Thread: G540Kit + VFD Build help needed

Originally Posted by BoomerangInfo

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.

Well sometimes things do go your way it seems. While in Brisbane yesterday, first stop looking for the gender changer was JB HiFi. Didn't think I'd have any luck there, but had to try, and I was right, no cables in sight. However, next to JB was one of those small independent computer shops that you wonder how they are still in business. Anyway, they didn't have the gender changer, but they did have a 2m male-male cable. They didn't guessed the price was about $12, but with the wait to get served and the chance of finding a gender bender cheaper, I passed.

After having lunch and before continuing our shopping expedition, I decided a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush, I went back to buy the cable. The guy who owned the place came out and looked up the price in their 'old system' since it was old stock (but still brand new) from out the back anyway. Well, he says, that's a grand total of $4.46 and our cables are half price so that's $2.23, make that $2.20

So I have a brand new cable for $2.20 Time to get that earth wire hooked up, and see how the whole thing finally runs

Russell.

Damn that's a good price, sounds like someone screwed up and you got his buy price as it sounds about right for an Aussie distributer (the $4.46)

Originally Posted by SawDustSniffer

and put that black box with " borsh " where it belongs , on the ground need a door , as a door stop

I'd love to, but It's acting as my 24V DC power supply for the pump I've disconnected the power from all the other parts so only the pump is being powered. I hope to eventually replace it, but it'll do for now. Besides, it makes a decent stand for the inverter

Russell.

Hello Russell

Originally Posted by BoomerangInfo

So I have a brand new cable for $2.20

God here again. See, and you thought I didn't care. Oh ye of little faith.

Originally Posted by SawDustSniffer

an earth cable between , machine , controller and pc might help if it starts to play up , just bolt a long bolt through metal parts on all 3 , and make up a eyed cable to join the 3 , stops the voltages from wandering individually

just a bolt in machine and pc , and connect it up to earth inside the control box

Arghh, 11th hour stop to proceedings. I was taking the simple route of just adding an earth wire to the VFD earth, and wrapping it around one of the bolts already in the CNC gantry. Problem is, I only have 4mm cable! Anyone know how to make the 4mm cable fit the earth connection on the VFD? I'm not even sure if I make a trip to town and try and get some 2.5mm, whether it'll fit that small earth connection.

I guess that means I'll have to pull off my power earth connection I've already got crimped up, add a 2nd cable, and crimp it back again in a larger connector? Anything easier anyone can think of?

Thanks. Russell.

Hi Russell

ANYTHING will do as an earth. Even a knitting needle or somesuch. It doesn't matter so long as it can handle a small amount of current.

If the cable you have is multi strand, then just remove a few of the strands until it will fit.

Originally Posted by Bob Willson

Hi Russell

ANYTHING will do as an earth. Even a knitting needle or somesuch. It doesn't matter so long as it can handle a small amount of current.

If the cable you have is multi strand, then just remove a few of the strands until it will fit.

Oh OK. Yeah it's about 6-8 thick copper wires. If I halved the number, it might work.

Thanks.

Well I got the earth wire hooked up, loaded the G540 config from the Gecko website into Mach3, and the moment of truth arrived.

Fired it all up, and there's some good news, and some bad news.

Good news is, lights are all lit up OK (athough VFD is still flash F000.00, so have to look into that) and I got some stepper motion.

Bad news is, the stepper motion is far from correct.

I have no motion from Y+/Y- or Z+/Z-. I have motion from X+/X-, but they both move in the same direction! I swapped the X and Y cables, and sure enough, Y now moves, and no response from X. One other strange thing, while I was jogging Y, at one stage the motion reversed, and then the both Y+ & Y- were going in the same opposite direction to when I first started.

So, does this sound like bad wiring of my DB25 breakout boards? Could bridged solder pads cause random direction control?

Soldering these was the hardest part of this whole exercise, so I can believe something may have gone wrong, but I did continuity tests between each pin in the plugs into the stepper motors, and the pinouts of the DB9 connectors on the other end, and it all seemed correct. So if this is the problem, I'm at a loss at to what is wrong.

Any suggestions on where things could be screwed up? So near & yet so far.

Thanks. Russell.

Originally Posted by BoomerangInfo

I have no motion from Y+/Y- or Z+/Z-. I have motion from X+/X-, but they both move in the same direction! I swapped the X and Y cables, and sure enough, Y now moves, and no response from X. One other strange thing, while I was jogging Y, at one stage the motion reversed, and then the both Y+ & Y- were going in the same opposite direction to when I first started.

Actually I just realised what I said. Swapping the cables and having a different axis move means it's the output ports on the G540 which aren't sending the signal I also forgot to mention, the Mach3 diagnostic screen shows the stepper positions as if they are working correct, so Mach is responding OK.

So, this may mean the config in Mach3 is wrong? Given I loaded the config from the Gecko site, I'd have thought it correct. Also the strange direction change mid way makes no sense with any of this.

Hmmm.... Russell.

Maybe check the DB25 parallel port cable, do all the pins connect through to the other end?

Originally Posted by Ch4iS

Maybe check the DB25 parallel port cable, do all the pins connect through to the other end?

Just tested. Yes they all pass through.

Also changed the dir pin# in the motor outputs to every other pin# and it made no difference. Last resort, I swapped the Dir and step pin assignments for the X-axis. Started making funny noise so I quickly stopped and swapped to their original settings, and now the x-axis is going in the opposite direction to before I made that last change.

I can't see what else to change in Mach3. If it's not the Mach3 config, would something wired up wrong on the G540 do this, or could something internal to the g540 be wrong?

*sigh*

So I tried just 1 DB9 plugged into the X-axis port at a time. We'll one of the motors made some crunching noises for a bit, and now nothing moves anywhere I have this forboding sense of Deja-Vu that this is what happened with the Chinese CNC controller I started with

Russell.

Well I dunno what's going on.

I had one last go before dark. Got the X-Axis to move for about 2 seconds before it stopped, and nothing has moved since.

Suspecting a bad connection, I've unplugged and replugged every external connection. Then I took the cover off the controller, and while everything was powered up and running, and with the Jog button held done, I wiggled & jiggled every cable & connection, inside (using a piece of wood so I didn't zap myself) & outside, suspecting that if there was a loose connection, I would get some movement as it shorted. But nada, not a thing. Not a whirr, whine or buzz. I even changed the CMOS ont he PC rom EPP mode only, to ECP+EPP, and no change.

I can't reproduce the conditions of the few moments it works & doesn't work. There have also been a couple of random times while I'm mousing through menu's in Mach3 that it sounds like the relays are opening & closing. That doesn't sound right, does it? I suspected maybe the power supply was shorting in & out, but observing allt he LED's, none seem to flicker, and given my shorting test above, nothing indicated I was losing power. I think Mach3 would have thrown a fit if it wasn't getting a constant signal from the controller anyway, just like when you power off, wouldn't it?

Only things left I can think of are a faulty parallel port (but given the charge pump signal detection above, I'd think that would be noticeable) or a faulty G540. Anyone know of a way to test the G540 any other way? Or is there anything I haven't though of that might be wrong, or other tests I can run? I'm a bit averse to running live power tests with a multimeter, as I don't know what I'm doing and may zap myself, but is that my last resort testing-wise?

Thanks. Russell.

Do you have another pc there to rule out the pc or parallel port?