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Installed SS today and having a few problems
« on: May 20, 2009, 05:35:45 PM »
I installed a smooth stepper on my big lathe today and I am having a few problems getting a few things running. The machine is moving properly and seems much smoother when trying to run over 500IPM , I assume because I was able to do away with the electronic gearing in the drives.

I am unsure how to go about getting my spindle to work properly. I have a large VFD that was working properly pre SS , the spindle still comes on and spins in the proper direction at m3 and m4 but is only turning at aprox 30 rpms . Unsure how or what to config to get it to respond like it should.

I have a slotted disk generating a pulse as my spindle encoder , it now seems to only read 1 rpm when the spindle is turning .

The other issue I am having is mach is no longer sending the signal thru the par port to my plc to operate the tool changer. I am sure these are simple things to overcome, any help appreciated
Re: Installed SS today and having a few problems
« Reply #1 on: May 20, 2009, 07:27:24 PM »
OK , got the vfd dialed in by adjusting the po=ulse width on the SS setup page.

I got the spindle encoder working properly by playing with the debounce for inputs.

How do I get the computer to communicate with my PLC again via modbus? It was working perfectly before installing the  smooth stepper and related drivers

Offline Jeff_Birt

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Re: Installed SS today and having a few problems
« Reply #2 on: May 24, 2009, 10:59:35 PM »
Did you inadvertantly change any related settings?
Happy machining , Jeff Birt
 
Re: Installed SS today and having a few problems
« Reply #3 on: May 25, 2009, 10:18:28 PM »
not that I know of , I still cant get the SS to communicate with mach reliably , on two occasions I have been able to run the machine for 4 hours or so but most of the time Mach looses communicaation with the SS about every 5 minutes. I have changed out the smooth stepper, tried two different computers, both with full format, reload all software etc . Latest version of Mach, latest plugin and driver . Still no luck.

I have tried different USB cables, different keyboards , different mouse . Vfd on , Vfd powered down and just about every possible combination. Still loose comm every 5 minutes or so.   Now that I have loaded the latest driver and plugin both my mill and lathe loose contact with the ss around every 5 minutes so i am guessing its software related

Offline Jeff_Birt

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Re: Installed SS today and having a few problems
« Reply #4 on: May 25, 2009, 10:29:08 PM »
Communication problems can be caused by noise and/or incorrect settings.

First what symptoms are you seeing that caused you to conclude the SS was loosing communication?
Happy machining , Jeff Birt
 

Offline Hood

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Re: Installed SS today and having a few problems
« Reply #5 on: May 26, 2009, 07:53:35 AM »
Jeff to save you time going over old ground have a look here (post 313 onwards). http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,8314.310.html
Hood

Offline Jeff_Birt

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Re: Installed SS today and having a few problems
« Reply #6 on: May 26, 2009, 09:21:51 AM »
Thanks Hood. Looks like he is making headway...
Happy machining , Jeff Birt
 
Re: Installed SS today and having a few problems
« Reply #7 on: June 04, 2009, 12:56:04 AM »
I just plugged in a smoothstepper briefly today and it loses comms with mach pretty much as soon as the spindle turns on so I suspect electrical noise.  Red light on the smoothstepper goes out and mach locks up. Unplugging the smoothstepper wakes mach up with an error saying it's lost contact with the SS.

Spindle is a chinese, VFD driven, water cooled unit and I have the smothstepper mounted temporarily in a plastic enclosure with ribbon cables to the parallel ports on the back of the router.  I'll need to check the shielding and grounding from the VFD to the spindle and see if I can find somewhere shielded for the SS to live.

Offline Jeff_Birt

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Re: Installed SS today and having a few problems
« Reply #8 on: June 04, 2009, 09:04:41 AM »
jallitt, do you have an optically isolated BOB? How is your system (earth)grounded?
Happy machining , Jeff Birt
 
Re: Installed SS today and having a few problems
« Reply #9 on: June 05, 2009, 02:51:31 AM »
Bob isn't opto isolated but stepper drivers are and the ouputs go through an 8 way relay board.

Turns out the cable from the VFD up to the router chassis isn't shielded though and getting the VFD out to rewire requires lifting the 250kg cast iron chassis off the base :/

I Just bought a USB 2.0 card  which has a USB connector on the inside - so I'll stick the SS inside the computer case, if that doesn't help I'll look at shielding the VFD cable.