Messages

286

Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories / Re: Just purchased PDMX and other items

« on: June 19, 2015, 02:57:56 PM »

Thank you for the information I have everything talking except the relay I bought to control the router not sure how to wire that up any advice would great thank you MD20 120 is the relay

Presuming that you want to use this contactor to control AC power into the router (wood router??) and that you are not trying to control the direction of the router:

(1) Connect the "hot" lead of the 120VAC into the "Fwd/Run" terminal on the PMDX-107
(2) Connect to "COM" terminal on the PMDX-107 terminal "0" (or "1") on the MD20 contactor
(3) Connect the "1" terminal on the MD20 back to the 120VAC neutral that pairs with the "hot" lead in step (1).
(4) Connect the "hot" lead of the 120VAC (or 240VAC depending on your motor) to MD20 terminal "2"
(5) Connect MD20 terminal "4" to the AC "hot" wire into your router motor
(6) Connect the "neutral" lead of the 120/240VAC power to MD20 terminal "6"
(7) Connect MD20 terminal "8" to the AC" neutral" wire into your router motor
(8) If you router motor has an earth ground wire, connect that to your system's earth/safety ground.
(9) On the PMDX-107, set DIP Switch "Config3" to "On" so that the "Fwd/Run" terminal acts as the "Run" signal.

Steps (1) to (3) and (9) set the PMDX-107 to energize the contactor coil when the spindle is running.  The other steps route both the 'hot" and "neutral" AC power lines through the contactor contacts.

Bob

287

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: PMDX-422 and PMDX-340

« on: June 18, 2015, 06:03:45 PM »

Thank you for your brand loyalty!

The inputs and outputs on the PMDX-422's screw terminals are simply copies of the signals that appear on the ribbon cable going from the PMDX-422/407 to the PMDX-340.  Once you connect the PMDX-340, you should no longer use the screw terminals on the PMDX-422 **EXCEPT** for the 3 additional input signals available on the PMDX-422 connector J10 (the SmartBOB plug-in calls these "PinA", "PinB" and "PinC").  So this gives you 4 inputs on the PMDX-340 plus 3 more inputs on the PMDX-422.

FYI - it is possible to connect more than one limit switch to a single input on the PMDX-340 (or the PMDX-422).  Mach4 (and our device) can handle this.  The only thing you loose is the ability to know specifically WHICH axis hit the limit.  This does get a little tricky if your limit switches are also your home switches.

Bob

288

Generic Spindle interfaces, I/O boards, Misc boards and panels / Re: HELP: PDMX-107 to GE Spindle drive.

« on: June 17, 2015, 12:23:06 AM »

Spindle seems to come on when executing a program, but doesn't come on when I click the 'SPINDLE CW F5'. It does highlight yellow around it, but only after I click the round RESET BUTTON in the spindle box does the spindle actually come on. (NOT the main Mach3 reset button).

In the standard Mach3 screen set, the round "reset" button in the "Spindle Speed" box is a "reset spindle speed override" button. It returns the SRO% to "100" and the "S-ov" field (spindle override speed, in RPM) should now match the "Spindle Speed" field (the speed from the "S" word) just below it.

If, somehow, the spindle speed override is getting set to some wildly high value, I believe that Mach3 would (should?) automatically cap the max RPM to the max RPM in the current pulley configuration. I wouldn't *think* that having a too high override speed would prevent the spindle from running.

Try this:
- Start from your machine powered down and Mach3 shut down.
- Power on your machine and start Mach3
- Click on the red flashing "Reset" button in Mach3 to enable the system.
- Enter a spindle speed that is within the RPM range for the current spindle pulley configuration.  You can enter the speed using the MDI window and an "S" command, or by clicking on the "Spindle Speed" field at the bottom of the "Spindle Speed" box in mach3, typing in a new speed and pressing ENTER.
- Note that the "S-ov" field in Mach3 says.
-  Click on the "Spindle CW F5" button to (hopefully) start the spindle.  If the spindle doesn't start, see if the "S-ov" field has changed.
- Try clicking on the round "Reset" buton  in the "Spindle Speed" box.  Did the spindle start?  Did the "S-ov" field change?

I am using the charge pump relay on PMDX-126 to enable/disable my X,Y&Z drives. Not for machine power. Could this be a problem?

I presume that by "charge pump relay" that you mean relay "K2" (the smaller of the two relays on the PMDX-126).  Is that correct?  I would not expect this to affect the spindle operation.

Bob

289

Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories / Re: K2 Relay & PMDX 171 Hall Effect Sensor ?

