CNC 6040 home switches

[rthorntn]

G'day,

Disclaimer: I am completely new to CAM and CNC, I have no real electronics knowledge, I have got most of my info from this awesome forum.

Looking for some advice here or even a design or even for some lovely person on here to build me what I need (for a fee of course).

I have the Chinese CNC 6040 with a GeckoDrive G540 with a BOB and I want to have homing capability. The PC is running EMC2.

A 5m serial cable will be attached to the BOB in the G540 enclosure and I think the other end of the cable will go to a homing PCB.

I mean I know I need 3 environmentally sealed switches and maybe some other electronics (DB9 connector).

The list of stuff I don't know is alarming me!

The type of switches to use
Wiring the switches up
Placement of the switches
Any extra sticky out bits I need to help trip the switches

If only there was a kit for the 6040!

Thanks for looking and I hope somebody can help.

On the off chance someone is local, I am based in Sydney.

Cheers
Richard

[bobsch]

Have you checked out the thread on Hall-effect switches Electronic home switches made easy!

They're a magnetically operated IC, totally sealed and easy to mount and wire.

[rthorntn]

Thanks bobsch, thats a great thread.

But, the G540 is an issue with the hall-effect switches:

The G540 inputs are internally pulled up to 12V inside the unit, the switch closes, it needs to connect the input to 0V.

The G540 has a GC-04 breakout board in it.

http://www.homanndesigns.com/pdfs/GC-04R1.pdf

The 4 inputs of the G540 are connected to the top DB-9 connector on pins 1,2,3,4 respectively. Pins 6,7,8 on the same connector have 0V on them

So basically I need mechanical switches (or a separate PSU but I don't like the idea of another PSU).

Richard