Centroid Community CNC Support Forum

I have just placed an order on a PM-728VT with the CNC conversion kit and tooling. They are all on back order, so while I am waiting for delivery, I started planning the rest of the conversion. Bought an Acorn, and wanted to introduce myself and document the conversion in this thread.

By way of background, I am a garage hobbyist with basic woodworking and metalworking experience. I have never milled before and have no machining experience. I do have an AVID CNC Router Pro with a 48x24" 8020 frame and NEMA 23 motors on Mach 4 via a Warp9 ESS. I put it together, but got the electronics boxes assembled by Avid, so have no personal experience putting together the electronics. However, have added myself the THC when I upgraded to plasma, so I am familiar with the setup.

So I expect a few roadblocks in my path, but the support community here has a great reputation so I hope to get my answers from y'allz. Have just received my Acorn and the bench test went smoothly. Yet it also raised the first questions.

I am running an Intel NUC 8i7BEK (Intel Quad-Core i7-8559U, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD16GB DDR4 and Windows 10 Pro). It has only one Ethernet adapter, and I wold like to run both Mach 4 and drive the ESS and the Acorn (not at the same time). Problem is they both require static IP addresses.

So I would like to see if the ESS and Acorn can use the same adapter address. The factory setup for the computer adapter for the ESS is 10.9.9.2 but there is a way to change it, so I am planning to do that. Hope that will work, but just as a backup, was wondering if there is way in Acorn to change the adapter's IP address.

Just to clarify, I have bought a USB-to-Ethernet adapter, but the wifi then behaves erratically and slowly, probably because of some interference. Hence, I prefer to go through the 'real' ethernet adpater.

The second question I have is: Can the Acorn be driven through an ethernet switch, or does it need a direct connection? I have ordered a DIN-mounted switch (and power supply) and will test it, but wanted to know if there is an 'official' position

Acorn requires a static IP address. It should be wired direct to the CNC PC. I suppose you can give it a try.
Watch for communication errors. You can check for them by going into F7 Utilities and F9 Logs, F1 Errors.

Agree with Marty but absolutely nothing wrong in using a SUITABLE ethernet switch providing it is the same or better specs as Centroid themselves use when supplying the 1616 Ether addons. In fact, I use this Technique (with a Zyxel gigaswitch) for powering both my router and mill from a single CNC PC but limited to one at a time of course and all with zero comms errors

hope this helps

IF you try an ethernet switch, make sure it has shielding. You will note the ethernet cable shipped with Acorn has a metal jacket around the connector.
My guess is "cheapie" switches are not shielded?

martyscncgarage wrote: ↑Mon Dec 07, 2020 9:43 am IF you try an ethernet switch, make sure it has shielding. You will note the ethernet cable shipped with Acorn has a metal jacket around the connector.
My guess is "cheapie" switches are not shielded?

Agreed Marty - My Zyxel has an Aluminium case and yes with fully shielded Cat 7 cables

School me on enclosures please.

I plan to put the electronics (Acorn, relay board, Acorn Power supply, Teknic IPC5 power supply, a DIN rail mounted 24V Mean Well power supply, and Teknic DC power distribution hub) into a metal enclosure, attached to the mill.

Ideally the enclosure will be dust protected and will have an attachment wall for Ethernet in, wall power in (240 and 120V), and connections to the three motors, e-stop and 3 inductive limit stops. The three motor cables (6 cables) will go through the wall through some opening, but the other will attach to the wall with connectors.

My main experience is with the Avid CNC RouterParts system which has a very nice 400 x 400 x 200 mm steel case and nice connectors on a removable side plate.

I need advice on what enclosure, what size, and which accessories (ie female-to female ethernet connectors, power in connectors, etc) do you recommend.

Acorn Power supply

Is the Acorn power supply delivering enough amps to drive the Acorn board and the ClearPath POWER4-HUB; so obviously this would not be the primary power to the motors, just provide location awareness. If the Acorn PS is not sufficient I can add a DIN rail-mounted MeanWell 24v PS, but would rather not, if not necessary.

You should only use the Acorn power supply to power Acorn and maybe drive logic.
You need a motor power supply to drive the Clearpath motors.
Please post a picture of your wiring setup.
Marty