Thread: G540Kit + VFD Build help needed

Hi,

Yes, it all seems to be working. Simple

The fan is thermally controlled, so it is dependant on current drawn (temperature)

Cheers,

Peter

Ok well, 3 hours to solder 4 DB9 connectors may not be a record, but at least it's finally done.

I've come across a hiccups though.

1. A standard printer cable does not work for the G540 MY cable has a female end, and the G540 ALSO has a female connection

Anyone know a quick/easy/cheap way to rectify that, or am I now up for hunting down and buying a new cable?

Russell.

A DB25 gender bender is what you need.
Available at most computer or electronics places but not I suspect on a Saturday night.

Originally Posted by snowyskiesau

A DB25 gender bender is what you need.
Available at most computer or electronics places but not I suspect on a Saturday night.

No, or a Sunday where I live

Went through my old cable box hoping. Found a centronics converter, heaps of USB converters, spare male-female cables, even a female-female gender bender, but no male-male

Glad you found this. Looking at the cable I got wth the CNC router controller, it also is a female connector so I'll run into the same problem when I go to hook up the G540.
Doesn't help you I know but thanks all the same.

Now I'll have to track one down in Hobart

EDIT: Found one! I knew I threw out the old parallel cables I had but this was still in one of the drawers.

Originally Posted by snowyskiesau

EDIT: Found one! I knew I threw out the old parallel cables I had but this was still in one of the drawers.

Some people have all the luck!

I may have a chance, as some places in Warwick are open this weekend as part of the silly season. I have to take my son in later today, so cross fingers, someone with one might be open.

Russell.

Or you could network them and run a VPN system

Originally Posted by snowyskiesau

Or you could do what I'm doing, have a play with the Vectric trial software and generate code for Mach 2.
Pretty neat stuff, wish I could afford to buy it

On a plus side for the geeks, Cut3d seems to run OK under wine on Ubuntu. This means I can sit in comfort in the lounge and generate tool paths while wathcing the yachts instead of sitting at the kitchen table using the only Windows machine I have

Not sure how this links in with my cable dilemma, but I'll go with the flow for now. I already have Aspire, and have been playing with it for a while, although I must admit I haven't yet entered my Boomerangs as models, which i should, since that's where I want to start in earnest. Modelling a boomerang shape is not easy though, so I'm kind of procrastinating on that one...

Regarding the cable, I just got back from town. Topbeat(Jaycar stockist) not open today Tricky Dicky has only USB and DB9 stuff ('or in salesgirl speak - we only sell popular items') and Hardly Normal didn't even have that!

We're heading to Brisbane on Tuesday, so looks like I'll have to be patient until then. I'm re-reading the Huanyang thread and with a printout of the function list beside me, I'm writing down the settings for every PD999 code. I also still have to hookup the VFD control wires, but that won't take long, and the only other hardware consideration I think is whether to earth the spindle somehow.

Russell.

Hmm, I've seen two replies come in from Geoff and Ken, but they are not showing here. Is everyone having second thoughts on their posts, or is something screwy going on?

A quick question on mounting the VFD. I note the manual says to mount it with the LCD panel to the front, but that's a bit hard in my situation. Is there any problem with mounting it flat with the panel facing up? The only thing I can think might be an issue maybe the heat removal is better when the fan is blowing up, but it shouldn't make that much difference, should it?

Russell.

I don't think it matters which way round the VFD is mounted.

Mine is mounted face up, but the panel has been put on a two metre length of extension cable and taken up to the table top so that I can see what the read out says.

If you want to do this, then just buy a length of ribbon cable and a male and female IDC (Insulation Displacement Connector) and attach them to either end of the cable.

The IDCs are cheap and very easy to use. I usually use either a hammer or a vice to close them up. The vice is better because it allows very even pressure to be applied.

Spelling Nazis: The British spelling of the word is "vice" and the alternative (or just plain wrong) spelling is the American "vise"......This was mainly for Rodney so that he could learn something new today.

Hi Bob,
Thanks for the
advice
advise.
I prefer to call it a grippy holdy thing.


Can't work out how to do strikethrough so take the advice as crossed.

Right well, despite still not having a gender bender, I decided to power it all up and see how it goes. I disconnected the spindle, and powered things up one at a time, until I had it all running (except the PC, since it isn't connected anyway).

Water pump runs fine, Inverter starts up and flashes F000.000, which i think is OK for where it's at, and the controller box powers up fine. When the controller starts, the steppers make a clunk, but don't move, although I can here a humming coming from them. When I flick the enable switch on the controller, they stop humming. I think that is proper operation, correct?

I was one person earthed from the Inverter earth connection to the spindle plug, then back to the gantry housing. Is that the recommended earth method, or is something simpler sufficient? Do I need a special earth connection for the spindle?

Apart from that, and the gender bender, I'm done with the hardware setup! Here's a bunch of pictures of the penultimate setup, for comment. Note I'm going to put up a 600 high wall between the CNC and the electronics to keep the dust off, although I suspect that won't be sufficient in the long run.

Russell.

Originally Posted by BoomerangInfo

Water pump runs fine, Inverter starts up and flashes F000.000, which i think is OK for where it's at, and the controller box powers up fine. When the controller starts, the steppers make a clunk, but don't move, although I can here a humming coming from them. When I flick the enable switch on the controller, they stop humming. I think that is proper operation, correct?

Correct

Originally Posted by BoomerangInfo

I was one person earthed

Huh?

Originally Posted by BoomerangInfo

Note I'm going to put up a 600 high wall between the CNC and the electronics to keep the dust off, although I suspect that won't be sufficient in the long run.

Not even in the short run.


Things are coming along splendidly then Russell. The only slight criticism that I might make would be the wires draped across the PSU. They would look much better if they were tidied up a bit.

However, if you were to look at my machine at this stage then you would just laugh and jeer at the fur ball that is my wiring. But I will tidy it up one of these days when I don't have to replace bearings in motors all the time.

Originally Posted by BoomerangInfo

I was one person earthed from the Inverter earth connection to the spindle plug...

Oops, I SAW one person earthed...

Regarding the wires, I think I had the red ones originally going around the side of the PSU, but they must have slipped up when I moved all the gear back to the shed. I didn't leave a lot of length for re-arranging, and the brown wire to the E-stop for instance won't move anywhere else.

Russell.