Wiring Breakout Board Questions

[Dingo745]

I know very little about electronics hence I need some advice.
I've just got a Xylotex 4 axis kit (Pre-assembled).
I've also got CNC4PC C11 breakout board.
Now the CNC4PC C11 breakout board states that it needs a 5+V DC power supply and a 12+V DC power supply as well. Is this right ?
The board came with a USB cable to be able to connect the 5 volt power from the pc.
My other question is about the 12 volt power supply. I have an old external cd burner enclosure that has a built in power supply, which I assume can provide both 5 & 12 volts and provide a neat mounting enclosure for the breakout board. Am I on the right track, or should I hook it up another way ?
If anyone has an CNC4PC C11 breakout board to Xylotec wiring diagram that would be a bonus.

[ger21]

The manual says the +5V should come from the PC. I'd check with Arturo to see if you can use another source safely.

[dixonjk]

I think your enclosure power supply will work fine.

[Tom Curran]

You can pick up power supplies from surplus electronics stores. The supplies will often ahve +/- 5 vdc, =/-12 vdc/ 25 VDC, etc, all in one unit. You should know how much amperage you need before you buy.

[arturod]

The C11 – Multifunction CNC Board http://cnc4pc.com/Multifunction_CNC_Board.htm isolates the xylotex and cnc wiring from your PC’s current. The provided USB cable is to power the side of the circuit that interacts with the PC. The other +5vdc and +12vdc terminals are for powering the side of the circuits that interact with the drivers and other external devices. This should be an external power supply. An old computer power supply or the one you describe should work fine; just make sure it can provide the required amps.

The C11 connects directly to the xylotex board directly by using an standard DB25 male to male cable. Keep in mind you can still use all the pins from the c11 and the xylotex boards in a concurrent manner.

Please do not hesitate con contact me if you have further questions.

Arturo Duncan
http://cnc4pc.com

[kc4mts]

Originally Posted by Dingo745 I know very little about electronics hence I need some advice. I've just got a Xylotex 4 axis kit (Pre-assembled). I've also got CNC4PC C11 breakout board. Now the CNC4PC C11 breakout board states that it needs a 5+V DC power supply and a 12+V DC power supply as well. Is this right ? The board came with a USB cable to be able to connect the 5 volt power from the pc. My other question is about the 12 volt power supply. I have an old external cd burner enclosure that has a built in power supply, which I assume can provide both 5 & 12 volts and provide a neat mounting enclosure for the breakout board. Am I on the right track, or should I hook it up another way ? If anyone has an CNC4PC C11 breakout board to Xylotec wiring diagram that would be a bonus.

I know nothing about the Xylotex board but I have alittle experience in electronics. If the breakout board needs +5, +12 VDC it should also require a common ground (0 VDC). You did not mention any amperage requirements and if the Xylotex board does not state how many amps or milliamps are required by the board there is a good chance that it is a negligable value (somewhere in the milliamp range) and your external CD power supply should provide more than enough power to do the job. DISCLAIMER--- If the is any type of motor on the Xylotex board ( or if it has large driver transistors for driving a motor)you will need to do more research into voltage /Amperage requirements before hookup.

[arturod]

The C11 requires 1.5 amps in the +5vdc connection and 300 milliamps in the +12vdc connection. This is printed in the PCB and in the manual. If you are not using all the features and only a few pins, you can get away with a 1 amp power supply. The ground for both +5vdc and +12vdc is common.

Arturo Duncan
http://cnc4pc.com

[apache405]

Are you running the board on a USB hub? If you are, you should strongly consider a powered USB hub if you do not already have one.
The powered USB hubs provide a power boost to each port whereas an un-powered hub used the power supplied by your PC.

[High Seas]

I have a question (or 2) to pose.
BACKGROUND:
I am joining/linking/combining 2 3axis Xylotex boards via a CNC4PC BOB (version c-10).
If I was just using a single Xylotex board - the J7 header connects thru the LPT port. Now, with 2 boards and the C-10 BOB, there are too many wires!

The J7 on the XYLOTEX board seems to use only the STEP & DIR for each axis. So, I have cut the LPT connector off my cables, separated the ribbon cable and now plan to connect the appropriate STEP and DIR to the LPT pinouts on the BOB. So far this seems logical. There are a number of grounds available on the BOB. --

THE QUESTION:
Should I connect the remaining wires from the ribbon to these ground points (the ones that normally ground via the LPT (pins 18-25 on LPT) -- (the ones on the J7 are; 10,12,14,16,18,20,22,24 on the J7)?

ALTERNATE QUESTION:
If I don't connect to the ground points on the BOB -- Can/Should I cut these "unsued wires" on the ribbon cable off short to eliminate any antennas in the box?

I plan on using the CNC4PC BOB for the Limit etc. 5 Volts is from an external power supply, switched as a "system signal enable." My E-Stop is a "system power off" disconnect.
I am using separate enable switches for each axis of the 6 - so I will be able to select from 1 - to - 6 in any combination.

[arturod]

6 axes? Is it going to be able to walk?

If I understand this, you are splitting the ribbon cable. So one end goes to the computer’s parallel port and the other ends goes one to the xylotex board and the other one to the C10. I have never seen it done, but I do not see a reason why it should not work. Make sure you run ground cables to both boards. The C10 uses pins 18-25 for grounds and I understand the xylotex board does the same. This answers question 1.

I would not think that letting the unused lines of the ribbon cable in the air might cause a problem. This answers question 2.

I would think it would be cleaner to use the C1 (http://cnc4pc.com/Parallel_Port_Interface_Card.htm )or C11 (http://cnc4pc.com/Multifunction_CNC_Board.htm) which connect directly to xylotex board, but I do understand it would be more expensive.

Thanks,

Arturo Duncan
http://cnc4pc.com
http://cnc4pc.com/Live_Help.htm

[High Seas]

Arturo - Thanks for the speedy response! Walk - maybe --NOT!

I'll clarify the ribbon cable - The end I'm splitting was formerly the LPT 25 pin male. The other end has the 26 pin connector for the the Xylotex header J7. The "loose ends" go to the LPT pinouts on the CNC4PC C10. A picture here would be helpful - I'll shoot one then post in a bit.

It seems like one ground from the C10 to each board ought to do it if I understand correctly. That way I can clean up the maze of wires that are otherwise redundant between the 3 boards.

Thanks - and, Jim

[High Seas]

Arturo - yes It is a cost issue! Xylotex isn't doing single axis at the moment - and a 2 axis card was more per axis than a 3 - plus I have a fall back of 2 cards to split up into 2 separate 3 axis systems if needed. Regarding the ribbon cable -- Here are a few thousand words worth - may help clarify: