Retrofit My Build Looking at Switching from Mach4 to Centroid System

[Allin1Chris]

Laser adapter shows 50% power as soon as it is powered on.

I think i know what is going on now, Try the attached PLC, as before extract the .zip into your cncm directory and overwrite all files, powercycle after installing the files.

Let me know if that resolves the issue.

[Onawa220]

Laser adapter shows 50% power as soon as it is powered on.

I think i know what is going on now, Try the attached PLC, as before extract the .zip into your cncm directory and overwrite all files, powercycle after installing the files.

Let me know if that resolves the issue.

report_0008DC111213-0116240167_2025-01-03_13-17-55.zip

(1.01 MiB) Downloaded 20 times

Getting closer I think.

It no longer is sending power to the laser when I power on the AcornSIX.

It still continues to output 100% power at the end of a laser cut file and it is still trying to control the VFD when the laser is cutting.

Here is a video of the VFD while the laser cut is going.

And at the end 100% power to the laser controller.

[Allin1Chris]

Getting closer I think.

It no longer is sending power to the laser when I power on the AcornSIX.

It still continues to output 100% power at the end of a laser cut file and it is still trying to control the VFD when the laser is cutting.

Great, one step closer!

Can you upload the laser job that you are using?

[Onawa220]

I’m working later today so I won’t be able to for a while but it the biker blvd one they comes with CNC12.

[Allin1Chris]

I’m working later today so I won’t be able to for a while but it the biker blvd one they comes with CNC12.

Under the PWM Setup in the Wizard, Set Inverse Output to No and see if that resolves the 100% at the end of the job.

[Onawa220]

I’m working later today so I won’t be able to for a while but it the biker blvd one they comes with CNC12.

Under the PWM Setup in the Wizard, Set Inverse Output to No and see if that resolves the 100% at the end of the job.

That did it! The laser no longer goes to 100% at the end of the cut file!

The only "issue" now is it is still controlling the VFD at the same time. That seems strange. Is it some kind of cross talk between the spindle and PWM connections on the board?

report_0008DC111213-0116240167_2025-01-07_08-51-27.zip

(1023.64 KiB) Downloaded 16 times

[Allin1Chris]

That did it! The laser no longer goes to 100% at the end of the cut file!

The only "issue" now is it is still controlling the VFD at the same time. That seems strange. Is it some kind of cross talk between the spindle and PWM connections on the board?

Can try the attached PLC, that disables Analog1 when M37 (Laser) is active. This should prevent analog voltage being sent to the VFD during laser operations.

But in general, the reason it was commanding the analog is they both share the Same S command between the Analog and PWM signals. So S commands for the laser also change the analog for the spindle. Analog1/PWM1 are linked and so is Analog2/PWM2, i can disable Analog1/PWM1 during M37 through the PLC, but would also mean the PWM1 is also disabled. Though shouldn't be an issue as its recommended to connect the laser to PWM2 anyways.

[Onawa220]

That did it! The laser no longer goes to 100% at the end of the cut file!

The only "issue" now is it is still controlling the VFD at the same time. That seems strange. Is it some kind of cross talk between the spindle and PWM connections on the board?

Can try the attached PLC, that disables Analog1 when M37 (Laser) is active. This should prevent analog voltage being sent to the VFD during laser operations.

But in general, the reason it was commanding the analog is they both share the Same S command between the Analog and PWM signals. So S commands for the laser also change the analog for the spindle. Analog1/PWM1 are linked and so is Analog2/PWM2, i can disable Analog1/PWM1 during M37 through the PLC, but would also mean the PWM1 is also disabled. Though shouldn't be an issue as its recommended to connect the laser to PWM2 anyways.

That worked too! Thank you!!

So to confirm this didn't turn off anything for when I'm using the spindle, just when using the laser?

[Allin1Chris]

That worked too! Thank you!!

So to confirm this didn't turn off anything for when I'm using the spindle, just when using the laser?

That is correct, it disables analog 1 output when Laser is on by M37. When M37 is Off, Spindle analog should work normally.

[Onawa220]

That worked too! Thank you!!

So to confirm this didn't turn off anything for when I'm using the spindle, just when using the laser?

That is correct, it disables analog 1 output when Laser is on by M37. When M37 is Off, Spindle analog should work normally.

Awesome, thank you very much!

I'm assuming if I ever update CNC12 I will need to replace those files each time? Hopefully they won't need to be redone with new updates if that's the case.

Also is there a way to enable increasing the feed rate or spindle speed using the pendant or onscreen? I'm still getting used to the way this system is cutting and find that a lot of my feeds and speeds were way more conservative in Mach4. If I want to be able to go faster because it is cutting way better I have to redo my gcode file and have the feeds and speeds way higher and then ramp them down as needed. I did like in Mach4 being able to go over what the feeds and speeds were set at in the file.