Messages

101

General Mach Discussion / Re: Looking for good DIY controller kit supplier

« on: November 20, 2020, 04:57:26 PM »

Also, which of the 6 wires would be the centre tap

102

General Mach Discussion / Re: Looking for good DIY controller kit supplier

« on: November 20, 2020, 04:19:01 PM »

Thanks TPS, yes, those are the values in 'Motor Outputs' and I will make the changes.
Please confirm though; no changes at all to 'Config - Ports and Pins - Input Signals' and 'Config - Ports and Pins - Output Signals'?

103

General Mach Discussion / Re: Looking for good DIY controller kit supplier

« on: November 19, 2020, 10:52:41 PM »

This motor was made by Lin Engineering for MaxNC who went out of business some 10 years ago. I've questioned the brown wire with Dave from Lin Eng; as far as he knows it should be the colour code 1 for unipolar motors, but that has a yellow and not a brown wire. The question now is whether or not the colour configuration has been changed by MaxNC, and should that matter.
I'll try the A axis channel for the X axis motor once they have been tested for resistances. Earthing the appropriate X axis Encoder pins is as easy as changing an appropriately wired plug supplied by MaxNC  from the A Encoder connection to that of the X Encoder. So I'll plug the X motor into the A motor channel and the X Encoder into the A Encoder Channel .... that would work, wouldn't it. Would I then swap the X axis info and the A axis info in Mach3 Config motor Outputs and Input Signals, and would I need to change other setting in Mach3?

104

General Mach Discussion / Re: Looking for good DIY controller kit supplier

« on: November 19, 2020, 06:49:54 PM »

Yes TPS, I'll have to learn to count, it is a 6 wire motor. My friend will be here sunday or monday to compare X stepper versus Y and Z stepper resistances. We live quite remotely here so have to travel quite some distance to meet. I've attached a jpg of the power supply to the circuit, that might show if it has surge protection. We certainly have power surges in this area. There is a trip button on that box that seems to pop out fairly often, so that could be it. I will also install a Power Shield between the CNC and 240V power point to prevent surging.
I have connected all 3 motors to the Y and Z channels and they behave very well but all three motors behave badly on the X channel.
By the way, the circuit board has an A axis channel; could I use it to drive the X axis motor?
I will install TIP122 transistors from now on, thanks for the colour coding info as well MN300.
Will be back once the motor resistances have been tested.

105

General Mach Discussion / Re: Looking for good DIY controller kit supplier

« on: November 19, 2020, 07:30:05 AM »

Will do. I've also requested the tech specs from Lin Engineering as I do not know what each of the 5 wires are for. Let you know when it's done. Thanks

106

General Mach Discussion / Re: Looking for good DIY controller kit supplier

« on: November 19, 2020, 06:01:32 AM »

My apologies, the transistors are attached to the DM7400N semi conductors, not the PIC microchips.

107

General Mach Discussion / Re: Looking for good DIY controller kit supplier

« on: November 19, 2020, 05:54:14 AM »

Try again

108

General Mach Discussion / Re: Looking for good DIY controller kit supplier

« on: November 19, 2020, 05:48:43 AM »

My attempts to send attachments result in errors, TPS, is there another way to do it?

109

General Mach Discussion / Re: Looking for good DIY controller kit supplier

« on: November 19, 2020, 05:37:19 AM »

I hope this jpg arrives, TPS. My computer, running Windows XP, is dedicated to Mach3 and is attached to the CNC via circuitry as per attached jpg. Each of the x,y and z axis stepper motors has 5 wires, blue, green, red, black, white and brown; each motor plugged via a 5 wire plug into a 'Motor' connector into the circuit board. Each US digital E2 optical kit encoder has 5 wires, red, green, bare, white and black, plugged into a 5 wire 'Encoder' connector. The limit switches are plugged in via a connector with red and blue wires. The circuit board is connected to a power supply via two white plugs, one with two green wires and the other with a black and green wire. The circuit board is connected to the computer via a 25 pin Parallel port cable to the computer's printer port.
The TIP120 transistor connecting the X axis motor's black wire to the PIC16F84A-201/P microchip has failed twice, while the transistor connecting the X axis motor's red wire to the microchip was not installed but loose in the circuit box. A friend soldered it onto the board. I did not know that one transistor was not installed till after the first failure. The burnt out transistor was replaced with a new one and the other was soldered in, and the machine ran well for a day when the new black wire transistor burnt again. All motors run well on the Y and Z channels, but the X channel is ratz. I think new circuitry would be required but I do not really know what to do next. Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

110

General Mach Discussion / Looking for good DIY controller kit supplier

« on: November 18, 2020, 05:33:37 PM »

I've blown my controller. When I opened the controller up I found a capacitor rattling around ... unused, not soldered in, must have been solder shop quitting time and the Mrs had cooked a good meal. I have a 3 axis router with Lin Engineering 5718L 03D steppers and US Digital E2 optical kit encoders, limit switches and run it via a parallel port on Mach3. All these are in good condition. I'm looking for a suitable DIY controller kit with the entire kit and caboodle to run the mill efficiently. Do any of you know of a suitable kit and supplier? I am retired, do not have very deep pockets but still would like something of quality. A beer pocket and champagne taste so to speak. Look forward to your suggestions.