In over my head - New CNC Router rebuild.

[TDWIsland]

Hello everyone.
This is my very first time posting on a forum and I don't know what I'm doing. I'm sorry if this is on the wrong page.

I purchased a homemade 4x8 CNC router with ATC and vacuum table back Dec. 2021 with delivery promised for late march.
Well after many months delay and bunch more stuff to bore you with, I am left with a machine that sort of cut and was very glitchy.

After getting overly frustrated with Mach3 I realized I needed to get rid of the third party board (Pokeys57CNC) and then Mach3, to replace with a newer and all-in-one controller. I even stepped it up buying the touch screen thus having the software preloaded by Centroid. Ha-ha remove me from any potential problems down the road

I hope I uploaded this correctly.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/P8EiwTZi4GdPy4cA7

My questions.

1) Can I run my stepper motors directly from the control board? I was under the impression I could wire directly to motor connectors and not use the DB25 pin?
2) As I said in the beginning. Im at a loss as to what I have and am compatible with (IE I don't have manuels for the motors)
All the insight would be greatly appreciated. I'm pulling my hair out searching videos within the forum trying to find information such as
a) how to wire up a stepper drive and not through a Gecko board.
b) a step by step way to understand inputs in the setup wizard.

Because I have a home made unit I don't know what I have (ie) motor type and if I have a good motor, so please let me know what to watch for. I am trying to build a small millwork machine and was taken by a guy that didn't know what he was doing. I've replaced the Z axcess and have a little knowledge. Thank you in advance for anyone's help.

[grossmsj]

I can appreciate how you feel. I was in pretty much the same place knowledge-wise as you were one year ago. The Centroid eco-system is a LOT to swallow, but if you do your research and pay attention, this community is incredibly helpful. You'll make lots of progress, but it will almost always seem hard.

For your first question, a forum search of "DM860H" tells me you'll need to wire these stepper drivers to the DB25 connectors because they are 5V drives. The stepper drivers take step and direction pulses from the Acorn board and send power and instructions to the motors.

A Google search of DM860H stepper driver manual brought this up right away. That will tell you how to make settings. The motors will do what they are told by the drivers.

"Do your research" means doing those searches on your own. You'll get help at the beginning, but even though people here are helpful they are not inclined to do footwork the user could have done.

Marty's CNC Garage has some really helpful 'how to' videos. They're listed here and on YouTube. Clough42 on YouTube is also excellent, but not as Centroid-focused.

My advice, having been where you were not long ago, is to let the panic subside a bit. You'll get this, but it is hard. The phrase "drinking from a firehouse" is apt here. It's just going to take a lot longer than you thought it would.

One other piece of advice is to take a zillion more pictures than you think are needed before you take that control board out. Label every wire with where it started on the board and where it is going. If you don't have that sort of record of an operating system (even with glitches), you'll essentially be building from scratch later on. The users here will often ask to see them because it's often easier for experienced user to look themselves than rely on the interpretation of an inexperienced user.

[suntravel]

Start with the Acorn Installation manual step by step.

PC setup
Benchtest
wire one drive after another
wire the Spindle
If this works install everything in the cabinet
wire the home switches

let the machine make parts

Uwe

[Ken Rychlik]

There is a page of schematics/wiring diagrams. Find the one for leadshine DM series and go with that. You will need the db25 breakout board. The whole thing looks like a lot, but one wire at a time is easier to handle.

[TDWIsland]

Thank you everyone for the insite.
To be clear I really felt I had hit a wall before I posted. I hate wasting peoples time.
I had downloaded the Driver manual but it was Greek to me.
My thought process was to wire the Acorn board the same way as the Pokeys.
My driver is wired into the "STEP/DIR/5V" on my current board.
I thought I could wire them into the "STEP 1, DIR 1, COM" on the Motor connectors ports?
I uploaded a blown-up picture of the connection to my old board and laid the Acorn cover to show it better.

I've completed the bench test and moved onto the spindle test as per the installation instructions.
Now I'm at the wire one motor and stuck. As my picture shows I thought it was this easy

[grossmsj]

You need this: https://www.centroidcnc.com/dealersuppo ... 976.r4.pdf
There is a TON of information under All Acorn Documentation. It isn't easy to navigate, but just about everything you'd need is there.

[ShawnM]

Your stepper drives wire to the DB25 and you need the breakout board or make your own. The headers on the Acorn are for servo drives.

