Hello Guest it is March 28, 2024, 05:13:38 PM

Author Topic: Help... Can't get motors moving  (Read 8937 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Help... Can't get motors moving
« on: March 11, 2008, 03:23:06 PM »
Right now the motors are just on my bench and I'm tinkering with it to get it running before I attach it to the mill.

I've got mach3 installed on my basic box which is a 666mhz celeron with 256mb of ram.. 
The driver test works well and shows that it works well.  The program boots up and says that it detects the control board (EasyCNC 4 axis).  I go into it and setup the pin outs on my control board into the configuration.  I then following the manual goto setup the motor velocity and acceleration settings and pick a conservative setting. (like 20ipm) If I load in some Gcode test sample or I try and jog the machine.  The motors do not turn.  When I change directions jogging the machine the motors will hop like a quarter step in the direction that I've changed.  I figured it was a problem with the machine speed so I brought in my amd 4600x2 gig of ram machine today.  Same symptoms and results. 

I have got the driver board and same box to run successfully in KCam but I had to disable the ramping feature because I was getting really CPU intensive delayed movements.  After that everything has been running smoothly on the bench.  So I'd think the port, board, and voltage can be ruled out.  I tried switching to the special driver and it only resulted in mach 3 becoming unresponsive to any input.  Switching back to original driver and changing directions jogging will only cause the motors to jump at best a quarter step.  I tried low level inputs checked and with them checked no motor movement occurred.  Any Help?

Specs are
XP Sp2
4600x2 athlon
1gig ram

Controller is EasyCNC 4axis 2.5a per phase
Motors are Probotix 260oz steppers unhooked laying on bench.

Offline Chip

*
  • *
  •  2,055 2,055
  • Gainesville Florida USA
    • View Profile
Re: Help... Can't get motors moving
« Reply #1 on: March 11, 2008, 04:52:39 PM »
Hi, Wolf

666mhz is on the low end for running mach3 any way, Lot's going on in Mach3.

What are your "Steps Per" set to in Motor Tuning, start at 200-400. set the velocity & Acceleration lower.

Also in Motor Tuning, Set the Step & Dir Pulse's to 5, See if that helps.

Let us Now.

Thanks, Chip
Re: Help... Can't get motors moving
« Reply #2 on: March 11, 2008, 05:16:08 PM »
I set the steps to 200, velocity to 20IPM, acceleration to 4, dir to 5 and step to 5 pulses.

No change.  If any the step that they make when I change directions seems a little stronger.  Could just be my mind.

Offline Chip

*
  • *
  •  2,055 2,055
  • Gainesville Florida USA
    • View Profile
Re: Help... Can't get motors moving
« Reply #3 on: March 11, 2008, 05:27:38 PM »
Hi, Wolf

Are you sure you don't have the step & dir's Pin's Backwards.

In Ports & Pins, Are all the Dir & Step "Low Actives" set the same, Ether all Checked or X'ed

Thanks, Chip
« Last Edit: March 11, 2008, 05:29:50 PM by Chip »
Re: Help... Can't get motors moving
« Reply #4 on: March 11, 2008, 06:23:08 PM »
Ok... I checked pins and unchecked the "low actives" to where they're red x's now.  The x axis started to work..  but like crap.  I mean it would take maybe 2 minutes for it to make one full rotation.  It seemed to be fighting itself.  Was real jittery and somewhat unresponsive to small inputs.  If I layed on the jog it moved but if I just taped the jog arrow key it would sometimes move sometimes not.  So I adjusted the steps from 200 to 500.  The Xaxis motor began to work fine.  Set the steps to 800 and it worked even better.  Tested all the way up to a velocity of 85IPM and it was spinning like a champ and being really responsive.  The yaxis and Z axis are still doing the same thing.  Or have stopped it all together.  The low actives are red x's. For grins I changed the xaxis pins with the y axis pins to see if I could get it running the other motor.  The xaxis doesn't move and then the y axis moves (previously the functioning x axis)  SO I power cycled the box and still no change.  To double check everything fearful I've fried something on the y and z axis, I booted up kcam again and it worked again on all 3 axis's.   >:(  I also fired up the driver test again.  The line was almost completely flat with zero spikes. 

