Z-axis only turns in ONE direction, anyone know what might be wrong?

[effimos]

i've just recieved a TB6560 'advanced' controller (the 3.5A version with case) and everything works fine, except the Z-axis motor wil only turn clockwise...

-> i have set everything like it should in mach 3 (like in the manual in the attachment...)

- X-pulse: pin 2
- X-Dir: pin 3
- Y-pulse: pin 4
- Y-dir: pin 5
- Z-pulse: pin 6
- Z-dir: pin 7

- enable 1: pin 16

-> i have also measured the cable and he is NOT broken

-> i also have switched the motors to see if my motor isn't broken but with another motor the problem remains the same.

-> and as you can see in the picture below, when setting the 'dir low active' to 'ON' he still will only turn clockwise but instead of pushing the '-' sign you have to push the '+' sign.

so is could this be a hardware problem? or a settings problem?
and can this be meassured IF it is a hardware problem?

thanks in advance!!!

[ger21]

Measure the voltage of the Z axis direction pin (7) while jogging in both directions. It should be 0V in one direction, and 5V in the other. Start at the parallel port, with the drive disconnected. If it's good there, then measure at the drive.
If the voltage i sgood, try increasing the pulse width. If your using Mach3, try setting it to 10-15. If that doesn't work, try Sherline mode.

[RomanLini]

Maybe there is too much weight on the Z axis? If the electrical testing Ger21 suggested does not lead to a soultion you could disconnect all the weight from the Z axis motor and check the result.

[effimos]

Maybe there is too much weight on the Z axis? If the electrical testing Ger21 suggested does not lead to a soultion you could disconnect all the weight from the Z axis motor and check the result.

the motors are not connected to anything so that couldn't be the issue i guess

[effimos]

Measure the voltage of the Z axis direction pin (7) while jogging in both directions. It should be 0V in one direction, and 5V in the other. Start at the parallel port, with the drive disconnected. If it's good there, then measure at the drive.
If the voltage i sgood, try increasing the pulse width. If your using Mach3, try setting it to 10-15. If that doesn't work, try Sherline mode.

thanks!
i meassured it and pin 3 (Xdir) & 5 (Ydir) both give 0v in one direction and +5V in the other direction.
but pin 7 (Zdir) does give 0V in one direction but only gives +1.5V in the other direction.

what should/can i do next?

[ger21]

Where did you measure it?

[effimos]

Where did you measure it?

at the parallel port. without connecting the controller.

[crane550]

I ran into the same issue with Mach when setting up my new machine last week. It had to do with the Dir Low Active or something like that.

Verify that you do indeed have have correct pin for Dir set up in Mach. Then switch your settings one at a time for that Axis (then change them back before trying the next one). Start with the Dir High / Low active.

[effimos]

I ran into the same issue with Mach when setting up my new machine last week. It had to do with the Dir Low Active or something like that.

Verify that you do indeed have have correct pin for Dir set up in Mach. Then switch your settings one at a time for that Axis (then change them back before trying the next one). Start with the Dir High / Low active.

the dir low active is there so you can manualy set/choose direction of the motor when pushing '+' of '-'. but that's not the problem i think.
pin 7 is the correct pin but the voltage of the pin in incorrect (1.5V instead of 5V) and therefore the controller probably doesn't recognise the signal...

[CarveOne]

the dir low active is there so you can manualy set/choose direction of the motor when pushing '+' of '-'. but that's not the problem i think.
pin 7 is the correct pin but the voltage of the pin in incorrect (1.5V instead of 5V) and therefore the controller probably doesn't recognise the signal...

1.5v is not a valid TTL logic low (0) or a TTL high (1). Set to active high and it should measure ~5v. Then see if you can jog the motor in + and - directions. You should be able to jog it both directions in the MDI panel also. If that works, change the keyboard arrow key definitions to get that working correctly as well.

CarveOne

[effimos]

1.5v is not a valid TTL logic low (0) or a TTL high (1). Set to active high and it should measure ~5v. Then see if you can jog the motor in + and - directions. You should be able to jog it both directions in the MDI panel also. If that works, change the keyboard arrow key definitions to get that working correctly as well.

CarveOne

What do i have to set to high? Because i have tried to turn on and off the 'dir active low' and this makes no difference. The only difference is that the motor wil turn clockwise with either the + arrow or else with the - arrow. But i cannot make it turn counter clockwise.
Can you explain it a bit more please?

[effimos]

i've seen alot of people with the same problem, something about the parallel port of the pc not being able to output 5V on pin 7 and not alot of people get it solved...

until i've read about someone that just switched pin 9 with pin 7 in his cable and set pin 9 in Mach 3 as the 'dir' pin for the Z-axis.

this way the pc outputs 0V/5V on pin 9 while the controller board recieves the 0V/5V on it's own pin 7 (like it should!).

i've tested my pin 9 and this one does give 0V/5V so i'm going to try this too. (Pin 9 is normaly used for the 4th axis, wich i don't have so i can easely use it)

i'll update tomorow if this works....