« on: June 15, 2015, 10:55:21 PM »

OH is there a way to copy & paste something then quote it?
I only see a quote button for an entire reply, no why to quote something I add.

I'll quote your question about quoting :-)

Yes, when you click on the "Quote" button it quotes the entire message.  What I do is manually insert a "end quote" command (left square brace, forward slash, the word "quote" without the quotes, and a right square brace) where I want the first quote to end.  I then type part of my reply, then manually type in the "start of quote" command (same as "end of quote" but without the forward slash).  And so on.  Or you can manually type the quote blocks and then put whatever text you want in between.

When manually entering begin/end quote blocks, don't worry about all the other stuff that the forums put in the original start fo quote block (author, link, date, etc.).  That is all optional.

290

Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories / Re: K2 Relay & PMDX 171 Hall Effect Sensor ?

« on: June 15, 2015, 12:50:42 AM »

The first question is most likely a simple one, but I can't find the answer.
Everything seems to be working, but I'd like to use the K2 relay on the PMDX 126 board to turn on/off a mister/fog buster type coolant setup, but with the PMDX 107 it uses pin 14 to turn on/off the spindle. I'm currently using K1 for this, but would like to add flood coolant later too.
Is there a way to still use the K2 relay with this setup? I looked through the manuals and some of the threads on here but can't find an answer.

Yes, if you are connecting both Port 1 and Port 2 from the ESS to the PMDX-126.
- Set jumper JP2 to "multimode" (see table 6 on page 12 of the PMDX-126 user's manual)
- Set DIP Switch 8 to "Closed" (see table 4 on page 11 of the PMDX-126 user's manual)
This will allow Port 2 pin 14 to control the K2 relay.

Second question is about the PMDX 171 Hall Effect Sensor.
I want to hook it up to read the spindle speeds and hopefully other functions later, but I have no idea how it should be connected to the PMDX 126 other then the +5v & GND.
I have no idea if I need to use the F or T terminal to send the signal to the PMDX 126?

Using the "F" or "T" terminals on the PMDX-171 is really a matter of personal preference when connected to a PMDX-126.  If you want to configure the input in Mach3 for "active high", then use the "T" terminal.  If you want to (or don't mind) configuring the input in Mach3 for "active low", then use the "F" terminal.

The PMDX-171 outputs are either pulled to ground or "floating".  The PMDX-126 has pull-up resistors on *all* of its inputs, so no external pull-up resistor is required for the PMDX-171.  The "Pin 15" input on the PMDX-126 has an *additional*, optional stronger pull-up resistor that can be enabled via jumper JP5, but that is not needed for the PMDX-171.  So you can use any input on PMDX-126 J12 (correspond to Port 1 pins 11, 12, 13 or 15), or J11 (corresponds to Port 2 pins 11, 12, 13 or 15).

We normally recommend using the "Pin 15" input on J12, but only because the PMDX-126 has the ability to stretch the duration of the incoming pulse from the sensor.  This is not normally needed, but it depends on the top speed of your spindle and the resulting pulse width from the PMDX-171.  See section 5.5 in the PMDX-126 user's manual.

Bob

291

Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories / Re: Just purchased PDMX and other items

« on: June 15, 2015, 12:33:37 AM »

Yes, that is a good start.  And yes, as Coils said, the numbers on the PMDX-126 next to the screw terminals are the "Port 1" parallel port pin numbers, and the letters are the "Port 2" signals.  See table 21 on page 30 of the PMDX-126 users manual to see which pins on connector J5 correspond to which Port 2 output signals, and table 27 on page 31 for the pins on connector J11 and input signals on port 2.

Note that your diagram shows the "X" axis on port 1 pins 8 (step) and 9 (dir).  This is OK as long as you make sure that Mach3 is configured to match.  It is more common (but not necessary) to have the "X" axis on pins 2 & 3, and this is the default configuration in Mach3 and in our sample XML files.  But like I said, as long as you change the Mach3 config to match your actual wiring it will work just fine.

And again, as Coils mentioned (thanks!), the PMDX-126 cannot power both the PMDX-107 and the ESS.  You will need to set PMDX-126 jumper JP3 to "Off" and provide an external regulated +5V DC for the ESS.

Bob

292

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: Freezing during G code run

« on: June 08, 2015, 11:07:24 PM »

Glad to hear it.  Careful routing of power wiring, specially the VFD, can make a world of difference.

Bob

293

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: Freezing during G code run

« on: June 08, 2015, 12:00:16 AM »

Sorry for not replying sooner. It seems I'm not getting all of the forum update notifications that I should.  I'll have to go back and re-read the thread and try some experiments on my system here to try and see what might be going on with EStop and the spindle starting up as soon as EStop is removed.  Meanwhile...

