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SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Question about PMDX-424 with PMDX-407. Speed control.

« on: July 30, 2017, 06:21:15 PM »

Hello

So I have a PMDX-424 with a PMDX-407 spindle control board. It is currently connected to a KBIC-240D Motor speed controller. The PMDX-407 replaces the machine potentiometer and feeds the KBIC P1, P2 and P3.

This setup is working and I have control of the spindle via Mach 4, although when I ask for a speed  in Mach 4, I don't get the exact speed. I calibrated the 407 (using it's calibration adjuster) at 1000 RPM (using the mill's tachometer), but if I ask for 1750 RPM, the RPM shows around 1600 RPM, and if I go lower than 1000 RPM, I get speeds a little faster than the target.

The plan is to use an optical sensor on the spindle to give accurate feedback to the 424 (or even the 407) so the 407 can re-adjust itself to get the proper speed out of the spindle motor.

So my questions.

   1. I want to user a C3 board from CNC4PC to provide a index pulse at the spindle. Can the 424 or the 407 take this as an input to adjust it's own speed?
   2. Is there a wiring diagram available to set this up?
   3. Are there any instructions for setting this in the PMDX Plug-in Spindle settings? I see the Index Port settings in the Inputs tab of Mach4.

Thanks.

Ed.

2

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / 2 CNC's, 1 computer running Mach4, and a problem......

« on: July 28, 2017, 08:23:41 PM »

So, I made myself a hobby CNC (Momus 2, router as a spindle) last year. It runs a MACH3 controller card with a PMDX-411 plugged into the parallel connector on the card. Spindle is controlled with a SuperPID. computer is a Lenovo Laptop running Windows 10 64bit and Mach 4 Hobby. Setup worked great for over a year.

I then decided to buy a CX601 (Grizzly 0704 clone). I made it into a CNC. Bought a PMDX-424 for the controller. I used the same laptop to run the mill (just setup a different profile). The mill works great.

Now, I went to run a project back on the Momus-router. I picked the router profile I always used, but I get nothing from Mach4. No x-y-z movement, no spindle, nothing......
Swapped out the MACH3 controller with a new spare.....same, nothing.

 1. PMDX-411 turns on, Windows recognizes it on the USB bus. Both LED's turn on, and red one goes out when MACH4 starts. Green one flashes 1 pulse per sec.
 2. Mach 4 Communication status after loading the Momus-router profile is "PMDX: Communication status 'Sync'd to Device".   
 3. From Mach4, I run the PMDX diagnostics GUI (Diagnostics > PMDX-SmartBOB-USB Diagnostics > Show Real-Time Input/Output Status). It looks like the driver is picking up input and output signals properly. Limit switches, e-stop, etc. are showing activity when manually triggering them.
 4. Mach 4 machine diagnostics only show my 3 stepper motor controllers outputs as green. The rest of the inputs and outputs are all dark. No activity if I trip limits or e-stop.

So I thought that maybe the 411 was the problem, or the driver for windows (driver and MACH4 are the latest BTw. Firmware for 411 up to date). But i'm ruling it out for now because of the activity on the diagnostic for the SmartBOB. That leaves me with MACH 4 on the computer. Now I'm thinking that may not be the problem because the Mill still works.

Can Mach 4 be used with multiple profiles for 2 different PMDX controllers? I'm thinking that might be the problem. Only real way to check is to use a different computer with a new Mach4 setup to see. Any ideas? Is my troubleshooting valid?

Thanks

Ed