Chip you want to make a "consulting fee" and drive up from Gainesville and fix it only about 45 mins if you're getting it.  :)

Offline Chip

*
  • *
  •  2,055 2,055
  • Gainesville Florida USA
    • View Profile
Re: Help... Can't get motors moving
« Reply #5 on: March 11, 2008, 06:41:05 PM »
Hi, Wolf

I'll PM you my Phone #, top of this page. Give me a Call.

Thanks, Chip

Offline Chip

*
  • *
  •  2,055 2,055
  • Gainesville Florida USA
    • View Profile
Re: Help... Can't get motors moving
« Reply #6 on: March 11, 2008, 08:07:52 PM »
Hi, Wolf

In Ports & Pins,First Page, Set it to Sherline 1/2 Pulse mode, Then re-start Mach3 and give it a try.

This will increase the Puls width more, Giving your stepper board moer time to see the pulses.

Thanks, Chip

Offline Chip

*
  • *
  •  2,055 2,055
  • Gainesville Florida USA
    • View Profile
Re: Help... Can't get motors moving
« Reply #7 on: March 11, 2008, 08:35:56 PM »
Hi, Wolf

Hear are a couple more features, Under "Operator" tab, Click on Auto Calculator, TAB key will bring out MPG Jog Pendent.

Enter 150 into FeedRate & 100% Slow Jog Rate in there Windows, Then Jog Mode to "Cont."

This set's Mach3 to max speed as long as your "Velocity" is 150 or lower.

Mach3 defaults to feedrate of "6" at start up, Causes lots of issue's when Tuning.

Just some More, Chip

Offline jimpinder

*
  •  1,232 1,232
  • Wakefield, West Yorks, UK
    • View Profile
Re: Help... Can't get motors moving
« Reply #8 on: March 12, 2008, 05:34:03 AM »
Wolf -

I cannot understand your settings - particularly steps per unit.

This is the number of pulses the computer has to give out for one unit of movement.
Normal motors take 200 per rev. The driver board may be putting out 1/8 steps - so that is 1,600. I don't know what your connection to the leadscrew is but mine is a 3:1 reduction - so that is 4,800 and lastly my leadscrew has to turn 10 times to move the carriage 1 inch. - i.e. the computer has to give out 48,000 pulses per inch of movement - not 200 or even 500.

Even thogh you are messing about on the workbench, set the motor up as though it was in the machine. The reason I would think, that your motors are not turning is they are going that slow you can't see them.

Your maximum speed on motor tuning is the number of units per minute the motor will move the carriage - I don't know what you have in mind - but try 10 inches per minute, acceleration is not particularly important - set it at 1.

When you are jogging, there are settings for the jogging speed in relation to full speed - set this at 100% - i.e. full speed when jogging.

Easy CNC etc are standard fare for Mach3 and you should not have any troubles - they are literally plug and play. Don't start swapping and changing configurations unless you know what they are.

The only other thing to check is  - does your board have an "enable axis" pin - if so make sure this is grounded of whatever to make the axis work. Do not, at this stage, try and connect it to the computer - just ground it with a bit of wire or something.



Not me driving the engine - I'm better looking.
Re: Help... Can't get motors moving
« Reply #9 on: March 12, 2008, 11:09:11 AM »
Setting it to sherline mode has all the motors moving. and moving smoothly at 200 steps.  I have the board set to quarter step instead of 1/8th step.  They were moving quite jittery earlier.  This machine does not go through a gear reduction.  it's the CNC fusion kit to mount the motors.  The reason I bought a easy CNC is for the "easy" part that's plug and play.  As chip was saying that sometimes the opticoupled boards need more time to process the stuff and the sherline mode gives it that time.  Everyone thank you for your help!