Messages

451

Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories / Re: I think my K1 relay is dead (laser diode control question)

« on: March 21, 2015, 01:14:44 AM »

Hi Jason,

OK after looking things over, the only real improvement will
be that you can have independent control of the dust collector.

You would connect the Negative (-) input of the solid state relay
for the dust collector to the PCgnd of J5 on the PMDX-126, and
connect the Positive (+) input of the solid state relay to one
of the outputs such as "A" on J5. You would assign an M code
to an output such as Output4 and then set Output4 to use
Port 2 Pin 1.

You would still have to share the PWM signal between the
SuperPID and the Laser Diode because Mach3 only understands
one PWM output.

K1 would still control the +12 VDC to the laser.

K2 would still control the switched PCgnd acting as the RUN signal
to the SuperPID.

You will, as a result of using the SmoothStepper to control Port2,
have the ability to control three more outputs on J5 and have
the ability to read 4 more inputs from J11.

452

Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories / Re: I think my K1 relay is dead (laser diode control question)

« on: March 19, 2015, 06:24:52 PM »

Hi Jason,

I didn't realize you were going to be using a SmoothStepper. It will allow you
to utilize the four outputs on J5 of the PMDX-126 and will result in a simpler
and cleaner wiring configuration without being forced to combine functions like
your dust collector control with the spindle run command.

Would you like to take advantage of this?

453

Announcements / CNC Workshop 17-20 June - see PMDX and Mach4

« on: March 18, 2015, 03:59:39 PM »

PMDX will be exhibiting our products running Mach4 at the
CNC Workshop 17 - 20 June 2015 in Detroit, MI.

With luck we will have the upcoming PMDX-426 SmartBOB-PRO
ready to show off.

We will also present a couple of seminars:

   Understanding Motors Used In CNC Systems
   
   Troubleshooting and Avoiding Electrical Noise Problems

This year also marks the return of the build sessions including
one for a CNC Mini-Mill powered by PMDX electronics.

For details on the CNC Workshop here: http://www.thecncworkshop.com/


   

454

Announcements / Cabin Fever Expo 10-12 April - see PMDX and Mach4

« on: March 18, 2015, 03:50:40 PM »

PMDX will be exhibiting as usual at the Cabin Fever Expo on 10 - 12 April 2015 in York, PA.

We will be in the CNC area next to the Mach folks.

Mach4 running on our new SmartBOB-USB products will be on display.

We will also have a mock up of the upcoming PMDX-426 to talk about.

For details about Cabin Fever Expo visit:  http://www.cabinfeverexpo.com/

455

Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories / Re: I think my K1 relay is dead (laser diode control question)

« on: March 17, 2015, 10:57:34 PM »

Thank you for the great JPG image of your wiring. If this reply gets things working
for you, could I convince you to do another of the resulting wiring and post it here?

I think I have figured out a way to do what you want using only one port. It does
involve a couple of compromises.

Your dust collector will turn on and off with your router. If you want to run the router
without the dust collector, you will need to use the manual switch on the dust collector
to turn it off.

Your SuperPID and your laser driver will share the PWM signal. Mach3 cannot generate
more than one PWM signal anyway, and I cannot imagine a usage case where you need
the router and the laser on at the same time.

Here is a run down on the wiring:

PC+5 from J6 needs to connect to the +5 of the SuperPID, and to the Positive (+) input
of a solid state relay to control your dust collector.

PCgnd from J6 needs to connect to the GND of the SuperPID and to the GND of your
laser driver, or to the Negative (-) side of the optocoupler input if your driver has an
opto-isolated PWM input. PCgnd also needs to connect to the COM terminal for K2 on
J10 of the PMDX-126.

The N/O terminal for K2 on J10 should connect to the RUN input of the SuperPID.
This is an active low input on the SuperPID (as you have said). The N/O terminal
for K2 should also connect to the Negative terminal of the solid state relay that
will control your dust collector.

Pin 17 will continue to be your "Charge Pump" and will kill everything if it goes away.

Pin 16 will be your PWM and should connect to the PWM input of the SuperPID and
also to the PWM input of your laser driver or the Positive (+) side of the optocoupler
if you driver has an opto-isolated input.

Pin 14 will control K2 and K2 will be used to interrupt the ground to the RUN input
of your SuperPID and also ground to the Negative (-) input of the solid state relay
for your dust collector. Since both the RUN input of the SuperPID and the Negative
side of your solid state relay should float to about 5 volts when the relay opens, both
the SuperPID and the solid state relay should turn off. The solid state relay turns off
because both of its inputs are at 5 volts and it will see a net zero volts between its
inputs.

Pin 1 will control relay K1 and you should use its contacts on J9 to switch the 12 volt
power into your laser driver. Keep in mind that K1 is relatively slow (appx. 50 milliSeconds).
You cannot use it to turn the laser on and off rapidly.

