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Author Topic: Limiter switch not being detected  (Read 1933 times)

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Limiter switch not being detected
« on: October 22, 2019, 02:21:12 PM »
Hey all,

Last weekend my usb controller board finally failed for good and needed to be replaced. One of the pins on the usb port snapped and I am unable to resolder it back on. Thankfully I had a replacement board ready to go as I knew it was failing but kept putting it off because I was using a mark 1 board and the cnc-usb software. Both are no longer supported so I couldn't just swap things out.

I followed the setup instructions https://www.buildyourcnc.com/item/electronicsAndMotors-electronic-component-breakout-Mach3-USB-Board to wire up the new board and the motors are working fine. I also have the SPM setup in mach3  and it is working correctly as well.

However I am unable to get the board to detect any signal from the limit switch no matter what I do and I have almost no experience with wiring anything beyond what I have done so far. Image 1 shows the original board and the wiring setup on it. The red box is the wires on NO and green box is all the common wires running to just one port.

I wired the NO connections in the exact same way as the common wire and plugged it in to input 1. I also have a 12V power cord running to the board as well and I tested it to confirm that it is outputting 12V correctly. When that did not work I pulled everything apart and plugged in X-- into input 1 and avi- and it was still not recognized. I pulled up the diagnostics tool and it is not registering anything on input 1 or pin 1. Finally I held a multimeter to input 1 and avi- and get a small reading when I toggle the switch so I think the signal is going through.

All the limiters were working normally before switching to the new board so I know the existing wiring is set properly. I read tweakies guide on wiring the cnc and have been searching for answers but can't figure out what I did wrong.

Any help would be appreciated because I'm out of ideas and starting to get antsy as work in my shop is backing up.

Thanks
Paul
« Last Edit: October 22, 2019, 02:23:14 PM by pacguy »
Re: Limiter switch not being detected
« Reply #1 on: October 22, 2019, 07:13:45 PM »
Hi,
there are lots of posts about those boards, they go by different names, Bitsensor, RnR and others depending on who is selling
them. They all have one thing in common.....no manufacturer support.

There are a number of well known, liked, even loved AND most importantly SUPPORTED motion control boards
by US and European manufacturers.

Is the time you are wasting on this board, in view of the work backlog, worth the difference between cheap Chinese and the real deal?

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

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Re: Limiter switch not being detected
« Reply #2 on: October 23, 2019, 03:04:39 AM »
and in config Inputs you have selected port 3 pin1?
anything is possible, just try to do it.
if you find some mistakes, in my bad bavarian english,they are yours.
Re: Limiter switch not being detected
« Reply #3 on: October 23, 2019, 10:50:30 AM »
and in config Inputs you have selected port 3 pin1?

Yes, port 3 and pin 1 are selected. I don't get any response on diagnostics when I try to test it. Additionally I did some more tests using just the e-stop button. I noticed that the 12V power on the wiring diagram plugged into com+/- instead of avi+/- like it shows on the hand drawn diagram. When I plugged the power into com+/- I found that power was flowing through all the input and output ports and there was no change when the estop was pressed.

Once again I have almost no experience with this so I am not sure if this is normal or not or how power is supposed to flow through the board. I found that smoothstepper boards are made just a few blocks away from my shop so I will try and pick one up today. Joe might be right and there could be an issue with the board itself.
Re: Limiter switch not being detected
« Reply #4 on: October 24, 2019, 12:25:19 PM »
Found the issue. The drawn wiring instructions were labeled incorrectly and the 12V power needed to run to com+/-. Additionally I discovered that the limit switches were labeled incorrectly by the previous owner. The X++ switch I was testing because it was closet to the control board was actually the Y++ switch on the other side of the table.