$3 cable.... crazy huh? I know the feeling...now you get to play
ATR,
I know u got a G540, but you may still need this below...
you could probably go with one of these, it will output your needed voltage...
I quote from the ad........ "ANOTHER BIG ADVANTAGE OF THIS CIRCUIT IS THAT THE SIGNALS THAT GO TO YOUR STEPPER MOTOR DRIVER ARE USUALLY A FULL 5 VOLTS (DEPENDING ON YOUR 5 V. POWER SOURCE TO THE PROTECTOR.) MANY COMPUTERS AND LAPTOPS ONLY PUT OUT ABOUT 3 VOLTS, AND IN SOME CASES NOT ENOUGH TO TRIGGER THE STEP ON YOUR MOTOR DRIVER. THIS IN LINE CIRCUIT ALSO SOLVES THAT PROBLEM."
foam27, nice find. I've not seen those before. Looks like it would work for any card.
A new card that is 5V ouput is only $15 from newegg. I just bought the one I have not knowing about the lower voltage changes in cards.
Finally found a proper 5 Volt Parallel port PCI card
Sorry for the delay. I wanted to verify for my self that it is a good card before posting a link.
It arrived today. The card installed drivers automatically (Vista 32bit) and all that was needed was to change the address in Mach3. Put my fluke on it and HOWDY 5.08V !!!
It was $9.99 plus a couple bucks shipping at NewEgg.com. A much better value than the "industrial" card I purchased a few months back that won't give me proper voltage..... Any one want a good deal on a slightly used card?
The card is a Rosewill 2 Port Parallel PCI card Model RC304 LINK AT NEWEGG
I have no more drift or lost steps (unless my cut rate is too high - then I can miss steps, lol) and have turned out a couple of small parts, nearly acceptably! Still need to work on the backlash and slop in the dovetails, etc. as well as the slop in my own brain
I'm still getting drift. Drift direction and amount still changes with increasing or decreasing the feed rate. I have been able to get close but not good enough for engraving. It inconsistently drifts z depth throughout the cut as well. I have been watching the couplings and can see that it does not stop at the same spot when it should be at the same Z depth. Some times it changes almost nothing, other times it is off by about a half of a revolution after moving a quarter inch (I'm using 10tpi screws).
Here is what I've done so far:
I have rewired the motors using 18/4 quad shield - no change
I replaced all three motors - no change
I have switched three different power supplies and verified their voltages - no change
I have changed parallel cables - no change
I have checked and replaced my parallel card - I do get a 5V signal but it has not changed operation
I have checked the couplings again.
I have switched computers - no change
I should receive my G540 in the next day or two so I hope that fixes it.
Thank you GeckoDrives! Problem solved. All it took was getting a G540, no more drifting.
I can get a solid 300IPM with ZERO drift. I figured I'd be able to eliminate the drift but not at that speed with a Router. I'd have been happy with 100IPM but this is fantastic! Now to start cranking out some parts.
I can see that I'll be needing to upgrade my screw nuts in the near future.
Anyone have suggestions? I'm using 1/2" acme 10tpi screws.