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No Motor Movements -- Newbie
« on: August 31, 2014, 12:54:51 PM »
Hi all,
As my nickname says I'm going nuts.  Have read more than 70 posts in different forums but still stuck, so pls help if you can.

I have downloaded and set up mach3 as described in the wonderful video by ArtSoft.
I have hooked my motors and control panel  (oh no, another of those cheap Cinese junk !?! I'm on a tight budget !)
TB6560 (green) 3.5 A, 16 Mic steps, 3 Nema 23 270 OZ 3 A, and the supplied power supply.

Pls see : http://www.ebay.it/itm/301100034359?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

To test the motors I have attached Blue to B- ,  Red to B+ , Green to A- , Black to A+ and setup all pins as manufacturer's specs.
I have tested the LTP port with a multimeter and even though I get an inverse value for a couple of pins, I still get 4.5 V and 0 for most pins when pushing the hot keys on the keyboard.

I have no CNC machine attached, just trying to test run the motors.

But, I CAN NOT GET ANY NOISE OR MOVEMENT FROM THE MOTORS !

Appreciate your help.  Thank you.
Re: No Motor Movements -- Newbie
« Reply #1 on: September 01, 2014, 02:30:42 PM »
I know lots of people have been having problems with these boards. Have you seen this video, he seems to know what he's doing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YQEAyEhQzY
This also shows other wiring videos you might find helpful.
Jim
Re: No Motor Movements -- Newbie
« Reply #2 on: September 04, 2014, 04:16:47 AM »
Yes Jim, I have seen the video.  Thank you.
No help though.

Offline Tweakie.CNC

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Re: No Motor Movements -- Newbie
« Reply #3 on: September 04, 2014, 04:50:04 AM »
Hi Giongnuts,

I appreciate it is not your doing but these boards are total crap and hardly worth the effort to get them going. However...

You need to have Enable signals (active high [X]) set in Mach3 / Ports and Pins / Output Signals, for the respective pins. Try...

Enable1  Enabled(tick) Port#1 Pin Number 4 Active Low(cross)
Enable2  Enabled(tick) Port#1 Pin Number 5 Active Low(cross)
Enable3  Enabled(tick) Port#1 Pin Number 17 Active Low(cross)

Make sure that those pin numbers are not Enabled anywhere else in Mach3.

See if that let's you get motor movement.  ;)

Tweakie.
PEACE
Re: No Motor Movements -- Newbie
« Reply #4 on: September 04, 2014, 05:29:01 AM »
Hi Tweakie,

Thank you for your reply to my post.

Wish I knew this board was a crap before buying it .... my bad ! Anytime I try to save on something I spend twice .
I still have some time to maybe send it back but before that I must make sure it is not my faulty setup.

I have done as your instructions and still no noise, no movement !

I attach my xml file and will really appreciate it if you or someone else can take a look at it.

Thanks again.

Offline Tweakie.CNC

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Re: No Motor Movements -- Newbie
« Reply #5 on: September 04, 2014, 05:50:53 AM »
Hi Giongnuts,

When you power-up the board (connected to the PC and with Mach3 running) Do your motors lock ?? (cannot be rotated by hand like they can when it is switched off).

If they lock then you are on the right track.
If they do not lock then you have not yet found the correct Enable pin numbers.

Also check...
That you have the correct parallel port Port Address set in Mach3 and that it is Enabled.
That you are using the correct Pin numbers for Step and Direction in Motor Outputs.
Try Step Active Low (ticked) and see if that works.

That's about it really, I have run out of ideas for you except perhaps buying a Gecko G540  :)


Tweakie.
PEACE
Re: No Motor Movements -- Newbie
« Reply #6 on: September 04, 2014, 04:47:49 PM »
mine is    enable1    port 1 pin 14 active low took me 6 months to get it as it was not in the destructions
Mike
« Last Edit: September 04, 2014, 04:49:34 PM by Mike Irvin »
Re: No Motor Movements -- Newbie
« Reply #7 on: September 05, 2014, 03:46:30 AM »
Hi Mike and Tweakie,

Thank you both for the replies.

Mike : I tried your pin set up, did not work.

Tweakie :
 1) ""When you power-up the board (connected to the PC and with Mach3 running) Do your motors lock ??  "" They are hard but turn, not blocked.  So you are right must be pin numbers,  I'll try measuring pins outputs again with a multimeter. I want to find out on which pin do I get values when hit a hot key, then set those in pin numbers.  I don't know if this is the right approach but I'll try it.
2) Port is ok, the leds turn on on the driver board.

I think I have some problems with understanding Active Lows.
When I check (green) active lows for all axes in motor outputs I get bright leds on the board. Then they turn off if I uncheck them (red X) and hit the hot keys.

Could you please tell me how to set active lows on everything, including Estop when I have no machine connected.

Thank you again for your patience and help.  May G-d bless you.

Offline Tweakie.CNC

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Re: No Motor Movements -- Newbie
« Reply #8 on: September 05, 2014, 04:54:59 AM »
An ‘Active Low’ signal is normally high (approx. 3.3V or 5V) and goes low (0V) when it is enabled.
It is the opposite for ‘Active High’ they are low (0V) and go high (approx. 3.3V or 5V) when enabled.

As said, your motors should ‘lock’ when the board is powered-up (irrespective of any combination of step and direction pin settings / allocations) so you need to find which pin or pins provide the Enable signal / signals. It will, of course, be one or more of the Output pins 1-9, 14, 16, 17.
Try them each in turn first active high then active low – when you can’t rotate any of the stepper motors then you have found the pin / pins and it’s / their active state.
Then you can proceed to confirm which are the correct step and direction pins for each axis (although I think you already know that but check again to be sure).

Tweakie.
PEACE

Offline stirling

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Re: No Motor Movements -- Newbie
« Reply #9 on: September 05, 2014, 05:55:29 AM »
according to the 3 axis manual on google the three axis enable pins are x=14, y=2 and z=6 all active high.