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1

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Y-Axis (Motors 3A & #B) Not Turning

« on: August 10, 2018, 04:48:25 PM »

I can't get my Y-Axis motors to turn, which I have mapped to Motors 3A & 3B.  I am trying to use the PMDX-424's hardware cloning facility. 

I have:  PMDX-424, two (2) PMDX-133's, PMDX-407 (which is currently not mounted and is disabled in Mach4 until I've tested everything else).  I have Mach4, the PMDX-Smart BOB-USB Plug-in, Gecko g203V drivers & NEMA 34 motors.  I have installed the latest versions available and the latest firmware.

I wired the PMDX-133 #1 board to the PMDX-424 with the ribbon cable to J6.  PMDX-133 #1 is daisy chained to PMDX-133 #2.  The drivers are connected as follows using Steve Stallings instructions in another post, with one exception, noted below.

PMDX-424 Motor     PMDX-133
Motor0                    PMDX-133 #1, Axis #1-  NOTE: I AM NOT USING THIS AXIS, NO GECKO, NO MOTOR AND I DIDN'Y MAP IT IN MACH4
Motor1                    PMDX-133 #1, Axis #2
Motor2                    PMDX-133 #1, Axis #3
- - - - -                     PMDX-133 #2, Axis #1 - NOTHING CONNECTED HERE
Motor3a                  PMDX-133 #2, Axis #2
Motor3b                  PMDX-133 #3, Axis #3

Mach4 Screen configurations- PMDX-Smart-BOB-USB Plug-in Configuration-
Motor Configuration/ Step/Dir Pin-out:  I checked "Swapped (normally for PMDX-133 or PMDX-134 on J6)"
Feature Configuration, PMDX-424 hardware Motor Cloning:  I checked "Enable (Motor 3A & 3B steps enabled)."

Mach4 Control Configuration-  Axis Mapping
X(0) Enabled-  Motor 1
Y(1) Enabled- Motor 3
Z(2) Enabled-  Motor 2
A(3)  Not enabled

I used MDI and gave each motor a G-code command to move 1 inch, each separately (G0 X1.0, then stopped and ran G0 Z1.0, then stopped and I ran G0 Y1.0) .  The X-Axis motor and Z-axis motors turned, but the Y-axis motors do not.

On the Mach4 screen, it showed that the Y-axis motors were turning, but physically they weren't.

Since I have both PMDX-133 set up with Geckos in connector positions 2 and 3, I tried directly connecting the ribbon cable from PMDX-424 J6 to the input connector on PMDX-133 #2.  Then I used the G-code commands to move the X and Z axis motors, but physically, those Geckos were still wired to the Y-axis motors.

Those motors turned ok when used as X & Z, but not as Y-axis.

I also tried swapping the ribbon cables.

Again since both PMDX-133's have their respective Geckos in the same positions, I tried daisy chaining PMDX-133 #2 output to PMDX-133 #1 input.  I commanded the X & Z axis motors to move, but again had them actually wired to the two Y-axis motors.  They turned.  But when I commanded the Y-axis to move, nothing moved.

On the Mach4 screen, it showed that the Y-axis motors were turning, but physically they weren't.

What am I doing wrong?

2

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Should I ground my motor to PMDX-133 Ground?

« on: July 24, 2018, 11:43:37 PM »

I have PMDX-133 mother boards,  Gecko G203V drivers, NEMA 34 stepper motors from CNC Router Parts and their shielded cable assemblies & bulkhead connectors.

Should I connect the ground wires from the bulkhead connectors to the ground pins on the PMDX-133 output connectors?

I’m asking because I’ve seen discussions here about ground loops if both ends of a shield are tied to ground.  I’m pretty sure the motor is grounded to the shield...

3

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Wiring E-Stop to PMDX-424

« on: July 08, 2018, 01:20:59 PM »

Is 24 AWG sufficient to wire an E-Stop switch to the J14 terminals on PMDX-424? 

(I don’t know if the E-Stop actually switches the AC input or if it controls a relay.)

4

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / PMDX-424 Limit Switches & Proximity Sensors

« on: March 06, 2018, 06:16:27 PM »

I am building a Joe's 4X4 EVO CNC.  It's been taking over a year since I have a corporate job.  I'm almost done with the mechanical build and hope to start connecting the electronics soon.  I have a PMDX-424 and two PMDX-133's in case I decide to add a lathe later.

Questions:
1) Does the PMDX-424 support gantry squaring now?  I read some posts about that, but I haven't seen anything after 2016.
2) I plan to buy three (3) NPN normally open proximity sensors from CNC Router Parts: one for the left X axis, one for right X axis, one for one end of the gantry (Y-axis).  At the opposite end of each axis, I plan to use limit switches.  On this forum, I read about the merits of using normally closed limit switches.  Since I haven't done anything with Mach 4 yet, I'm not sure what the screen looks like regarding the input terminals.  Bottom line, is it ok to have normally open proximity sensors and normally closed limit switches connected to J16 & J17?
3) I may have misunderstood, but somewhere in the forum I read a note from Bob and he was advising connecting certain limit switches to the same input.  That didn't make sense. Again I may have read it incorrectly.  Each switch should have one of it's wires connected to its own input, correct?