I have tried everything to make the spindle work, the x-y works fine. I set up spindle the same way but nothing. flashes the speed for a second then goes yellow  nothing .I have spent all day on this and nothing! I do not have any encoders or switches hooked up so everything is pretty much off except the x-axis and spindle, set up,  I am trying to use a 1.8 deg stepper to run at about 100 rpm
enabled  and active step/dir. does mach 3 2.0 need encoders and start/ stop switches? whats the deal, I thought i disabled it all? What is the procedure from start to finish, the only thing i could find was how to use a relay going through output pins

what about direction and step outputs ? thats what i need! 1.8 deg stepper motor running at 100 rpm, no ramp up-down no dwell. no encoders no start stop buttons , just to make it run when i program m3 s100 run my g-code then m5?
 
what am i doing wrong or not doing? if I were to do another fresh install or reset everything to factory, what would i need to check-uncheck and change to make this work? after spending 10 hours on this I have tried everything and am at the end of my rope.

if I have to I will just use the x axis and do all the conversions and enter all the distances to make it turn, but that seems stupid. when m3 s100 is all i need?

thankyou, steve



thankyou in advance for your help.

Hi.

You will not be able to run a stepper that way.

Stepper needs step to run and with command like M3, nothing will happen

You will need an external clock to get step to the motor driver or since it is hook up as an axis motor, try something like x or y or whatever is hook up to that input, X 10000 and maybe you get some turning from you spindle motor.

When you use the command M3 S1000 it only turn on or off the input, and as I said, stepper motor needs step, many step.

If you have a small Ac or DC motor, replace the stepper with it and try to control it with the relay.

Jeff

Stepper should work fine as a spindle, well as long as you understand the limitations of torque and speed that a stepper will have.
Attach your xml and I will have a look but basically you just set the spindle port and pins up to the the step/dir pins that you are using for your spindle and then set the spindle steps per unit/ velocity and accell for spindle in motor tuning.
Hood

Oh BTW you will have to have some delay in getting to full speed but that will be determined by how fast you can get the accel set in motor tuning for the spindle.

Hood

It will run at less than 100 rpm with little to no torque. I did all the settings the same as the x-y set the output pins set the pulses per all that, spent 10 hours setting re-setting, searching, standard protocol does not work. I need to know what boxes to check or uncheck
and what values to put where for what i need. and if this program will or will not run on spindle mode without encoders and or external
start switches, it seems to be waiting for something? my actual spindle motor ha

Can you attach your xml and I will look and see your settings and probably find what you are missing.
Hood

my mill xml

HI ALL,
I will jump in here as a newbie since i never set up a stepper motor to run a spindle until 5 minutes ago!
Just so you know i have a stepper attached to a gear reducer which dirves the lathe spindle.
Don't have any encoders or feedback, so basicaly just like yours.It works fine here and here is some info:
CONFIGURATION:
PORTS &PINS>MOTOR OUTPUTS- enable the spindle and assign the pin out and state just like any other  stepper.
                      >SPINDLE SETUP - check the Use SPindle motor Output and Step/Dir Motor
                                                   - Check use spindle feeback in Sync Modes, for now you can uncheck spindle speed averaging
                                                   - i have Disabled Spindle Relays checked
                                                   - used 0 for all the General Parameters
To get an RPM display you need to have at least an single slotted index via Opto or whatever, else you will not get an
RPM display. Associated with this are a few other settings which affect how fast the rpm will display, but for now lets just get
the spindle moving.

                       >Motor Tuning - You can have the steps per unit set up a number of different ways for the spindle......
                                                IE; steps per rev, steps per degree, steps per inch and depending on what you
                                                do requires an appropriate velocity setting and acceleration. Hood can enlighten us more on this.
                       BUT.....no matter what you choose your spindle will turn on a commanded S but it could be so slow
                       that you would think it is not turning, just listen to the stepper later on and you will hear the pulses being sent to it.
                       I didn't use step per rev ( 270000, specific to my machine) or steps per degree ( 750)  but used inches per rev
                       which happens to be 21352 for me based on a 4.025" diamter vel at 60 and accel 12 and the stepper dosn;t skip
                       with those setting for me.
GENERAL CONFIG> DEBOUNCE Interval is 600 Index is 10  ( affect index / rpm display )
                             > Shuttle accel is .005
In the MDI:
type in - S5000 ( Start  low say S5, S100, S1000, S5000 )
type in  M3 (rotate spindle CW)  or M4 ( CCW) - the spindle will start turning......
type in M5 to stop the spindle

At least the spindle should turn for you,  

HOOD, lots of places you can commnent on in my reply, feel free to do so......  

RICH

Oh I forgot,
CONFIG>SPINDLE PULLEYS- set the min and max speed and gearing ratio if any.
RICH

MODIFIED: Input of a ratio caused loss of RPM display . 
               

To me a spindle should only be set up as steps per rev or the S word would be kind of meaningless but up to the user I suppose.

RPM display should not disappear with a ratio set, possibly that could be due to the 035 revision?

Hood