Can't make stepper do anything with mach3

[Apples]

I have hoodked all my power supply, cnc4pc breakout board ang Gecko G202's. I also have amini power supply from cnc4pc. The version of mach 3 I downloaded is "Mach3 Release 1.02".

Is this version af Mach3 able to be used as a free demo, or do I have to use an earlier version of Mach to actually make my motors spin on my table? If so what version do I download.

So okay, the problem is that I can not get the motors to move at all. I can not get my stepper motors to do anything. They do not heat up, humm, buzz or anything.


1). I am a bit confused with the cnc4pc parallel port breakout board. I have been told that pins 18-25 need to all be grounded with a -5vdc power source. This board does not have these pins. Therefore I am assuming that these pins, 18-25 are already grounded throught the board. Is this true?

2). On all the outputs pins 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,14,16,17 there is always a GND terminal next to each one. What do I use these for?

3). I am really hanging out to make this 'many moons long' project cnc thing actually move.


Please help me.

Peter

[kong]

Yes the Mach3 shouldwork fine for a demo. Do you have holding torque on your steppers? Even with no software running, if you have the steppers wired up correctly, you should be able to power them up and feel the torque if you try to turn them by hand.

[Apples]

kong thanks for your reply.

No, that's just it I have no holding torque at all. I can spin the motors by hand.

[kong]

Ok then, we can cross Mach3 off of the list of problems! I would double check all of your connections betwen steppers and the geckos, also ensure your PSU is putting out the correct voltage. I don't use 202's so can't advise on the wiring, so hopefully someoneelse will chime in soon if you don't find something!

[Apples]

Power to gecko's is fine I have a 48vdc 12.5 amps power supply. I also have a mini power sullpy from cnc4pc.com.

My main power supply puts out 48.1vdc, and the mini power supply puts out between 5-4.99vdc.

My stepper has two windings, each with two wires..I have a total of 4 wires.
Maybe I should swap over the wiring for the TERMINALS 3,4,5,6 on the gecko.

Example: If I have one winding on 3 and 4 and the other winding on 5 and 6.
I will swap 3,4 and make it 5,6. And 5,6 will become 3,4. Know what Mean.

My luck this will either do A). Blow up and catch on fire or B). do nothing.

What does everyone think?

[ger21]

Do not rewire the Gecko's unless you know the correct way to wire them!!!!!!!!!!!
Miswiring the motors can kill your Gecko's instantly. If the motors don't lock up when power is applied, something is wired wrong. It has nothing to do with Mach3.

[Apples]

Man I am so close......

I was opening mach 3 in the plasma screen. I decided to open it up in the milling screen.

Now when I hit my left and right buttons(jog) the motors buzzz.

So far so good. Yeah I know they are not turning but at least they are doing something.

I have tried the motor tuning. If I have high settings the motor just buzzes faster and louder. If I have smaller setting in the motor tunning the motor just buzzes a lot quieter and slower.

Any ideas on what is going on there?

Still no motor holding torque.




Ger 21 My main power at 48VDC is good.

I have a +5vdc wire going into the common on the gecko. But there is no negative wire for 5vdc going to the gecko. Unless that is pick up from the breakout board?

I have my dc ground (-48vdc), my 48vdc going in(+), 4 motor wires hooked up. I have the step and direction wires hooked in. And a positive 5vdc going to the common from a seperate power supply. Also in place is a current set resistor.

Peter

[ger21]

turn the accel way down.

[kong]

Hmmm, I am still thinking it is the wiring rather than Mach3. I have just flicked through the gecko info and read this,

These inputs are optically isolated from the rest of the drive. Term. 10 is the common anode connection for the opto-isolators and must be connected to the +5 VDC supply of your indexer or pulse generator.

Since you are using a seperate PSU for the 5v, could it be that this is the problem? What you could try is to hook up the geckos using 5v from the PC instead, just to see if it makes a difference. Electronics really isn't my strong point though!

[Apples]

I had thought that kong.

As now the gecko has its own seperate power supply. There will be no pulses generated from the mini power supply. So how can it pulse the gecko through the mini power supply?

i will have to try to workout where to take 5vdc from the breakout board then.

[kong]

The mini psu does not need to pulse, I think it is more to do with completing the ground loop back to the pulse generator (the PC in this case). Like I said, a shady area for me so I will bow out!