Need Help! I am a newbie and I cannot get my cheap CNC to work


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Thread: I am a newbie and I cannot get my cheap CNC to work

  1. #1
    wisconsinjimmy
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    Default I am a newbie and I cannot get my cheap CNC to work

    Purchased Cheap Chinese CNC 3020T to do some light scrolling in wood, so as I was reading the different forums here and else where I was bombarded with the negativity of the pirated software they used, rather then have problems later on I purchased the necessary parts to assemble my own controller and purchased the LIC. I assembled the controller to the T and even took it back apart and reassembled the controller to eliminate any what if and did I. Now when I power up my motors X and Y make a high speed whining noise and do not move the platform BUT sometimes it will move the X and Y but for a very short time and it gives the impression that the threads are binding (they are not) . The Z access goes up and down just fine. The program is MK3/4 CNC-USB I installed the program as told then opened the program and using the direction arrows on the bottom left the X will only move a small amount and is very jerky like binding and same with the y axis here is a link to a video on you tube I am about ready to go back to the chinese controller as it works.

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  2. #2
    Member awerby's Avatar
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    Default Re: I am a newbie and I cannot get my cheap CNC to work

    You got this controller from Planet CNC? https://planet-cnc.com/hardware/ Have you asked them for help in getting it to work? If they refuse to support it, can you send it back?

    Have you tried tuning the motors? Sometimes the initial settings have too much acceleration, so it can fault rather than smoothly ramp up to speed.

    Are there any dip-switches you needed to set correctly and perhaps haven't?

    If the controller your machine came with actually works fine, it doesn't sound like the machine's at fault. So why not run it with the controller that works, and bag the other one?

    [FONT=Verdana]Andrew Werby[/FONT]
    [URL="http://www.computersculpture.com/"]Website[/URL]


  3. #3
    wisconsinjimmy
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    Default Re: I am a newbie and I cannot get my cheap CNC to work

    Yes I purchased the controller, four drivers, opti board , jogging board and an output board (not installed)and a 12V and 24V power supply and the enclosure and it is quite straight forward on the install all the leds are green but when I try and use the manual jog with either the software or the jog panel on the control board there seems to be a conflict. I take it the video worked or do I need to ramp up my videographer skills?
    Than you



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    Default Re: I am a newbie and I cannot get my cheap CNC to work

    What are the stepper motor drives ?
    It sounds to me like they don't have the correct motor current set, so when you jog they try to start but then stall, and it seems when the buttons on the box are used it jogs at a slower speed, which will give the motors a bit more torque, since steppers have max torque at stationary then lose it as speed increases.

    Are the motor drives the original ones? If so the Chinese drives that ship with these units are known to be, erm...lacking. (I'm trying not to swear today).

    That is where I would start looking.

    Cheers.

    Russell.



  5. #5
    wisconsinjimmy
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    Default Re: I am a newbie and I cannot get my cheap CNC to work

    Is this what you meant by motor driver? Below is what I have .

    MotorDriver 2.5A – 32



    • High performance, cost effective stepping motor driver.
    • Current: selectable 0.5A to 2.5A
    • Voltage: +9 VDC to +30 VDC
    • Microstepping: selectable 1/1 to 1/32
    • Recommended power supply: PowerSupply 24V/100W
    • Cable included!
    • The motors are what came with the Chinese CNC and with the original controller and Mach3 it works. You will not hurt my feelings as I had an idea what I was getting into but the table is built quite well all aluminum and as I said all it has to do is cut fret work in 1/16th" wood.





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    Default Re: I am a newbie and I cannot get my cheap CNC to work

    Ok now we are talking, the current select is what we need, do you have any information on this?

    What you need to do is find the current of the steppers you have and set that on the driver. It may be a jumper, a resistor, anything is possible.

    Failing that we may need a nice clear photo of the stepper drive itself so maybe somebody here can identify it and offer help.



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    Default Re: I am a newbie and I cannot get my cheap CNC to work

    When you say it works with the original controller and Mach3 do you mean there was a different set of stepper drives as well?



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    Default Re: I am a newbie and I cannot get my cheap CNC to work

    Ok so at first I couldn't see motor drives on the planet-cnc site but with some creative googling I found the motor drive you are using, I was assuming you had got them somewhere else.

    If you look on the drive there is a row of jumpers that set the motor current, and I assume they would leave that jumper on the lowest setting for first time users so they don't burn out their motors if they don't set the motor current.

    So it goes up in half amp increments, from 0.5 amps to 2.5 amps, you will need to find on your motor a current rating and use the closest setting on the drive.

    There is also microstepping on the DIP switch, I would set that to 1/8th for starters and see how that goes.



