No Joy on HobbyCNC Pro and 305oz Steppers

[whmeade10]

I just finished putting together the power supply, setting up the Pro board, and connecting the stepper motors. The problem I am having is that only the X axis moves when being jogged and then it only moves counter clockwise. The Y and Z steppers won't do anything. When I turn on the PS I can feel a thump in each Stepper Motor which I take it as locking up. The Y axis when moving is very smooth. All Steppers feel warm to the touch, but the X and Z steppers have a vibration to them. The Y stepper has no vibration.

Settings:

The voltage at +5 VDC test Point is 5.03VDC
The current adjustment is set at .4VDC for each axis
Jumper Settings: J1 OFF, J2 ON, J3 ON, J4 ON

A - Red
a - Black
COM - Yellow/Blue
COM - Orange/Brown
b - Green
B - White

Computer: Gateway 2.8GHz Running XP Pro

I noticed that in the Bios config that the only setting for the LPT1 port is Enabled or Disabled.

Is there any other voltage measurements I can take to trouble shoot why the X and Z axises won't work.

I do design and assemble circuit boards for my company so any help even if a little technical will be greatly appreciated. I am not familiar with this board and don't have any schematics to go by.

I think I will go to www.alldatasheet.com and gather up some of the data sheets of the components on the board.

[vulcom1]

I have the pro board with 4 steppers running. If you are running the23-305-DS8 steppers then I would advise you to check your wiring especially on the 2 not working. From your discription the motors are coming on but your wires are crossed. My sheet shows White as small b and Green as large B. This could also be the problem with the one operating in one direction.
A word of advise. When changing connections make sure your power is off and that big cap is drained down to zero volts. If not you could blow your expensive driver chips. Been there and done it, believe me it was a new board.
John

[whmeade10]

vulcom1, thanks for the quick reply. I switched the green and white wire on the x axis that is working and now it will only rotate clockwise. As for the other 2 axises, they still don't work. Is there voltage measurements that can be taken on the driver chips to verify of they are good or bad?

This is really frustrating when you spend that much money, follow the directions to a T, and still doesn't work the way its supose to. What I am trying to do know is find a machine with 98 on it so I can boot to DOS and run TurboCNC.

Do you have any other suggestions?

[whmeade10]

I have kinda figured out the problem. (WINDOZ) I found a cheap old laptop with WIN98 and booted to DOS and ran TurboCNC and all the steppers appeared to work correctly. Now I just have to figure out whats killing Mach3 running under Windows XP.

[aolshove]

Have you tried using the HobbyCNC Mach3 config file? Should be available on the HobbyCNC Yahoo Group files area.

[whmeade10]

I haven't tried the config file, but will go get it and see what happens. Thanks for the info aolshove.

[Integrex]

the heat is normal

vibration seems like more of a control software issue,

on a full out vmc or turning centre this is where we would perform a grid shift in the parameters.

although I may be wrong because a hobby machine is far from a full blown industrial machine. and they have servos and not steppers...

[joecnc2006]

Originally Posted by whmeade10 I just finished putting together the power supply, setting up the Pro board, and connecting the stepper motors. The problem I am having is that only the X axis moves when being jogged and then it only moves counter clockwise. The Y and Z steppers won't do anything. When I turn on the PS I can feel a thump in each Stepper Motor which I take it as locking up. The Y axis when moving is very smooth. All Steppers feel warm to the touch, but the X and Z steppers have a vibration to them. The Y stepper has no vibration. Settings: The voltage at +5 VDC test Point is 5.03VDC The current adjustment is set at .4VDC for each axis Jumper Settings: J1 OFF, J2 ON, J3 ON, J4 ON A - Red a - Black COM - Yellow/Blue COM - Orange/Brown b - Green B - White Computer: Gateway 2.8GHz Running XP Pro I noticed that in the Bios config that the only setting for the LPT1 port is Enabled or Disabled. Is there any other voltage measurements I can take to trouble shoot why the X and Z axises won't work. I do design and assemble circuit boards for my company so any help even if a little technical will be greatly appreciated. I am not familiar with this board and don't have any schematics to go by. I think I will go to www.alldatasheet.com and gather up some of the data sheets of the components on the board.

You need to reverse your white and green wires, B=white and b=green.

Joe