Good morning all,

I am having a very strange problem with Mach 3. My system has been working but I also have been working on it so I could have introduced something into the mix. All other behavior of the machine is fine.

This is all about spindle control, and again, this was working...

Here is what happens:

I turn on the spindle in Mach, the spindle starts for a brief moment, then Mach3 E-Stops.

Here is what I have:

Mach3 - ESS Smooth Stepper - C25 BOB -- Dual relay board -- PWM to Analog board -- Huanyang Chinese VFD

This is what I have done to isolate the problem:

• I removed the PWM board and replaced it with a POT, this leaves only two control wires between MACH and the VFD - DCM (Common) and FOR (spindle on-fwd).
  Problem continues - as such, output triggers relay, Relay closes, PWM signal starts, MACH3 E-stops.
  I removed the two wires for DCM and FOR at the relay (Thus the spindle can't start)
  Problem gets 'better", the output triggers relay, Relay closes, PWM signal starts, MACH3 is happy.
  I then connect the two wires (DCM and FOR) together (twisting wires together) and the spindle starts and runs fine - no E-Stop
  
  

Phase 1 Summary:

• Mach3 can control the relay, the relay can operate fine with no problem.
  
  The spindle drive can operate fine by manually wiring together the wires for (DCM and FOR).
  
  Mach3 will E-Stop if the Relay is used as a switch to connect the DCM and FOR wires together.

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Further tests and attempts:

• Reconnected the analog control circuit
  Problem and behaviour was exactly the same as above
  

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• Also turned off the input for E-Stop (thinking there is a power surge or drop), problem persisted.
  

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• Being that the problem is around the relay and that there are two on the board, I tried both relays - same problem.

It is so strange that:

• the relay can actuate perfectly fine by Mach3 and never cause a problem
  the VFD can be turned on/off by twisting the wires together and never cause a problem
  if the relay is used to connect the two wires - Mach3 goes into E-Stop

Anybody got any suggestions as to what is going on here?

Unfortunately I am away on business for a couple of weeks and won't be able to test further until I return.

Chris D

i would start with the power supply for the smoothstepper.

Hi TPS,

Any suggestions as to what I should look for?  Are you thinking that the voltage is dropping out or something like that?

Chris

Hi TPS,

Any suggestions as to what I should look for?  Are you thinking that the voltage is dropping out or something like that?

Chris

1. PSU for the ESS should be at least 2.5A
2. 3 jumpers on ESS must be set to provide power via pin 26 to the C25 board.
3. Try to power your relay board with JUST a 9V battery and see what happens.
4. Invest in AC power line EMC filters, one for the VFD and another for the PSU of all the others.
5. Use ferrite sleeves (chokes) for both 10V and analogue GROUND wires.