Stepper not working with G540, HELP!

[Rotax91]

Hello everyone,

Just hooked up my g540 tonight to test it out. I hooked up 1 servo in a test. I downloaded the g540.xml file and verified that it IS loaded.

I jumpered the estop and it does go from fault to power. When I do that, the servo makes kind of a high pitch sound and holds torque. The high pitch sound isn't very loud. It's pretty faint. ~~ should it make that sound?

I ran a program in Mach 3 and I don't get any motor output. Is there anyway I can actually verify that Mach 3 actuall 'sees' the G540.

My motor wiring to the g540 is correct, verified it several times according to Keling's site.

edit: just to add to this, If I do the estop on the g540 should mach3 stop, or is that only if I do the on-screen estop within mach3? Cuz, I do the g540 stop and the program just keeps running. I did enable EPP in the bios as well.

Thanks!!!

[brtech]

Is the charge pump switch enabled?

If it is, and it comes out of fault, the gecko sees Mach

You are clicking the Reset button on Mach, right? Is it green outline? If it is, it's believing it sees the gecko.

After that, ports and pins

[Rotax91]

Thanks for responding to my post. Yes, the charge pump is enabled. I tried it both ways. And yes, I did click the Mach estop button and it had green around it.

I did find something late last night. I check my DB25 cable and most of the top row of pins aren't connected at the other end. It utilized mostly the bottom row. Serial cable maybe? Perhaps this is my problem??

Thanks.

[gmfoster]

Originally Posted by Rotax91 Thanks for responding to my post. Yes, the charge pump is enabled. I tried it both ways. And yes, I did click the Mach estop button and it had green around it. I did find something late last night. I check my DB25 cable and most of the top row of pins aren't connected at the other end. It utilized mostly the bottom row. Serial cable maybe? Perhaps this is my problem?? Thanks.

I think it has always been pretty clear that you need a pin to pin cable.
Why would you even try anything else? Where did you get this cable and what was it called?


It could be any kind of cable if you don't know what it is. A serial, a null modem cable, a cable that only has the pins a parallel printer uses or one of many special cables out there. Connectors alone don't make the cable...

Hopefully you haven't damaged anything...

[Rotax91]

I didn't purposely try to make a non-working cable, work. The cable is a (M) DB25- (M) DB25. It's a cable I had around for years. There's no labeling on the cable. Not sure where I got it.

Can you please post a link to a site that has the appropriate cable? Radio Shack appears to have a very limited selection.

Thanks.

[brtech]

One obvious cable is

Amazon.com: Belkin IEEE 1284 Parallel Switchbox Cable (6 Feet, DB25M to DB25M): Electronics: Reviews, Prices & more

Amazon.com: Belkin IEEE 1284 Parallel Switchbox Cable (6 Feet, DB25M to DB25M): Electronics: Reviews, Prices & more

Then there is:
6ft DB25 M/M Cable - Cables To Go
or
25 pin Parallel DB25 DB-25 Printer Cable Male M/M 10 Ft - eBay (item 170348038827 end time Nov-14-10 22:56:58 PST)

[gmfoster]

Ebay item
300490904323 should work


PMDX sells a cable specifically for this and breakout boxes and cnc stuff in general. He has a cable here..
PMDX.COM - Products for CNC and motion control applications

Actually most parallel port extension cables should work.

Here is a bunch of standard cable wiring diagram..
http://www.jspayne.com/io/schematics.html
I have sometimes had to use a cable with male and female connectors and then use a 25 pin to pin gender changer on one end.

Good luck..

[Rotax91]

Thanks guys!! I appreciate the effort. I will pick the one that can get it to me the fastest. I don't think I would have hurt anything since the port is pretty much made up of I/O and not voltage transmission.

Looking at the pinout in the g540 manual, looks like the step/direction lines are in 1-9 which on the cable I was using, are not connected.

When the servo is at idle/ unit is powered on. Do the steppers make a high frequency noise? I describe it like the noise that old tube televisions made. Also, the shaft is tight. Can't turn it by hand when power is applied. Normal?

Thanks again.

[gmfoster]

Originally Posted by Rotax91 Thanks guys!! I appreciate the effort. I will pick the one that can get it to me the fastest. I don't think I would have hurt anything since the port is pretty much made up of I/O and not voltage transmission. Looking at the pinout in the g540 manual, looks like the step/direction lines are in 1-9 which on the cable I was using, are not connected. When the servo is at idle/ unit is powered on. Do the steppers make a high frequency noise? I describe it like the noise that old tube televisions made. Also, the shaft is tight. Can't turn it by hand when power is applied. Normal? Thanks again.

Another thing there is a difference between steppers and servos. You have steppers not servos. To be a servo it needs feed back to say where it is..
Just FYI....

And the noise steppers make at idle is usually from the drivers. I have not heard the G540 so I can't say what is normal...

Garry

[brtech]

My G540 doesn't make that noise. The steppers are held in place when the Gecko is enabled, so that part is normal, yes.

[Rotax91]

Hi again. Well I got it going. I found an old cable in storage that came over on the mayflower. It was M/F so I had to use a straight thru gender changer. I ran a program and all is good.

That being said, I still hear that high frequency noise. The noise is coming from the stepper itself, NOT the g540. The 540 is fine. I can only hear it when the stepper is still. Is this normal for the motor when power is applied to it. It's not a mechanical noise (ie bad bearing, etc..) this is an high frequency electrical noise.

Thanks.

edit: I emailed John @ Keling and he thinks I need to tune the motor(s). Perhaps that's all it is?

[brtech]

It doesn't happen to me. I don't know if it's really a problem. Ask Keiling; they are usually responsive.