Motors Don't Move

[Aqsa Ali]

hey

I have an issue with y and z axis motors. when I jog the motors only x-axis motor run. the rest of three motors that is x-axis slave motor, y-axis and z-axis don't run. I checked the step pulse and direction signal which motors receive but motors shaft do not move. I triple checked the settings in mach4.
when i connect the x-axis control cable to rest of three motors individually it run properly. so should the cables are not working properly or the motors.
I am using pmdx-126. and the control cables are lan cables. its like I am using the 6 core cables having different core colour

Aqsa     

[Bob at PMDX]

I've split your question off into a separate thread.

It does sound like a wiring or setup problem.  BUT... I need some more information.

(1) You mention Mach4 - what motion device are you using (i.e. one of the PMDX SmartBOBs?  Ethernet SmoothStepper?  Darwin driver for parallel port?  Something else?)?

(2) I presume from your earlier posts that you have a PMDX-126/PMDX-107 combo.  Is that correct? Do you also have a PMDX-134?  Please list all of the boards and motor drivers that you are using and how they are connected to each other.

(3) You say you are using "lan cables" for the "control cables".  Do you mean that you are using Ethernet cables connect the step and direction signals from the PMDX-126 to your motor drivers?

(4) Since you are using Mach4, please create a profile package and post it here.  Go to the "Help" menu and select "Support" and then "Package Current Profile".

Bob

[Aqsa Ali]

(1) yes I am using PMDX SmartBOBs motion device

(2)  I am using 3 boards. pmdx-410 for mach4, pmdx-126 for driving  motors and pmdx-107 for vfd-spindle. the stepper motors I am using are http://www.anaheimautomation.com/products/stepper/stepper-integrated-item.php?sID=51&pt=i&tID=132&cID=50
with builtin motor drivers. 

the connections are:
pmdx port J4            motors
5V                            on/off positive
GND                         on/off negative, direction negative, step negative
2                               step
3                               direction


and similarly rest of the ports j3 j2 j1 with rest of the three motors

for powering the motors  I am using 80VDC power supply.
 
(3) yes, I am using Ethernet cables connect the step and direction signals from the pmdx-126 to motor drivers.

[Bob at PMDX]

First, please create a profile package as mentioned in my previous message and either post it to this forum thread, or email it to me at bob at this domain.

I checked the step pulse and direction signal which motors receive but motors shaft do not move.

How did you check the step and direction signals?

when i connect the x-axis control cable to rest of three motors individually it run properly. so should the cables are not working
properly or the motors.

Do you mean that you took the cable that is connected to J4 on the PMDX-126, disconnected it from the X axis motor and connected that cable (still attached to J4) to the Y, Z and X Slave motors?  And when you did this, all of the other motors ran OK?

If that is the case, it most likely means one of these things:
- The wiring for the other 3 motors is different somehow than the main X axis motor
- The PMDX-411 is not working properly
- The PMDX-126 is not working properly

The SmartBOB plug-in configuration assigns step signals either to pins 2, 4, 6 and 8 (i.e. even pins), *or* to 3, 5, 7 and 9 (odd pins).  Since you have things working on PMDx-126 connector J4 with step on pin 2, that means that the other step signals are pin 4 (on J3), pin 6 (on J2) and pin 8 (on J1).

So....  to try and figure out what is wrong:
- I presume the Y axis is mapped to Mach4 Motor1, which appears on PMDX-126 J3, pins 4 and 5.
- Jog the Y axis in the positive direction, then stop.
- Look at the LED on the PMDX-126 board next to the "Pin 5" terminal on J3.  Note whether it is on or off.
- Jog the Y axis in the negative direction, then stop.
- Look at the "Pin 5" LED again.  It should have changed.  If it was on after jogging +, then it should now be off.
  If it was off after jogging + then it should now be on.

Do you see that?

Now disconnect the cable from J4 on the PMDX-126 and connect it to J3.  Try to jog that axis (again, I am presuming that this is the Y axis).  Does the X axis motor move?

Take the motor cable that *was* connected to J3 on the PMDX-126 and connect it to J4.  Jog the X axis.  Does this motor now move?

Bob

[Aqsa Ali]

BOB

sorry I couldn't sent you file yesterday. here is the attachment

I checked the signals using digital multi meter by checking the voltage on direction and step pins.
The wiring for the other 3 motors is same as the main X axis motor.
The SmartBOB plug-in configuration assigned step signals on pins 2, 4, 6 and 8 and direction on odd pins.

