NEW BUILD! Chinese CNC 1313 replacing mach3

[ShawnM]

It may have been built by the same plant that built yours.

I believe it was, when I asked them about an ATC he said the could not sell that machine in the USA with an ATC due to an existing contract with laguna.

Stop me if you've heard this before.....Laguna is a rebranded Chinese machine.

Adding a rack mount ATC to your existing machine is a piece of cake.....not to mention a game changer in production time savings. Of course you'd have to install a ATC spindle, but also a piece of cake.

[Asdoyle1221]

It may have been built by the same plant that built yours.

Adding a rack mount ATC to your existing machine is a piece of cake.....not to mention a game changer in production time savings. Of course you'd have to install a ATC spindle, but also a piece of cake.

Absolutely! Ive been eyeballing a few different atc components, but i think the first order of business is getting the machine cutting!

[ShawnM]

Absolutely! Ive been eyeballing a few different atc components, but i think the first order of business is getting the machine cutting!

For sure, I understand. An ATC can be a future upgrade as well as closed loop steppers or even servo drives to replace your open loop stepper drives.

Looks like a real nice machine and well built. My second router was a Blue Elephant made in China and it was very solid and well built machine also but it had the same crappy USB Mach3 controller yours came with and I also removed it for Acorn.

[Asdoyle1221]

Hi Shane, those drives are 5v drives and wire to the DB25 port on the Acorn. Follow this schematic and you’ll need a DB25 breakout board that can be purchased on Amazon for about $10:

https://www.centroidcnc.com/dealersuppo ... 976.r4.pdf

For what it’s worth, ball screws are WAY better than any helical rack and pinion drive. That was a down grade in my opinion.

Hey there! The way the machine was wired from the factory, the e stop turns off the main power supply to the machine, will this be a problem with the acorn?

[ShawnM]

Yes.

Many builders have their own opinion as to what the estop should disconnect but in my opinion killing the entire power feed to the machine is not the correct way to wire it. There are far better wiring configurations.

That said, the estop is just what it is, an "EMERGENCY" stop. This is a button you should NEVER have to touch if the machine is configured and ran properly. I've seen some use it for everyday stoppages but that's is NOT what it is for. Please don't develop any bad habits and use it incorrectly.

[richardb15]

Hey there! The way the machine was wired from the factory, the e stop turns off the main power supply to the machine, will this be a problem with the acorn?

The PC linked to the Acorn will also not be happy if you just drop the power from it with an e-stop. The Acorn has an e-stop function built into the wizard for an input, and the wiring diagrams show that the e-stop drops the power out from the contactor coils for the spindle and drives but leaves the rest on. That kind of setup work well, anything that moves is stopped but the controls etc are still kept on for a quick restart and no loss of position.

[ShawnM]

The PC linked to the Acorn will also not be happy if you just drop the power from it with an e-stop. The Acorn has an e-stop function built into the wizard for an input, and the wiring diagrams show that the e-stop drops the power out from the contactor coils for the spindle and drives but leaves the rest on. That kind of setup work well, anything that moves is stopped but the controls etc are still kept on for a quick restart and no loss of position.

Stepper motors will lose position if you remove power from the drive. Open and closed loop steppers require current to hold position. Without it the motor can settle in to the next full step (unless you have good gear reduction) and then when you power the drive back up the motors typically jump to the closest full step. That's the "clunk" you hear when you power up a stepper motor. Both result in a loss of position. The Acorn itself will hold a position in the DRO when you press the estop but that's no longer where the motor is.

[richardb15]

An e-stop is an event to prevent damage to person or machine. Who cares if you have to rehome it afterwards? Unless you drop the power out from the drives and spindle then any interference, bad connections, drive runaway fault, shorted wiring etc can cause a drive to run off and no matter how clever your PLC is, it's not going to stop that. Taking the power off will. Safety first, convenience second. The feed hold, distance to go etc are for proving out programmes and being careful.

[Ken Rychlik]

If it's the same as mine was, the estop killed power to the drives, but NOT the spindle vfd. I thought that was odd. I don't have a problem loosing all power and rehoming the machine after an estop. It is for a last resort problem and hardly ever used. Everyone has their opinion.

[Asdoyle1221]

Alright, I see the e stop is a hot debate! Ill keep that in mind. I generally only use estop in e situations. Not as a switch. Not too worried about having to rehome after an emergency stop.

For today's question, should I be following that diagram to the tee? Including moving my existing connections on the acorn to the db25 breakout board? Or should I just use the db25 for the stepper drives?