I am still troubled that the "RUN" LED on the PMDX-407 is always on.  That may or may not be related to your current issues, but it still ain't right.

Unfortunately, electrical noise induced USB communication errors do not necessarily indicate faulty USB hardware.  It *appears* that the electrical noise puts the USB bus (or one or both endpoints) into an unrecoverable state (short of unplugging the USB device and plugging it back in to the USB port).  Testing workarounds for this is difficult because we cannot reliably recreate this problem here in our lab.  I guess we need a bigger VFD :-)

Bob

294

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: PDMX410 compatibility with aQuickCNC 3-axis unipolar controller

« on: June 07, 2015, 11:17:59 PM »

It does work!

Always words we like to hear :-)  Glad to hear it.

Bob

295

Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories / Re: My PMDX-126 Thread

« on: June 03, 2015, 09:12:55 PM »

The button I use for the Estop was a NO so I hooked it to a relay. The relay NC set is hooked to the 126 Estop. If I push the button the relay fires the switch to the Estop opens and the system goes to Estop. I let up on the the button the relay switch closes, but the RED light stays on.

Do you have anything connected to the PMDX-126's FAULT input?  This is located next to the EStop input.

If you have a N/O EStop switch, you can leave the jumper clip (or wire) shorting the PMDX-126's EStop input to GND, and then connect your N/O switch to the FAULT input and the adjacent GND terminal.  With the switch open, the red LED on the PMDX-126 should be off and the board should function normally.  When the switch closes, the red LED should turn on and the PMDX-126 will disable all of its outputs.

As far as why your existing setup with the N/O switch controlling a relay keeps the PMDX-126's red LED on I'm not sure I can explain, unless the relay is some kind of latching relay.  You can test this by pressing the EStop button to energize the relay (and the red LED comes on).  Then release the EStop.  If the red LED remains on, take a piece of wire and short the EStop terminal on the PMDX-126 to the adjacent GND terminal.  The red LED should turn off.  If not, then something is not behaving as it should.

Bob

296

Generic Spindle interfaces, I/O boards, Misc boards and panels / Re: HELP: PDMX-107 to GE Spindle drive.

« on: June 01, 2015, 12:42:52 AM »

I'm going to jump in here for a minute or three.

First a few definitions:

"VSD" (variable speed device) is a generic term that we use for anything used to control the spindle speed, including VFDs (variable frequency devices).

For these other terms, Google/Bing/DuckDuckGo/Yahoo/InsertYourFavoriteSearchEngineHere is your friend.  A quick summary:

PWM (pulse width modulation) is one type of signal used to control spindle speed.  The duty cycle of the pulse (the "pulse width" divided by the "pulse period") tells what percent of full speed to run.

Step/Dir is another method that *can* be used by *some* spindle controllers to control spindle speed.  This type of interface makes the spindle look like a stepper motor, and the spindle speed is proportional to the number of step pulses per second.

PID (proportional, integral and derivative) is a method used in control loops to provide an accurate and stable system.  This is probably used inside your VFD as it translates the incoming control voltage into an actual motor RPM.

Run/Direction and Forward/Reverse are two styles of control inputs to spindle controllers.  Some VFDs can be configured to use either type of interface.  Your VFD uses only the Forward/Reverse style of inputs (i.e. one input connected to COM runs the spindle forward, the other input connected to COM runs the spindle backwards).

Now on to some of your questions:

When I click the 'Spindle CW F5' button in Mach3 the spindle at first does nothing. It isn't until I also hit the 'reset' button that it comes on.

What did the "reset" button look like before you clicked on it (and made the spindle run)?  In Mach3, the "reset" button must be NOT flashing, with a solid green border, before anything will run.  That is like an EStop switch on the PC.

It revs a crazy high speed and says 833% on the spindle override. I can tweak its settings and get the number down and get the spindle turning at a slower speed but the seems no method to its madness. Sometimes I think it even goes backwards. Even when I uncheck 'reversing'.

Two things to try.  First, did you try setting the VFD to local control as Steve requested earlier, and can you control the spindle speed from the VFD panel?

Second, if you can control the spindle speed from the VFD panel, re-configure the VFD to use its control inputs again.  Then go back and try using the PMDX-107's test button and see if the VFD/spindle respond rationally (i.e. close to full speed on the first press, then approx 30% of full speed on the 2nd press).  If this doesn't work (and I haven't seen you say that it does actually make the spindle move), then we need to address that before we get into Mach3 issues.

