnostics page by manually connecting and disconnecting the input wire to simulate the error signal.  But once I enable the machine the input just stays at whatever state it was at right before enable, even as the LED light on the C25 is going on and off as I again manually trigger the input.    Suggestions on what I'm missing?

16

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: ESS Inputs and Outputs not doing anything

« on: July 08, 2018, 06:03:28 PM »

I would love to be able to buy an "off the shelf" working machine but that not an option since there aren't any other machines like this out there.   This is a proof of concept prototype for a new type of high speed industrial 3D printer.  In fact this machine will probably be actually running for less time than I have already spent tying to get these control boards to do what I need them to do, which is what is so frustrating.  If this was something which was going to be running for a long time or which was the end product then this wouldn't be that bad, but right now it is nothing more than a kluge of DIY parts standing in my way of getting to the next step.  

As far is using one output for all the enables I also had that thought, but I will have to probably use a SSR to switch a more powerfully 5v supply than the board can do on one output since I have 10 motors which need to get the signal and each has about 25' of wire to cover.  I was hoping to avoid all that by just using the boards outputs directly.  But at this point I would be happy if just a single output actually worked.  I disabled all outputs except for one Enable signal and still nothing.  Started off trying port 1 pin 3 "X Enable" with only it enabled as an output in the ESS plugging and then did the same it Mach4.  If set to active High then it's always off, as in no output and the indicator LED is always off.  Hitting Enable in Mach4 control screen does nothing.  If it is instead set to active Low then it is always on, as in the LED is on and it's sending 5v out.  Again completely independent to anything done on the Mach4 control screen.   The only thing done with Mach4 it seems to respond to is closing the program, which will disable the output, but as soon as I open Mach4 again the output is back on.  Tried the same thing for a couple of other outputs, ones the C25 actually supports, and got the same on all.   Also port 2 pin 9 is always on with 2.43v output for some crazy reason.  

17

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: ESS Inputs and Outputs not doing anything

« on: July 06, 2018, 05:19:36 PM »

Hi,

Especially if they claim "Full access to all the pins of the Smooth Stepper Board"

Your reading advertising not the manual.......that's a mistake when it comes to CNC.

Craig

And that is exactly why I am really starting to hate this DIY hacker crap.  Went through all the this same crap with the pokeys57cnc which was a total wast of time and money. 

18

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: ESS Inputs and Outputs not doing anything

« on: July 06, 2018, 05:17:07 PM »

Hi,
whats wrong with the C25.....its got plenty of inputs AND outputs enough to drive your machine so whats the problem?

Why do you have to use port 2 as outputs?

Craig

I need it to drive 6 axis, with three outputs per axis.  Enable, STEP, DIR.  That's a min of 18 outputs.  Also have PWM fans to control as well.  But it looks like it only has 16 outputs since I'm loosing 2-9 on port 2.  

19

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: ESS Inputs and Outputs not doing anything

« on: July 06, 2018, 05:09:58 PM »

Hi,
another feature of the C25 which I took no notice of is that the inputs 10,11,12,13 and 15 of each port have two inverter
buffers, ie the combination is not inverted.

The inputs port 2 pins 2-9 have only one inverter buffer so the inputs are inverted. Its something you need to keep in mind.

Craig

Well if it can't do the port 2 outputs then it doesn't really matter, it's going in the scrap box.

20

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: ESS Inputs and Outputs not doing anything

« on: July 06, 2018, 05:02:10 PM »

Hi,
I just read this in the C25 manual:

Outputs 1, 14, 16 and 17 (Port 1 and 2) and outputs 2-9 (port 1).
All those pins are directly wired to the C25 output terminals.

It would appear the output of the ESS is direct connected to the output screw terminal of the C25, no buffering.
I consider that less than ideal. The C10 has input AND output buffering and is preferred. I myself use MB2's from Homan Designs
in Austrailia, I live in New Zealand so its near enough to local for me. They are a bit more expensive than the C10 but I've been very
happy with them. They to offer bi-directional pins 2-9 and input and output buffering AND LEDs on ALL inputs and outputs so I can tell
at a glance whats happening. Those LEDs would be a real boon to you at the moment.

Craig

Well that's both stupid and annoying, if the ESS has bidirectional input outputs then why the hell doesn't the C25.  Especially if they claim "Full access to all the pins of the Smooth Stepper Board".   Now I get to waste time and money waiting around for either 2 C10s or one of what you recommended to show up.  Great.  

Thank you for your help and I'm sure sure I will have plenty more questions when whatever I now have to order shows up.