Third (Z) Axis inoperative (Resolved)

[jgrush]

Hello.

I have a little mill I have been converting. I had the Acorn board, its pwr supply, an additional 24V supply, two Geckodrive G251X and one G201X drives, plus Automation direct steppers. The z-axis is a slightly bigger motor hence the higher current capable G201X.

The drives are just getting power, step, direction, and common (ground) connections.

My problem is that the X & Y drives work but the Z does not.

I can swap cables and the z motor and cabling is fine. The Z (G201X) drive will work if attached to Axis1 or Axis2 on the Acorn but not attached to Axis3 or Axis4 When I sling my Fluke DVM at the terminals, I see that for the working Axes the Step and Direction are about 3.6V above the common for Axis 1 & 2.

But for Axis3 & Axis 4 they seem to be at ground potential.

The third axis is set to Z via the wizard, I started with the drivers set to "Geckodrive types ..."
All axis parameters are (properly) set the same for all three axis in the wizard.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

John

[martyscncgarage]

Are you using the DB25 connectors as you should be? No pictures....
Post pictures of your setup.
Move one of your G251X drives over to Z and make sure Z axis configuration is set the same as it was for X or Y.
Also look at the Advanced tab make sure you haven't changed anything there.

[jgrush]

Solved.
And thanks for your reply Marty. Your videos have been an inspiration. I am doing a Unimat Basic PC lathe because I watched your Emco lathe conversion.

Per your suggestion I did try moving one of the G251X drives and it did work on the Z, and the Z motor worked if it was on the Y or X drive output. It has been a few days and what I did not remember was the G201X never worked. So I gave a false trail in my posting above.

The Com terminal for the G201X needed to be at 5V not ground. The manual clearly says it could be either one. And the two G251X drives work with the Common at Ground so I assumed (!!) it worked that way too.

--------------------------

But why should I be using the DB25 connectors instead of the screw terminals?

Regards. John

[martyscncgarage]

Solved.
And thanks for your reply Marty. Your videos have been an inspiration. I am doing a Unimat Basic PC lathe because I watched your Emco lathe conversion.

Per your suggestion I did try moving one of the G251X drives and it did work on the Z, and the Z motor worked if it was on the Y or X drive output. It has been a few days and what I did not remember was the G201X never worked. So I gave a false trail in my posting above.

The Com terminal for the G201X needed to be at 5V not ground. The manual clearly says it could be either one. And the two G251X drives work with the Common at Ground so I assumed (!!) it worked that way too.

--------------------------

But why should I be using the DB25 connectors instead of the screw terminals?

Regards. John

Well, if you have things working on the screw terminals carry on but yes, 5V logic drives should be on the DB25 using a DB25 male break out board. Easily found on Amazon.com

Glad you are moving forward!
Marty