Bob

297

Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories / Re: Just purchased PDMX and other items

« on: May 31, 2015, 11:58:52 PM »

Since everyone's system is "just a little bit different", it is kind of hard to come up with a generic connection diagram.  Examples of various kinds of limit and home switch configurations are shown in the PMDX-126 manual.  And the PMDX-107 manual shows (generically) how to connect to various types of spindle controllers.

We also have an application note that describes how to use the PMDX-126's smaller relay and EStop switches to control machine and/or motor power.  See AN002 at http://pmdx.com/AppNotes.

There was a diagram of one person's PMDX-126 connections posted in this thread, in case that will be of any help.  This diagram has Gecko G201X stepper drivers, but the step/dir connections should be similar (the G320 "COM" terminal must be connected to the +5V terminals on the PMDX-126, while the G320X "COM" terminal can be connected to either the +5V or GND terminals on the PMDX-126)"
http://www.pmdx.com/PMDX-Forums/index.php?topic=106.msg358#msg358

If you have specific questions, you can post them here.  If you come up with a proposed wiring scheme and want to post it here we can help review it for you.

Bob

298

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: Need Advice on what Bob to get.

« on: May 31, 2015, 11:47:03 PM »

Sorry, this slipped though.  The PMDX-126/107 combo needs only 120 or 240VAC.  They generate all other necessary voltages, including isolated ones, on-board.  You can always download the manuals for our boards to see how to connect them and what their power requirements are.  See the individual product pages, or the current versions of all of our manuals are located here:
http://pmdx.com/Manuals

For further discussion, see your other thread here :
http://www.pmdx.com/PMDX-Forums/index.php?topic=117

Bob

299

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: Freezing during G code run

« on: May 31, 2015, 11:38:58 PM »

Well, the history file that you sent shows our plug-in reporting a communication problem between the PC and the PMDX-422.  Since this happens at seemingly random times the most likely cause is noise corrupting the USB transfers.  That is presuming you are running our plug-in build 0.25.111 and Mach4 build 2336 (and letting our plug-in update the firmware when it asks to).

A quick aside, as I don't think this is your problem. You mention Mach4 builds 2236 and 2238 and our plug-in versions 0.17.86 and 0.25.111.  I presume you meant Mach4 build 2336 instead of 2236.  Our plug-in version 0.25 111 will run with Mach4 build 2336, but there was never (to my knowledge) a Mach4 build 2236.

A few questions:

(1) Since you say the system has been working for 2 months and now is having this issue, has something changed with the machine and/or control electronics?  Wiring routed a different way?  Control box mounted in a different location?  Actually cutting parts instead of cutting air?  Machine moved to a different place in your shop?  Other machines added to your shop, or other machines now running that were not running before?

(2) You said you tried running with the stepper motors powered off and did not see the freezing issue.  What about the VFD?  Was the VFD running during this test when the stepper motors were un-powered?

(3) If the VFD was also powered down during the test mentioned in (2) above, then please try the test again with the stepper motors powered up and the VFD powered down.

VFDs can generate a lot of electrical noise and that *may* be an issue here.  In general you want to keep the VFD as far away from the other electronics (PMDX-422, etc.) as possible.  And route the VFD power and motor wiring as far from the other wiring as possible.

Bob

300

Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories / Re: My PMDX-126 Thread

« on: May 29, 2015, 04:19:10 PM »

I have two thinks I am trying to figure out with it.

1. I wired up a button in a box by the spindle that goes to the Estop on the 126 card. If I push it the card does the Estop as designed. BUT. If I push the Estop reset button on Mach3 the 126 will not exit Estop (the red light is on (126)) so I have to turn power offon to the 126 to reset. What am I doing wrong?

As long as the red LED on the PMDX-126 is on, Mach3 will not come out of reset.  Did you release your EStop switch?  Is your EStop switch "normally open" or "normally closed" (I presume normally closed if you connected it to the EStop input on the PMDX-126). 

2. The stepper motor that is on my X axis now, it was my Y axis. I turned my table direction. From time to time ( it looks to be ramdumb ) make a jump in speed. Most of the time the it is OK but from time to time it locks up the screw making noice. This puts the machine out ot (now) X axis ''0''.  ???  Bad motor?

It sounds like the motor tuning parameters are not correct and Mach is trying to run the Y axis (which used to be the X axis) too fast and the motor "cogs".  When you swapped the X & Y axis in Mach, did you also change the motor tuning?  Of course this presumes that the X & Y axis have different tuning settings.

Bob