NM-135 (KX3) spindle trouble

[slatronic]

I recently got a NM-135 mill from Novakon. I'm having issues with the spindle startup. It's under mach3 control both on/off and speed. I have a thread going on the Novakon forum but there's not as much help over there. A few guys have suggested some stuff but nothing has helped.

The problem is the spindle will start up most of the time but once out of every 10 times maybe it will just turn quarter turn then stop. Sometimes too it will get nearly up to speed and shut down. Then today it was doing just that again then it quit working all together until I restarted the computer. I've tried the default novakon settings, messing around with both the spindle settings and motor tuning. I also ran a new circuit today for the cnc to see if cleaner power might help. It's set to PWM. I'm not sure if this is a motor control issue or a mach3 issue. One of my guesses is noisy ground or faulty wiring. But this is getting a bit above my head.

[David Da Costa]

What about it being a PC problem. Any chance of putting Mach 3 on another PC and trying that?

David

[ihavenofish]

It's set to PWM.

if memory serves, the spindle is not supposed to be set to pwm. this may have changed in recent models. ive not had any luck at all using pwm in mach with my gecko g540 on my novakon nm-070. i think pwm in mach isnt working 100%

[slatronic]

So can I just set it to step/dir control? I've watched Hoss's video on setting up his C6 board in mach3. This part is beyond my knowledge base. Don't want to let the smoke out of anything. Should I just pick up a C6 board and replace whats being used in the machine? I just want to make it work right.

David,
I don't have an extra PC laying around unfortunately. I got the CD-100 with the computer upgrade. My everyday computer is a mac. PC's drive me nuts. But you need to use them, especially for this type of work.


THX

[ihavenofish]

So can I just set it to step/dir control? I've watched Hoss's video on setting up his C6 board in mach3. This part is beyond my knowledge base. Don't want to let the smoke out of anything. Should I just pick up a C6 board and replace whats being used in the machine? I just want to make it work right.
THX

i think the macine is using a c6 actually. you should email novakon and ask them what to do. my info may be out of date here.

[Crevice Reamer]

Look for bad solder joints or loose wiring. SOP on Chinese machines is to tug-test all wiring terminals.

Also make sure your daughter board is pushed in tightly.

CR.

[slatronic]

i think the macine is using a c6 actually. you should email novakon and ask them what to do. my info may be out of date here.

Looking at some more info, it has a C11G board which has step/dir control built in. Nothing is wired to the pins though. I'm kinda confused from here though. I asked for a wiring diagram so I dont have to chase down wires. Looking at the manual for the C11 board I'm slightly confused but I'll read it a few more times and hopefully I can figure it out. I'll watch Hoss's video again too and maybe I can pick up something else.

CR,
I have pulled on wires and checked screw connectors and all seems to be fine. But I'm now expert electrician, just know enough to get myself into trouble most of the time. There was some loose ones when I did initial clean up.

THX

[David Da Costa]

I went through my Mach 3 setup with the Novakon tech on the phone as when I first set it up using the Mach3 config file I downloaded from there site the mill would not work.

It definitely should be set to PMW and mine is working fine with that. My NM-135 is the same generation as yours (delivered a few days after yours.

I suspect that it is a loose wire, dry solder joint or faulty motor or possibly a bad Mach 3 signal being sent via your parallel port. I don't think a Mach 3 setting would produce the kind of faults you are seeing.

David

[slatronic]

I think loose wiring it is. I checked it twice today just to make sure. After pulling on the crimps on the motor control board I pulled 3 wires out of crimps. I'm gonna pick up some new ones and give it a try this weekend. I'll have some more time to put into this weekend. I hoping by Monday it's up a running normal.

[slatronic]

I was able to go out and get some crimps this afternoon and no luck. Still works the same as before. I'll go through everything tomorrow. I think rewiring for step/dir is the way to go.

[slatronic]

Here's a video of what' going on. Sorry, it's my first video and youtube upload. I love my iPhone. But anyways, you can see it either barely turns or spins up then stops. The last one started right. You can hear the relay clicking when I push F5. Its looks like the pin16 LED lights up too when spindle is active and nothing is wired to pin16. This seems weird to me cause motor is hooked up to pin14, which its LED is always on along with pin17 LED.
The pins and LED are on left side of board. The last five pins are 9,14,com,16,17. The LEDs from I can tell corrispond to pin activity.

"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5iodCFXgkk"]YouTube- NM-135 Spindle Motor Trouble

[Crevice Reamer]

That sounds exactly like a thermal fuse--heating, breaking contact, cooling, making contact.

I don't think there IS a thermal fuse though, so this problem must be a component or circuit trace that is expanding and contracting. Can you post a closeup pic of the entire motor control board please?

CR.