Gecko G540 and SuperPid?

[jjacstcy]

I have been scrolling through the SuperPid thread for an hour now an have a headache. Can some one tell me how to get my G540 to run the SuperPid? All I want is on/off control. I don't need Mach 3 to control my rpm. Everything is wired up like it shows in the SuperPid instructions.
Thanks for any help guys,
Jimmy

[lancut]

You need to connect the spindle start/run relay to PID run post if I remember correctly.

[jjacstcy]

The problem is that the g540 is not dropping the 5 volts to turn it on. I am using output 1 pin 17 in mach's output config.

[lancut]

I'm not following. Are you expecting G540 to deliver 5v?... It will not. I'm using 24V power supply to power my router. Relays I use are 24v as well. One relay turn on the spindle and the other activates the vacuum system. My PID is one of very first sold and the exact connections may differ. The 5 v needed for the PID I'm borrowing from the PC power supply. So once Mach3 calls for the spindle to power on the relay closes and the 5v is send to PID. While back I have uploaded schematic with G540 and PID connections, so use search and follow my posts. Good luck.

[RomanLini]

Hi jjacstcy, I'm the SuperPID tech support guy.

The SuperPID v2 is fully compatible with the G540, all you need to to check page 25 of the SuperPID v2 instruction PDF;
http://www.vhipe.com/product-private...structions.pdf

I think the info Lancut is providing is for the SuperPID v1, which was a bit more fiddly to work with the G540. The SuperPID v2 (released many months ago) was revised to use a 0v "RUN" signal, so the "RUN" terminal can be driven directly from the G540 (again please see the instructions page 25).

[jjacstcy]

Thanks for the info Roman, I got it working!

[RomanLini]

You're welcome, and thanks too to Lancut for helping with the tech stuff.

[Rushwind]

Originally Posted by RomanLini The SuperPID v2 is fully compatible with the G540, all you need to to check page 25 of the SuperPID v2 instruction PDF; http://www.vhipe.com/product-private...structions.pdf

Hi Roman,

I have been reading the original Super-PID thread for a couple of weeks while I was waiting for my Super-PID v2 to arrive. I have gotten as far as the announcement of the v1.1/v1.5 firmware upgrades so far. Ancient history, I know.

I also have a G540 (and will be controlling the speed via Mach3).

The G540 VFD ports supply 0-10v, as you know. Page 25 of the Super-PID manual doesn't detail anything that I need to do regarding a voltage divider circuit; it just shows the G540 VFD outputs hooked directly to the Super-PID, and the text says "the G540 produces the 0v to 5v speed control voltage".

Can the Super-PID now handle the full 0v to 10v "VFD" signal from the G540, or do I still need to attenuate the voltage coming out of the Gecko?

I plan to supply 5v to the Super-PID via a USB port on the PC. I will connect the PC case ground to the Gecko's (48v) power supply ground.

Once I get spindle on/off and speed control handled in Mach3, I'll move on to the TACH display and then I'm on to Hall Effect Homing switches!

Thank you for your great contributions to the DIY CNC community.

Best,
Jimbo

[RomanLini]

Hi Rushwind, if you read the whole SuperPID thread() there are a lot of people using the G540 and supplying it's VFD module with +5v (not +10v) and they charted the speed control and found that 0-5v seemed to work ok.

The official word from Mariss of Gecko is that the VFD should properly be run from +10v.

So you have 2 choices;
1. Run the G540 VFD from +5v and see how it goes (most people are happy with that)
2. Use +10v to run the G540 VFD and use two 10k or 22k resistors on the output to halve the output voltage back to the range 0-5v. The two resistors are a typical "voltage divider".

The SuperPID instructions need to have my comments above added as a note for the G540 users, that will hopefully be added at some point as there are a few things that need adding to the instructions. Thanks for the compliments too!

[Rushwind]

Hi Roman,

Ah, I get it. The P5 port on the Super-PID is *supplying* +5v to the VFD voltage in port on the G540. The VFD vin port is supposed to take +10v (according to Gecko), but various people have tried it with a +5v supply, and it works OK.

In your defense, the diagram in the manual *does* show this. An additional note about the 2 options would help, though.

Back to reading the original thread... I'm up to March 2011 now.

Best,
Jimbo

[lancut]

"The VFD vin port is supposed to take +10v (according to Gecko), but various people have tried it with a +5v supply, and it works OK."

Yes. It works fine with 5v supplied. In Mach3 I can "slide" rpm up/down as well as use coded speed.