And when motors move in negative axis then direction LED on pmdx-126 ON. And step LED also ON in both positive and negative axis.
Now today I checked the only x-axis motor which was moving before, showing the same behaviour like others. and also the motors are not moving in pmdx "test mode"

Aqsa

[Bob at PMDX]

And when motors move in negative axis then direction LED on pmdx-126 ON.

Good.  And when the motors move in the positive direction do the direction LEDs (pins 3, 5, 7 and 9) go off?

And step LED also ON in both positive and negative axis.

Is this the "step" LED(s) on the PMDX-126 (i.e. LEDs for pins 2, 4, 6 and 8)?  Or is this the "steps" LED on the PMDX-410 or the PMDX-126 that flickers when generating step pulses?

I would not expect you to be able to see any LED activity for the step pulses on the PMDX126's pin 2, 4, 6 and 8 LEDs.  The step pulses are too narrow.  At best, you might be able to see a dim glow on those LEDs when that motor is moving.

If you ARE talking about the PMDX-126 LEDs for pins 2, 4, 6 and 8, *AND* if they are one (bright) always, then something is wrong.

Now today I checked the only x-axis motor which was moving before, showing the same behaviour like others. and also the motors are not moving in pmdx "test mode"

Are your motors connected to the drive mechanisms on your machine (such as ball screws, pulleys, gears, etc.)?  Or can the motors rotate without moving the machine?

Do you know if the slave motor on your X axis gantry needs to rotate in the same direction as the master?  Or in the opposite direction?

If the motors are connected to the drive mechanisms then you will not be able to move just the X master motor (or slave motor) very far before the gantry jams.

You currently have the Motor0 and Motor3 (the X master and slave motors) set to turn in the same direction.  If you need the X slave motor to turn in the opposite direction from the X master motor, then you need to do one of these two things:
(1) Change the wiring between the motor driver and the motor such that the slave motor turns in the opposite direction.  You can simply swap the two wires from one of the phases.

(2) Or, change the direction polarity for Motor3 (the slave) motor.  Go into the "Configure" menu and select "Mach...".  Click on the "Motors" tab.  Click on the "Motor3" text in the upper right corner.  Then check the "Reverse?" box down at the bottom.  Then click on "OK" to save the changes.

For test mode for the X axis master motor (pins 2 & 3), the PMDX-126 DIP switches should be:
Config6   closed
Config5   closed
Config4   closed
Config3   open
Config2   open
Config1   open

For the Y axis motor (pins 4 & 5):
Config6   closed
Config5   closed
Config4   open
Config3   open
Config2   open
Config1   open

For the Z axis motor (pins 6 & 7):
Config6   closed
Config5   open
Config4   closed
Config3   open
Config2   open
Config1   open

And for the X axis slave motor (pins 8 & 9):
Config6   closed
Config5   open
Config4   open
Config3   open
Config2   open
Config1   open

When trying to have Mach4 move the motors, make sure the DIP switches are like this:
Config6   closed (presuming you are not using any of the PMDX-126 aux features)
Config5   closed
Config4   closed

Config3   closed
Config2   closed
Config1   closed
Config3 to Config1 "closed" selects "Run in Normal Mode" (without charge pump), since it looks like your Mach4 config does not enable the charge pump output.

Bob

[Aqsa Ali]

When the motors move in the positive direction the direction led(s) go OFF.
The step LED is on pmdx126 (I.e the led(s) for pin 2 4 6 and 8)

And yes exactly the step pulses are too narrow.  There is a dim glow on those LEDs when that motor is moving.

Motors was connected to the drive mechanism.but then I losned it to check their motion.
The X-axis slave motor needs to.be rotate in.the opposite direction as the master. And thanks for guiding about how to reverse its motion.

And ok I will try these dip switches setting and will.inform.you with the updates.

Aqsa

[Aqsa Ali]

I follow your dip switches configuration. But there is same responce... the voltage on step pin is 0.06 for 15% jog rate. And exceeds as the jog rate exceeds.
thinking that may be pmdx is not working fine , I tried to drive the motor using arduino mega 2560 by generating a 38khz step signal on pin (pwm)13 ". But again the clock LED on motor "ON" but the motor don't move. Even there is no jerk producing in the motor.

Aqsa

[Bob at PMDX]

I just double-checked the motor/driver users manual (from the link you provided, click on "user manual" in the upper left corner).  The "On/Off" terminals need to be NOT CONNECTED in order to enable the motors.  See page 3 of the manual, near the bottom, to the right of table 3.  It says:

On/Off: Active - off
           Inactive (open) - on  <-- THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED

So...  disconnect the +5V from the "On/Off+" terminal and you should be able to make the motors move.

Bob

[Aqsa Ali]

After disconnecting the on/off connections, finally my motors moved. Thank you so much bob

Aqsa