Z-Axis with Brake problem (Resolved)

[cncsnw]

What happens if you clear the fault, then simply press F3 to open the MDI prompt?

That should enable all three axes at once, without actually trying to move any of them.

Someone more familiar with Clearpath servos and the C86ACCP board will have to address how enables and faults might or might not be interdependent, and what the appropriate jumper settings are.

[zz0122]

Same “Drive Fault” and “Job Canceled”

[zz0122]

This how my current jumpers setup

[arturod]

OK, you are using the axes enable. When you get the fault, is the green LED just before that? Can it be the system is trying to do motion before enabling the system? Do you get the green LED?

[zz0122]

the LED next to the relay was green before I got Fault and After I hit reset on VCP its back to green...when received "Drive Fault" the green LED is off

[zz0122]

Finally, After email going back forth with CNC4PC (Arturo), I got it fixed.
the problem is under "Advanced Axis Configuration"
at 1st I only have all "Enable" checked.

that is the reason I got "Drive Fault" and cannot "Home" the machine (I only checked "Enable"). And Arturo mention about I need to play around with that section, since everybody used different profile for their machine.
So I start play around with the check mark, and on my 1st tried everything work correctly. I setup as follow

So THANK YOU everybody for all your input and Helps..

[martyscncgarage]

Great! Thanks for letting us know what was causing your problem and taking the time to post a couple of photos!
Marty

[Richards]

Happy to hear that you got things working.

Just before you posted, I reconfigured my test bench 3-axis ClearPath/CNC4PC system. I set Out3 to be Axis3brakeRelease. I set In3 to be Axis3DriveOk (Normally Closed). I connected the N/O contact of Out3 to In3. I connected Out3's Common to GND. The idea was that the Centroid CNC software would turn on Out3 (releasing the brake). When Out3 was turned On, In3 would turn On also. I tested movement with MDI. Everything worked without creating a fault. Also, once the Axis3brakeRelease turns on, it stays on. Because the motor is enabled at that time, the motor holds its position without faulting.

When comparing your Advanced Axis Configuration to mine, on mine NONE of my boxes are checked. You might be moving your axes in opposite direction to how I move my axes.

Until I saw your settings, I didn't think about whether I needed to invert the Step signal. I'll need to attach my oscilloscope to see what is happening. It seems to me that with the signal NOT inverted, that the Step signal would be floating High between steps and that it would be pulled Low when making a step. That means that the Opto-Coupler inside the ClearPath motor would only be On when the Acorn sends a Step signal. It's a minor detail, but I prefer to have an Opto-Coupler Off when it is at rest. That way, no current if flowing and the internal resistor does not have to dissipate extra heat. What I'm wondering is whether the CNC4PC board inverts the signal so that the Step signal received by the ClearPath servo is opposite to what I assume it is?

I have the Step Rate set the same as you do (400,000). However, I have Axis Motor Drive Fault set to 2,000 milliseconds. You have yours set to 10 milliseconds. Most likely, my setting is way too long; but, I'm wondering if you have yours set too low? My theory is that a relay can take at least 50 milliseconds to change state. A SSR with zero-crossing detection could change state much faster, about 1/120th of a second if it uses a full-wave bridge internally, otherwise it could change state in 1/60th of a second. Your setting may be perfect with your setup. I'll need to experiment with mine to see if I should shorten that time.

[Richards]

I just finished some tests using Teknic's MSP software, which has a built-in oscilloscope. The goal was to see whether the step signal should be inverted when using the CP86ACCP board from CNC4PC with the Acorn. In the MSP software, I watched the InB line to see what happens when I used Wizard to invert the step signal. With the step signal inverted, the InB is normally LOW. When the Acorn sends step pulses, the InB line pulses HIGH. With the step signal NOT inverted, the InB is normally HIGH. When the Acorn sends step pulses, the InB line pulses LOW.

Before using the CP86ACCP board, I wired the ClearPath's B+ (Step+) signal to +24VDC. The ClearPath's B- (Step-) signals was connected to Acorn's Step signal. I think that the Acorn pulses the Step signal LOW when it sends a pulse command. With that in mind, I removed the check mark for the step command in Wizard's Advanced menu. The MSP oscilloscope shows that that configuration mimics what would happen if the CP96ACCP board were not being used, i.e., each pulse from the Acorn pulls the Step signal LOW. The opto-coupler and the resistor that limits current to the opto-coupler are only on for the brief period that the Step pulse is active.

[arturod]

The C86 board does not invert the axes. But you can select the active high/low for any pin on the CNC12 software.