[Richards]

One of my favorite physicists is Richard Feynman because he explained complex things simply. His goal was to convey knowledge so that whoever was listening would understand both the problem and the solution. With Feynman's approach in mind, connecting a stepper motor driver to the acorn is simple.

1. What is the goal? You need to turn one internal LED On/Off in the DM860 to control the speed of the motor (step) and another internal LED On or Off to control the direction of the motor. Because a lathe, mill or router has multiple axes of movement, you need to have those step and direction signals available for each axis.

2. How do you turn an LED On? You send DC current through the LED. How much current? The DM860 manual tells us that 10mA is typical. What DC voltage do we use? The DM860 manual tells us that 5VDC is normal. (Manual Section 2. Electrical specifications). So, if you connect PUL(-) to GND and PUL(+) to +5VDC, the DM860's LED pulse circuit will be ON. The DM860 has a built in resistor to limit the current to 10mA. If you turn off the voltage to the DM860's Pulse(+) terminal, the LED pulse circuit will be OFF.

3. Now that we know how to control the DM860's internal LED, how do we connect the DM860 to the Acorn? The diagram on page 3 of the Acorn User Guide gives the answer. The DB25 has four step signals, four direction signals, and eight COM lines. (My copy of the manual lists the COM lines as 24V COM. That's just another way of saying that they're connected to DC ground (GND)). Connect the Acorn's DB-25 pin 2 to the DB860's PUL(+) terminal. Connect one of the DB-25's COM pins to the DB860's PUL(-) terminal. Connect Acorn DB-25 pin 3 to the DB860's DIR(+) terminal and one of the DB-25's COM pins to the DB860's DIR(-) terminal. With those connections, the Acorn can control the speed and the direction of one motor. Note that the DB860 manual states that the drive can handle step signals only up to 200kHz. The Acorn Wizard has a setting to limit the step rate. Ask if you need help with that setting.

You now have control of the step/direction side of the stepper driver. Wiring diagrams for connecting the stepper power supply and the stepper motors to the DB680 are found in section 9 of the DM860 manual (Typical Connection), with additional information found in section 5 (Connecting the Motor). Section 7 tells you how to set the switches to match the current from the DB860 to the current needed by the stepper motor. That section also shows how to set switches so that the stepper motor's shaft needs 1,600 steps per revolution (or to another value if you prefer).

The point is that the Acorn is a simple device and that using the Acorn is very simple - once to use if you understand exactly what you want to do.

Going back to the physicist, Richard Feynman: He once served on a committee to rate math text books for the California school system. He personally read every book on the list, made detailed notes about each book and then rated each book. As a scientist who had received a Nobel Prize for Physics, Feynman was qualified to help select books. He methodically read each book. We need to do the same. CentroidCNC has produced excellent schematics and documents, but every person starts the journey towards CNC conversion with different training and background. As soon as you read something that doesn't make sense to you, STOP, carefully note what document you don't understand, what page or section, and what item you don't understand; then ask a question on the forum about that one item, citing the manual or schematic or document, the page or section, and a detailed question (saying something vague like "I don't get electronics" is too vague; asking something like "how thick should the wire be between the Acorn's DB25 connector and the stepper driver" gives enough detailed information to get useful advice). It may take a little time, but there are a lot of forum members who can help and are willing to help.

[TDWIsland]

Wow, Thank you all!
I'm going to need a holiday to try and digest this info. Special shout out to Mike thank you, for the detailed message. I read that and am reminded of a previous message "like drinking from a fire hose" !

I realize now I can't wire it the way I had thought. Please know this was told to me by the salesperson when I bought the board. It is possible I didn't explain myself clearly, I hold no negative views with them.

I do understand that maybe I'm asking before finding it on my own. This is where I'm getting tripped up. I don't really have a great understanding how to search in the forum. As a previous member wrote "It isn't easy to navigate " I just need to dive in and figure it out, always feels like I'm getting 85%. I'll keep searching and tackling the links you have given me. Thank you

[silver2row]

Hello,

In the forums, here, there is a list of useful links: https://centroidcncforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=3397

Also, there are many different links that are dedicated to installing drivers from/to the I/O on a DB25 and DB9 port which is located on the Acorn controller.

Seth

P.S. I found the manual helpful so far, https://www.centroidcnc.com/centroid_di ... manual.pdf , and the link from above which Centroid people have put together a plethora of Controller-to-Driver-to-Machine configs for hardware. Enjoy!