Rotary attachment for ULS Laser

[MikeSinclair]

I just bought a generic DIY rotary attachment for use with my Universal Laser X2-600 CO2 cutter/engraver. The attachment comes with a connector with 4 pins (required for a 2-phase stepper motor) but my laser has a 9 pin connector (DB-9-F) that a rotary plugs into.

Does anyone know the pinouts of ULS' rotary attachment? (I'm an electrical engineer and can make an adapter but need to know the connections). I'm guessing a minimum of 4 connections are required for the motor plus maybe 2 more to tell the laser that a rotary is plugged and maybe 2 more for the home position. I've asked ULS but no reply.

Any help would be appreciated.

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[Dean448]

DB9 connectors are very common for use with 4 wire stepper motors. Can’t you trace the connector wires back to the stepper drive? I’ll also bet the setup matches the other axis steppers. Use coil resistance to discover which pins are used.


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[MikeSinclair]

Thanks for the reply. I thought of that but looking at the connector, back to the drive electronics won't tell me much. I would need to look from the drive to a connected motor in the rotary (which I don't have yet). The other 3 stepper motors (X,Y,Z) don't use DB-9s so can't use that. I've even tried to act like I have a rotary hooked up and in use and try to see 2 pin-pairs trying to drive the 2 coils of a motor but get nothing. There might also be other pins in the DB-9 that produce a home index function from the rotary plus maybe 2 other pins that actually tell the laser's computer if a rotary is plugged into the DB-9.

[Dean448]

Not sure about the index question. I don’t know why a rotary axis would have an index or home.
Gecko used DB9 for many years and the four pins are 6 -9. If you don’t get an answer just try to connect a cheap nema 17 in various combinations.


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[MikeSinclair]

Thanks I'll try those pins.

Index would tie a CAD drawing position to a repeatable rotation position. But not absolutely necessary.

[MikeSinclair]

Update: I built a small switch and holder (4 Pole, double throw, 4PDT) to switch between the Y-axis and my 3rd party rotary axis. Works fine except for one rotary version that was equipped with the wrong stepper motor that trashed my CPU/Motor Driver PCB!!!. The laser mfr couldn't fix it plus laser machine was out of date so they didn't have replacement PCBs :-( Be careful what you hook to your machine!

[Stewey]

[QUOTE=MikeSinclair;2440283]Update: I built a small switch and holder (4 Pole, double throw, 4PDT)
Hi Mike, I have an old ULS M-300 with rotary, and the RF tube is dying, but I need to get some mugs lasered, and was thinking of trying to do as you are suggesting, and use the ULS rotary in a Ruida machine.
(We have a big flatbed one)
I also bought a 4 pole double throw switch, to put on the Y axis drive, so I could more easily change between a future rotary device, and the Y stepper.

Did you figure out the pin-out diagrams in the end?
Our ULS has a 9 pin serial plug. iI was told that some of the 9 got to an onboard PCboard that tells the ULS CPU that the rotary device has been plugged in.
Also I was told that voltages may be nonstandard...?

[MikeSinclair]

[QUOTE=Stewey;2483216]

Update: I built a small switch and holder (4 Pole, double throw, 4PDT)
Hi Mike, I have an old ULS M-300 with rotary, and the RF tube is dying, but I need to get some mugs lasered, and was thinking of trying to do as you are suggesting, and use the ULS rotary in a Ruida machine.
(We have a big flatbed one)
I also bought a 4 pole double throw switch, to put on the Y axis drive, so I could more easily change between a future rotary device, and the Y stepper.

Did you figure out the pin-out diagrams in the end?
Our ULS has a 9 pin serial plug. iI was told that some of the 9 got to an onboard PCboard that tells the ULS CPU that the rotary device has been plugged in.
Also I was told that voltages may be nonstandard...?

[MikeSinclair]

WARNING!!! Don't do as I described and enable switching between stepping motors with power on!!! You'll risk burning out the CPU and/or Driver pcbs.

They should only be switched with power off.

I never got the pinouts for the DB-9 Connector ??

[MikeSinclair]

[QUOTE=MikeSinclair;2483450]See my post today, 11/29/21, Mike

[Stewey]

Thanks. Actually I looked at our big Chinese flatbed, and the drives are all 3-phase stepper signalled (U,V,W), whereas the X & Y on the ULS are 2-pole steppers (A+, A-, B+, B-) so I can't convert as a quick fix.

But yes, I'm aware you need to power off before changing Y to rotary and back!
Thanks for the reinforcing of the notion !

[MikeSinclair]

Thanks. Actually I looked at our big Chinese flatbed, and the drives are all 3-phase stepper signalled (U,V,W), whereas the X & Y on the ULS are 2-pole steppers (A+, A-, B+, B-) so I can't convert as a quick fix.

But yes, I'm aware you need to power off before changing Y to rotary and back!
Thanks for the reinforcing of the notion !

YES, I repeat the possible error condition - don't install/plug/connect or remove/uninstall/un-connect any stepper motor with the laser powered up! I accidently did this through a transfer switch to swap the Y-axis motor with a rotary Stepper motor and it fried both the CPU and driver boards! ULS couldn't repair them so I am Laser-less and searching for a CPU and Driver board for the X12-600. Don't do as I did!

Sad Mike

[Stewey]

Ouch!
Thanks for the repeated warning !