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Author Topic: Mach 4 and fc300 VFD  (Read 122944 times)

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Mach 4 and fc300 VFD
« on: August 27, 2025, 02:06:59 PM »
Hi there, I have been trying to wrap my head around this for a few days now, I'm trying to get my fc300 VFD to go into reverse, I can go in and change to a different parameters but when I press enter I cant change the value at all, I thought it my be password locked but when I go to that parameter I cant change that as well, \nd the parameter that is supposed to be associated with telling it to be externally controlled.
I can send M commands from Mach 4 to it but the pin that's supposed to act as reverse just sends it the same direction.
Is there a a jumper pin that is set somewhere to keep it locked to external control or something I am missing?
My control board is a c25xp, and using ess configuration, the commands are activating the right pins and relays, but just cant get access to the VFD to allow the one pin to be reverse even though it is supposed to be by default.
Any help of advice would be greatly appreciated. This is a used unit so I don't know what the previous operator has done to it.
Re: Mach 4 and fc300 VFD
« Reply #1 on: September 04, 2025, 09:55:01 AM »
You should be able to use this information to set this up:
https://www.cnc4pc.com/knowledge/article/90
Note that on the C25XP, the board handles the relay logic, so you just have to set the jumper to US or INTernational mode.  You are probably trying to assign outputs and relays to control the spindle.

Arturo Duncan
https://cnc4pc.com
Re: Mach 4 and fc300 VFD
« Reply #2 on: September 04, 2025, 11:23:49 AM »
I have it wired that way but if i do m3 it activates relay 1 but m4 activates relay 1 and 2 but if i go to output wizard and press switch for spindle reverse it will activate relay 2  and port 1 pin 16 but press spindle forward it activates output port 1 pin 17 but not the relay for some reason, I've triple checked that all the pins are set on the pin config since I've checked what pins activate when i do m3 and m4, has the cable been known to act up since i cant change anything in the vfd like passwords or such?
Re: Mach 4 and fc300 VFD
« Reply #3 on: September 04, 2025, 12:18:20 PM »
What you are saying tells me that you have the jumpers on the C25XP set to INTernational mode, where Relay 2 is Spindle ON/Off and Relay2 is direction.  So you have a VFD configured outside of the US.  Keep in mind that the US (and sometimes Canada) is the only country that uses Relay 1 for FOR and Relay 2 for REV.  You can verify this in the configuration of your VFD.  Relay 3 can be used for Pin 17 on port 1, which if using the SCHP, can be used to activate/deactivate external things when active, like the master contactor, servo brakes, etc... Or can be tied to pin 16 on port 2 to be used as a general-purpose relay.

To summarize, the circuit on the board expects a PWM signal from 300 to 1000Hz on pin 14, port 1.  The presence of PWM starts the spindle, and pin 16 on port 1 determines the spindle direction.  The jumpers on the board will determine the spindle logic, so no output should be assigned to drive the spindle.

Arturo Duncan
https://cnc4pc.com
Re: Mach 4 and fc300 VFD
« Reply #4 on: September 08, 2025, 11:35:25 AM »
I meant I had the pins setup in pin configuration, I set it to US, thank you for the explanation of what that actually does, the Manuel was a bit vague for me, but that fixed the issue of the M4 and M3 commands activating the right relays, but now I just have to access the vfd to configure it, its connected to X1 and X2 but it still turns the same direction for each command. X2 is supposed to be reverse by default but it may have been changed by the last person.
Re: Mach 4 and fc300 VFD
« Reply #5 on: September 08, 2025, 11:38:57 AM »
If the relays are clicking as expected, then it is a VFD configuration issue.  Check the manual.  You may need to adjust the setting.
Re: Mach 4 and fc300 VFD
« Reply #6 on: September 08, 2025, 03:10:14 PM »
ya looking through the setup of everything, it was all set to int mode, so will have to setup the pwn with a resistor from analog setup  I am assuming,  I disconnected everything from the vfd but cant change parameters, looked at external control and  password but I cant get passed the parameter number to change the value,

Appreciate the help, sometimes easier to start from scratch then figure out what someone else has done to a machine.
Re: Mach 4 and fc300 VFD
« Reply #7 on: September 09, 2025, 02:15:01 PM »
ok I found a small part in the Manuel that says it turns on both relay 1 and 2 for reverse direction in int mode, the vfd is not configured for that right now so if i have it connected to x1 and x2 m3 say will turn on relay 2 and m4 will turn on relay 1 and 2 but they both go the same direction, when both relay kick on i notice i cant use m5 to stop if, just keeps spinning, is there usually a pin that's supposed to be configured to the m5 macro? on the vfd there is a pin that stop can be connected to, but m5 works just fine when i only have one wire connected to the forward pin on the vfd. Apologies if my description is confusing, been trying to wrap my head around this for a week or so now.
Re: Mach 4 and fc300 VFD
« Reply #8 on: September 10, 2025, 05:21:05 AM »
If you cannot access the VFD configuration, use an external 1.5VDC battery to simulate the analog voltage and jumper cables to close the contacts on the VFD and understand how it is configured. US or INTernational, then just set the jumpers accordingly.

I do not understand your comment regarding the resistor. 
Re: Mach 4 and fc300 VFD
« Reply #9 on: September 10, 2025, 10:13:16 AM »
Its just I cant see any of the settings in the vfd, shows a 6 as it starts up then 0, dosnt display any changes when I run the cnc, nothing lights up like the run light or such,  I can go to each parameter but If I press enter on any parameter it dosnt go into it to change the value.