  9. #9
    wisconsinjimmy
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    Default Re: I am a newbie and I cannot get my cheap CNC to work

    Good Morning on my end,
    I never noticed the dip switch and I will have to ask the guys how they work, my motors are
    AnChuan
    1.8° and what looks like 2.0 Amps and they are 4 wire.



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    Default Re: I am a newbie and I cannot get my cheap CNC to work

    Perfect, so set the jumper onto the 2 amp setting for starters. You should see far better performance straight away.

    It sounds as if the drives are in full step mode, which isn't very smooth, so changing the dip switch to use microstepping will improve things a lot as well, although you will need to adjust the steps per inch in your controller configuration.

    I quickly drew the jumper position for the current set and also what I think is the setting for 1/8 microstepping on the DIP switches.

    I'm not sure what the number 4 DIP switch does but this should get you started.

    Good Luck

    Russell.

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails I am a newbie and I cannot get my cheap CNC to work-pcb-jpg  


  11. #11
    wisconsinjimmy
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    Default Re: I am a newbie and I cannot get my cheap CNC to work

    Well I just heard bak from the Planet-CNC folks and have sent photos of my Driver Boards and yes all the boards are set at minimum funny nothing was said in the assembly instructions now I would like to muddy the waters one more time, Planet-CNC uses 5 pin mic plugs and my cheap China Controller uses 4 pin mic plugs, what I am wondering is could I splice a set of 4pin unto the 5 pin to make it easier to switch controllers? Darn forgot to mention that I am going to put new wire between the motor and controller aas what I have now are very short.



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    Default Re: I am a newbie and I cannot get my cheap CNC to work

    Well I guess you could change things around, personally I think the Planet-CNC controller and drives will outperform the original Chinese electronics, but you are certainly free to mix things up.

    It would be unfair to compare the two until the Planet-CNC drives are configured properly, I have never previously heard of their stuff but after checking around the guy that designed it seems like a smart kinda fellow and supports his product.

    Russell.



  13. #13
    wisconsinjimmy
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    Default Re: I am a newbie and I cannot get my cheap CNC to work

    I say this is baffling I I have changed the dip switches from all off to 1 on 1.8° and moved the jumper from the factory position to 2.0A and walla the motors work well almost work. My y axis which did not work now works and the z axis now goes up and down, the X axis does not work where before the change the Y did not go and the X sorta worked. I have noticed that when I turn on the power the Y and Z motor are difficult to turn by hand when idle, the X has no power. So I unplug the connectors unsolder the 5 pin rewire to 4 pin and plug them into the Chinese controller and everything works (I sure hope you can make sense of this) I have been in constant touch with the manufacturer and have ordered a Go-Pro so I can wear the camera and video all of my movements I tried using a tripod but that did not work so well. So to wrap up, by changing the jumper to 2 Amps and the dip switch to 1.8° the motors, well two of them started to work and when I switched all motors over to the China controller all motors work like they should, I have been very vigilant and have seen NO SMOKE at least I have that contained.



  14. #14
    wisconsinjimmy
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    Default Re: I am a newbie and I cannot get my cheap CNC to work

    From what I understand is that one or more of the electronics for the X Axis have gone bad so I am giving up on the CNC board and controller, what I have found out about the China controller is that the code was cracked and the China machine is using a very old and unsupported program of CNC MK1 and they have somehow written their own key and registration number which is a pirated lic and this works until you update the firmware then the China controller loses it's hacked lic. I am wondering if there might be some way to rewrite the chip which is a PIC18F4550-i/PT



  15. #15
    Member awerby's Avatar
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    Default Re: I am a newbie and I cannot get my cheap CNC to work

    Maybe, but you'd still be running a piece of junk that would find some other way to torment you. Fortunately, the Chinese frames are usually better than their electronics. Throw it away, get a Gecko 540 and some decent control software (Mach3, LinuxCNC or UCCNC), hook it up to your PC and get on with your machining life...

    [FONT=Verdana]Andrew Werby[/FONT]
    [URL="http://www.computersculpture.com/"]Website[/URL]


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    Member KH0UJ's Avatar
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    Default Re: I am a newbie and I cannot get my cheap CNC to work

    It`s all working on my opinion, all that sound means the board is working properly, it`s a "stalling sound" on the steppers, that happens if the internal clock driver is higher than the specifications of the stepper motor itself, though im not really familiar with the planet CNC im sure there`s a kind of adjustment on that it`s either on the hardware side or in the software side.

    If you can post a picture of your board and some of the details, maybe I can study it for you, I have all the time after 5:00pm, also the specification or a model number of your stepper motor used.



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