Converting PM-45M mill to PMDX-407

[BoomGuy]

Hi Everyone

I have a Precision Mathews PM-45M mill that came from the factory with a Jamen JNC-40M controller. It has been not very reliable from the start, and it took alot of trial and error to get it functioning properly with Mach3. The card finally died on me and I would like to convert to a more up-to-date and supported USB based controller, such as the PMDX-416 as I would like to also upgrade to Mach4, but I would prefer not to start disconnecting wires without knowing what I am getting into. I saw another user had attempted to do pretty much the same thing, but I did not see any posts showing whether he was successful or not.

The problem as I see it is getting the spindle to run properly. The mill came with a Delta VFD-E and two relays provide the rotation direction. Because of the relays and VFD,  I am unsure whether a separate speed control like the PMDX-407 would be needed.

I have attached 3 pictures showing the VFD, the 2 relays and the current controller card. Hopefully someone has performed a similar swap/conversion and can help guide me through it.

Thanks in advance for your help

[Steve Stallings]

To use the Delta VFD with computer speed control under Mach4 you will
need to use a PMDX-407 with the SmartBOB of your choosing. If you need
direction control, then you must use either a PMDX-416 or a PMDX-424
because the electro-mechanical relay on the SmartBOB is used to provide
the routing of the Run signal from the PMDX-407 to the correct directional
input of the VFD.

The scheme above can be used with either the direct VFD inputs or to
control your existing relays.

When choosing which SmartBOB it will be helpful to determine how
many inputs you would like to connect. The PMDX-416 can handle
E-Stop plus 4 additional inputs. This is just enough for homing 3 axes
individually and maybe a touch probe. The PMDX-424 can handle
E-Stop plus 8 additional inputs. It is possible to share one input
for multiple home sensors, but this can be more confusing to configure.