Messages

1

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

« on: August 11, 2018, 02:54:47 PM »

My brother checked the step & direction signals coming out of the PMDX-424 J6 Ribbon cable header with an oscilloscope while I gave each axis a G-code command to move in the MDI screen.

Regarding the designations "Axis #5" and "Axis #6" in the PMDX-133 manual, the outputs for step and direction coming out of PMDX-424 J6 are swapped with each other compared to what is documented for the corresponding input pins on the PMDX-133's J10 connectors.  In other words, the Direction pins have pulses, and the Step pins are either "low" or "high".

I'm putting the results into an Excel file to send to Steve.

And by the way, the hardware configuration- the placement of my Geckos- was actually in a forum post by Bob, not Steve.  Sorry for my misstatement.

2

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?

3

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

« on: July 26, 2018, 08:51:14 AM »

Thank you Steve.

4

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

« on: July 25, 2018, 06:17:02 PM »

I see people have read this.  Can someone comment?  Thank you.

5

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...

6

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

« on: July 08, 2018, 03:42:57 PM »

Thank you Steve.  I’ll follow your recommendation on the set-up.  Fortunately I have a two pole switch.

7

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.)

8

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

« on: March 07, 2018, 04:57:12 PM »

Ron,
Thank you for your reply.  Makes sense now.
Disregard question #2 as I found a cost effective NC proximity sensor.

I still want to know the status of gantry squaring with the PMDX-424 if someone knows.

9

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?