Communication problem with X4+

[shannow]

Hello,
I'm new here and trying to help my father to have his x4+ running . I'm french so pardon my errors ...

First I installed the mach 3 software (following the procedure ,rebooted etc...) no big problems there apart that I fought for a complete day to get rid of vista on the computer (because of it's being too clever to be usefriendly and not compatible with anything ...)
So got that running with a pci card for the 25 pin parrallel ports everything ok got several xml profile from syil website (canade , marican ant the chinese one) got that to run with the loader allright .

And now comes the crunch I fought for several hours already trying to get things to work and I have no answer (no motion) from the x4+ .
I checked that I was using the right port number but that's ok because the physical emergency stop and the home switches work fine the diag screen makes them go on and off when I touch them .
But if i try to make a manual jog (with the tab instrument window) or if I insert a simple code in IMD mode nothing moves (g0 z10) even the spindle doesn't move (m03 s200 ) it is in cnc mode on the x4 .

The machine works fine in manual everything moves happily in continious mode the spindle turn nicely . The steppers motor get warm (perhaps a bit too much... not too hot to touch but hot not warm!)
The only thing that I am suspecting at the moment are the power supply...

Is it normal that the red led is on the controler (three led on each of the four controler)?

Is it normal that the fans on both power supply don't move when the machine is on ? (no dangling wire found)

I'm after any advice

Thank you very much for your help

[gn3dr]

Check that you charge pump is being seen by the machine. When the machine in in CNC mode it will say "READY" on the blue screen but if it is seeing the charge pump signal there should also be a little symbol of a computer on the X4's blue screen.
If this symbol isn't there make sure the charge pump pin is set up in ports and pins in Mach 3. If this is OK you might have to adjust the pot on the board that the charge pump signal goes to.(I had to do this). There is a reference to this in the instructions.

[shannow]

Thanks for the reply.

The screen on the X4 lights up blue but there is absolutely nothing written on it totally empty .

[gn3dr]

Originally Posted by shannow Thanks for the reply. The screen on the X4 lights up blue but there is absolutely nothing written on it totally empty .

Well that's not normal. You said the machine works fine in manual - is the screen working properly in manual?

[shannow]

No even in manual mode i'm playing with it totally blind , all blue screen ,nothing written and never has been . Care was taken when installing and we are certain there was no damage.

[neilw20]

Should be something on the display screen, and you should be able to JOG in non- CNC mode.
Check all the wiring for loose plugs, connections, internal cables etc.
Check emergency stop is not killing it.
Get it to function without the PC attached, then take the next step.
There is a jumper to disable the charge pump, but you should make it work correctly once the fault is found.

[shannow]

The manual Jog works fine , I just click 4 times to be in cont mode and make my way through by guessing in what mode I am .

The emergency button is the only thing working properly and that mach 3 understands very well .

I am actualy looking at the board wiring with the instructions given with the x4 but apart from being very poor quality photos in black and white (very useful to guess what color of the wiring are...) the pictures in the instructions show a quite different version of the boards . I can't verify things are missing on the boards or are not at the same position and hence the connections are not the same . (just an example the cable to the LCD screen is shown as a classic flat wire and what we have is a ethernet cable with a small circuit board in between the original board and the cable , some 3 pin connections are here but in the instruction the two cables are on one side of the conector and in the machine the other side ... )

Don't really know what to do

[gn3dr]

You can download the manual here

http://syil.com.cn/en/Download.asp

[shannow]

I was at 90% of it when I saw your reply

[shannow]

Right the download is finished got it open it's the same instruction as i've got but in colour . So it doesn't solve my problem of my circuits not being the same as the one in the manual

[ataxy]

Did you try contacting Syil on the subject?

[syil canada]

feel free to take some pictures of the "CNC board" and email them to me, i will have a look to see what the issue is.

also if you have not done so yet, check your port address in ports and pins settings. the default address is 0x378, if you have installed a parallel card the address will be different. check in the windows device manager for the parallel card address, make sure it is the same in the ports and pins settings.

keith@syil.ca
or give me a call @ 403-400-7945

i attached a photo how to disable the mach3 charge pump try this and see if you get movement.