In over my head - New CNC Router rebuild.

[TDWIsland]

Thank you ShawnM, But I feel the main topic is getting overlooked and you didn't see/read my latest post?

I am still at "bench test". I am wired correctly according to the schematics. (please see my test below)
As I said, I turned off all setting and went back to "not paired", to complete the 4th and final motor bench test. It will not turn.
I have kept all the settings on all four motors the same so why isn't my 4th motor turning?


TEST - I swapped the Z drive with the A (4th) and my motor turns. This tells me -

1) I have wired the motor and stepper correctly. This include being wired to the H1 as per the schematics.
2) I am running the driver out of the correct pins on my 25db board
3) my configuration of the driver "will work" even if it is not configured exactly.

After the test, to confirm I did wire correctly, I repaired my 4th with my X axis. And yes saved and performed a complete shutdown and restart.

After which - I was able to configure the the entire "auto homing and squaring with software paired" and performed a test to confirm it all works. I don't have the motors connected to the rails on my machine thus it is still just a bench test. All my inputs work as per plan as well as the auto squaring works, except for the 4th axis? If all 3 motors turn then even if my settings are incorrect the forth should still move, Yes?

As explained in marty's garage video. "There is to many different stepper drives and motors to give advice for setting thus it's not offered". similarly to the spindle. I feel I will have to hire outside help for these settings? Having a manual doesn't "answer" all the questions. So please don't throw RTM at me.

[ShawnM]

I apologize but I did read your entire post and I understand what you are saying. In bench test mode with all four axis you have to label the forth axis correctly in the wizard and make sure the buttons on the VCP are setup to drive that axis as labeled. This is also outlined in the VCP manual. So it may not turn when you press a button on the VCP which would mean it's not setup correctly.

I feel you are over complicating the issue. If you know you are going to "pair" two axis just start there and move forward. There's no reason to unpair and change all the wizard settings just to see the 4th axis move when it simply wont if it's not configured correctly in the wizard or VCP. You know it works as you wired it to the Z axis and it moves. That's great, now focus on pairing the axis and getting that working. The setting the inputs correctly.

I'm asking you to read the "axis pairing" manual only because the last report you posted, I have your machine configuration that is dated 1/5/2024, and it does not have the inputs setup correctly for auto squaring. Axis pairing and squaring is an awesome feature BUT it requires you to set it up EXACTLY as outline in the manual. The way your machine is setup according to this report you posted is not correct and it simply wont work. It tells you in the manual how to setup the inputs for axis pairing and squaring and that is why I assumed you didn't read it or just skimmed over the manual and didn't see the proper setup procedure for the inputs for axis squaring. You have input 1 set as "LimitAll" and input 2 set as "FourthAxisHomeOk" and neither of these will work with the auto squaring feature.

You save you have the auto squaring working on the bench, are you saying you have the 4th axis turning when paired to the other axis?

I'm not sure how you say auto squaring works when the inputs required for auto squaring are not configured correctly in the wizard in your latest report. I fail to see how the inputs are even triggering without 24 volts wired to either H1 or H4. I cannot see this connection in the latest pics you posted. Do you see this connection on the diagram you are following? Do you now have 24 volts going to H1 or H4?

[TDWIsland]

Hi ShawnM,

I'm sorry if my picture doesn't show the H1 wired. Please see a new picture.
I relabelled wires and moved stuff around , hopefully it is clearer now?

Up till now, I have
Bench tested the board,
WIred the E stop and configured the input 8 to show this on the wizard.
I have rewired the three Home inputs (X,Y,Z in series) into input 1 and labeled "HomeAll" as per the schematic for "Auto Homing and Auto Squaring with Software Pairing".
I have wired the slave drive into input 2 and labeled it "SlavedHomeInput" in Wizard.
I have the other two limit switches wired into input 3 & 4 and labeled in Wizard related to their respective limit locations (Y+ and A+ Limit).
I've also done my spindle bench test. M3S500 gives me 5 Volts.

After setting all this up I turned on the machine to check for errors.
I reset the reset and start cycle.
It was at this point the machine went into its Auto home & squaring mode. I was shocked at first but then realized it was set up to do this. Haha, my bad.
1) It moved the Z motor up till the limit was triggered. I have this motor still attached.
The remaining motors are attached to the machine but not engaged into the linear rack so they just free spin.
2) Then it did the Y axis (please remember my Y is the unslaved drive) the motor moved until i triggered the limit manually.
3) Then it checked for Pairing, confirmed it was paired correctly, disengaged the pairing and moved (But didn't) the slave to find the limit. I triggered it manually, it then disengaged from the slave and moved the X. I manually triggered that limit.
4) The machine displayed homing & squaring completed.
All through this procedure my X Y Z motors turned but the 4th did not.

So to answer your question I kind of did go further. I was hoping the A axis is a gremlin and a hired tech can figure it out. I'm at the point where I feel I need to hire a tech to get to the next level. configuring the steppers and VFD are nothing I can find on the forum.
I have watched the marys garage about this three times regarding setting steppers up. In it he talks about the diameter of the spindle with a pulley. I'm running a rack and pinion. I still can't find a video or literature talking about how I figure out the inputs? The schematics that keep getting given to me, all tell me how to wire the device not how to configure them in wizard. Have I missed a page?

[Sword]

Post a screenshot from the Wizard of your Axis Config and Axis Pairing pages. If you are pairing the 4th with 1 or 2, you shouldn't be seeing anything to do with the A axis.

[ShawnM]

Well it appears that you now understand how to wire the machine for axis pairing and squaring. Your inputs are now set correctly. For 1 and 2. Reading is fundamental I was once told while watching Sesame Street.

I see the 24v now going to pin 5 on H4, thanks for the updated pic.

You don’t really need input 3 unless you want it but input 4 is not correct, as Scott said there is no A axis on your 3 axis router. You only have X, Y and Z. No other axis should be configured or seen on the VCP.

Once you get your turns ratio dialed in you can setup your soft limits for your max travel, no physical limits switches are needed unless you want to add them. They will use up valuable inputs especially if you are setting up an ATC. You might need the Ether 1616 anyway depending on what features you are adding. But this is a project for another day.

Open the wizard and press CTRL P and this will creat a PDF of screen shots from your wizard. Upload that file here so we can see all of them. You still don’t have everything configured correctly.

But you are at least making progress, this is great news.

[TDWIsland]

I think it's not so much the reading but the understanding. It's all so new but once I've got it, I've got it. You would think a carpenter that went back to school to become an Electrical engineer would get this. Haha, guess that's why I went back to wood. Thank you to everyone willing to help me.

I feel I might be also not sending the right files? I feel like your responses are about something I posted previously? As I am a total Newby on forums please teach me proper forum edict.

Please see my latest report and pictures. I tried CTRL P as suggested I hope it worked.

[cnckeith]

post the pdf

[TDWIsland]

Sorry, I thought the PDS saved during the report starge "added" it to the report.

[Nigelo]

When you change any configuration, please generate NEW report.zip and post it. Referring to a report before changes were made does not help anyone understand your system and therefore limits our help.

[TDWIsland]

Thank you for your post but I thought I was doing that?

Sequence of events before a report is generated.
- I make the changes in wizard to the best of my ability and exit CNC12.
- Power-down the Acorn board. Wait 10 sec.
- Re power board, Confirm heartbeat, connect to CNC12.
- Test new configuration.
- Generate report.
I thought the report was a snapshot in time after an event has happened?
When should I generate the report?