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Author Topic: No communication between computer and controller box.  (Read 13589 times)

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Re: No communication between computer and controller box.
« Reply #10 on: December 09, 2016, 04:28:00 PM »
Hi captainleeward,
you have been busy! I recall the day I got my own homemade mill working, I was elated and you will be to. The degree of elation is proportional
to the effort spent building your machine so yours will be phenomenal. May pay to alert the authorities beforehand, hoax earthquake reports
are viewed dimly! A lot of users on this forum buy their machines ready made from China. They seem to report more frustration than elation.

From the pics its clear you don't use any pulleys or reduction between your steppers and the lead screws. The Steps Per calculation is easy. There is
a calibration utility in Mach3 but unless you have to use it don't bother.

If you set the microstepping to 1/8 you should be about right. Two phase steppers advance 1.8 degrees per full step or 1.8/8 degrees per microstep
at 1/8 setting. Your table will advance (1.8/8/360) *0.5 ie 0.3125 thou per microstep or taking the reciprocal 3200 microsteps per inch. If you set to
1/16 microstepping 6400 microsteps per inch. Easy!

Stepper motors are very grunty for their size at low speeds, upto about 100 rpm but lose torque thereafter down to about 5% of rated torque
at 1000 rpm. Multiphase (3 and 5) steppers do better but the same trend applies. Unless you are prepared for repeated stalls set your max speed to
be such that the steppers are doing 300-500 rpm. At 300 rpm(conservative) then 300*0.5 ie 150 inch per min.

Again as a conservative starting point set you acceleration to 15 inch/sec/sec.

What I did not see in your pics was an Estop button, it is a must have!. Plenty of suppliers will supply you with lockable and latching Estop
switches in standard colours for $$$. Any push-to-break switch will work tho. You can set it up to use push-to-make but if you have a wiring
fault you wont know until you REALLY need it. Not recommended. Many safety conscious users arrange it that an Estop will kill all electrical
power to the motors and spindle rather than relying on Mach3 to stop on command. I personally have not bothered to do so and have had
a couple of times where I regretted that choice but none the less a working Estop is a must especially when starting out and setting up as you
are.

Work on one axis at a time. Use manual G0 commands or use the jogging keys to move backwards and forwards while tuning you motors. If you
haven't found it yet there in an enable jogging/disable jogging button on various Mach3 screens. On the MDI screen hit <tab> to see the flyout
with the jog commands and modes. Have fun!

Craig
'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'
Re: No communication between computer and controller box.
« Reply #11 on: December 09, 2016, 04:45:16 PM »
Hello Craig, well the diagnostics screen is now showing some action per switches e stop but i see i need to do some retracing of the wiring.
Put in the data as you described. still no manual control on the keyboard. The problem lies in one of three areas 1) motors cables   2) BOB has some circuit board soldier problems.
3) Mach3 needs some tweaking.  I bumped up those pots on the BOB nothing changed except the motors now get worm to the touch which is good.
well see ya next week if you can spare the time  by the way I have been to Australia, Sydney and have over the years talked to many folks in Australia and New Zealand on my Ham radio on 10 meters well cheers for now .  :O) e-stop button is on top of BOB.
« Last Edit: December 09, 2016, 04:57:42 PM by captainleeward »
Re: No communication between computer and controller box.
« Reply #12 on: December 09, 2016, 05:08:26 PM »
Hi captainleeward,
sounds like you've got things under control and have a logical plan to follow, you'll do fine.

I mostly experiment VHF/UHF/SHF but ZL3UII here.

Craig
'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'
Re: No communication between computer and controller box.
« Reply #13 on: December 10, 2016, 06:47:17 AM »
Hi Craig,  KF6PJW is my call sign on SSB 470 10  meters when the conditions are right. not so good this year.  Kilo foxtrot six papa Juliet whisky.
Re: No communication between computer and controller box.
« Reply #14 on: December 12, 2016, 04:31:18 PM »
Hi Craig.

Well I spent all morning retracing my cables with an ohm meter all are in the right place and working no grounding  issues.
so the mach3 running banner says limit switch tripped, I checked each one of those and they all worked on my meter? normally closed.
On the diagnostics menu under input signals current state I have input 2  m2 3 yellow boxes 3 across-m3 3 yellow boxes 3 across what do these mean good or ad?
the third limit switch shows a green box when i push it.
the e-stop switch is working fine. Still no motor turning.  Ward...:O)
« Last Edit: December 12, 2016, 04:35:03 PM by captainleeward »
Re: No communication between computer and controller box.
« Reply #15 on: December 14, 2016, 06:10:47 AM »
Hi captainleeward,
would in the first instance disable ALL the limit and homes switches. You are trying to get too many things going at once. it just produces
confusion.
On the Config/Ports and Pins/Inputs page disable everything except the Estop. Once you have thoroughly tested the Estop then get your motors to
work, one axis at a time using MDI and or jogging. This is where a working Esop is a must.

Once you've got your motors running then decide how you wish to wire your home and limits.
Some people try to combine all of them and do so quite successfully. I prefer having a dedicated home switch for each axis and just one limit circuit.
The limits are wired in series, any one switch opens and the machine stops. Obviously the machine can't tell which switch but unless you've gone blind
you can. The downside of that arrangement is that you need 9 switches. The three home switches I bought best quality units so that they are repeatable.
The other 6 can be cheapies. For instance my X home switch operates about 3mm from the end of travel with the table to the extreme right and the limit
switch operates just beyond that.

Craig
'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'
Re: No communication between computer and controller box.
« Reply #16 on: December 14, 2016, 02:54:40 PM »
Hello Craig, Yea I am having little success with limit switches, I will go your route tomorrow.
Re: No communication between computer and controller box.
« Reply #17 on: December 15, 2016, 12:15:18 PM »
Hello Craig, Happy holidays.............
removed all wiring to the limit switches. left e-stop ground and e-stop wire on the BOB.
ports and pins removed all limit entry's all that is left is the e-stop.
enabled x axis and step pin 2,dir pin3 (per cnc hobby manual for the BOB) (step port #1,dir port #1) were already this way in the program.
E-Stop is working properly.
key board left and right keys show number movement on the DRO a small amount but motors only make a clunk noise and the shafts do not move
but the computer is trying to get the motors to work. it feels like the motor brakes are on and can not move.
when I run the road runner program still some clunks but no motor movement. I have checked the wiring from the motors to BOB it is correct.
what do you suggest next?   Ward.
Re: No communication between computer and controller box.
« Reply #18 on: December 15, 2016, 12:56:24 PM »
An added note: I did go to  tuning motors menu  and fiddled with the sliders no help. Before you said to put the jumpers to 1/8  it is now set a 1/2. 1/2 this is what the manual says?
 but the manual does not know my set up either. should I put them there to 1/8?  would this change have the effect we want?  Ward.
Re: No communication between computer and controller box.
« Reply #19 on: December 16, 2016, 12:58:34 AM »
Hi captainleeward,
doesn't matter hugely, either should work. At 1/2 step means 400 pulses per rev with 1/4 inch pitch screws  means your smallest step will be 0.625 thou.
Fairly coarse. At 1/8 step 0.15625 thou, I think probably better. Also less likely to get resonance problems at 1/8.

Just set one and get that sucker working! All the fiddling around with other settings is stopping you making progress. Just one motor, doesn't even have to be
coupled to the screw, just get it running! Once you've worked out what you need to get one going the rest will be much easier.

Some screenshots of yours settings and some info on your BOB/drivers would help.

Craig
'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'