Remember that you need an independent 12 volt power supply for the laser driver.

We also recommend an independent 5 volt power supply when using a SmoothStepper.
The PMDX-126 can power the SmoothStepper if there are no other devices drawing
power from the PMDX-126, but in your case the SuperPID is being powered by the
PMDX-126 so you cannot also power the SmoothStepper from the PMDX-126.

456

Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories / Re: pmdx-126 and limit switches

« on: March 17, 2015, 06:28:56 PM »

Sorry, but these sensors will not work with the PMDX-126. The PMDX-126 was
engineered to work with 3 wire sensors, mechanical switches, or logic level
input signals such as an MPG or optical index sensor. The open circuit voltage
at the inputs is only 5 volts and your sensors require 12 volts.

The G540 uses 12 volts on its inputs, but is not compatible with logic level
signals such as an MPG.

You cannot have it both ways and we chose to support logic level signals
at the expense of 2 wire sensors.

457

Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories / Re: I think my K1 relay is dead.

« on: March 16, 2015, 10:37:51 PM »

Sorry I missed your latest post while I was composing my reply.

Yes, knowing ALL of what you are trying to accomplish is important
to getting a useful reply from us.

You will likely be forced to use the second port.

Using one PWM to control both devices may be possible.

The SuperPID documentation is available on line. Can you provide
a link to the documentation that describes how to control power
level of your laser?

Given this information, and a bit of time to think it over, I will
try to offer a solution. Using port 2 may be required.

458

Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories / Re: I think my K1 relay is dead.

« on: March 16, 2015, 10:32:48 PM »

OK, so I now understand that you are using the Pin 1 output on J6
of the PMDX-126 to control the speed via the SuperPID. Details like
this are important to getting the correct feedback from us.

Port 1 Pin 1 is the only signal that has direct access to control the
K1 relay, so you will need to use that signal for your Output 3.

Can you move your Spindle Step signal to pin 16 on J6 of the PMDX-126?

I see that you had M7 configured for Output 2 using pin 16 but don't
know if that is actually used. If not, disable Output 2 so that it does
not conflict with Output 3 driving pin 16.

If you did already have a use for pin 16, then maybe you are running
a 3 axis machine and pins 8 and 9 are unused and one of them could
be re-purposed to provide the PWM to the SuperPID.

If all the signals on port 1 are in use, you will need to make use of
one of the port 2 signals on J5 of the PMDX-126.

459

Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories / Re: I think my K1 relay is dead.

« on: March 16, 2015, 09:25:38 PM »

Sorry about the forum not allowing you to post your XML file. My mistake in
not adding XML to the file types allowed. This has been fixed.

In your current configuration M3, M4, and M8 all use Output 1 to turn on
the Port 1 Pin 14 signal, thus controlling the K2 relay. M5 will turn off
Output 1 and thus K2.

M7 as currently configured will turn on Output 2 to turn on Port 1 pin 16.
I suspect you do not have anything connected to this pin.

You have Output 3 configured for Port 1 pin 1 which would turn on relay
K1, but there are no M codes or other functions assigned to use Output 3
so this will never happen.

Please review the Config > Ports and Pins > Spindle page to see how
your M codes for Spindle Relays and for Flood/Mist Relays are configured.

On the Config > Ports and Pins > Motor Outputs page you have the
Spindle enabled (green check mark) and the Step signal configured for
Port 1 Pin 1. This will not work because you cannot send step pulses to
a relay. This setting must be disabled so that it does not conflict with your
relay controls.

If you just want to turn the laser diode on and off, you can do that by
pretending that it is Flood coolant. Configure M8 to control Output 3
which is still set up for Port 1 Pin 1 and then you can turn on the laser
with M8 and turn off the laser with M9.

460

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: PMDX 422 Smart-BOB Project Timeline

« on: March 16, 2015, 09:01:01 PM »

The new release of the plug-in that supports slaved axes for gantry support
was released on 16 March 2015. The problems with motion data structures
have been resolved, and homing has been improved.

461

Cables, connectors, switches, contactors, sensors and other items / Re: PMDX-126 + tormach probe + electronics help

« on: March 16, 2015, 08:54:03 PM »

If I may, I prefer to call the conditions of the probe "triggered" and "not triggered".
This is the more common way of describing a digitizing probe such as the Tormach.

When you refer to touching it is easy to confuse this with tool length setting which
operates in the reverse logical manner.

You want your probe input to be Active High (you present +5 volts when the probe
is triggered). Leave the red X in the column labeled Active Low for this input.

You should use the pin 15 input on J12 of the PMDX-126 board.

The jumper at JP5 should be in the Off position. The On position is specifically for
the "Wild Horse" style probes with the LED across the contacts.

You should NOT enable the "Probe Merge" function by setting the DIP switches
on the PMDX-126 board. That is only needed when you have both a digitizing
probe (like the Tormach) and also a tool length touch off plate at the same time.

If you look at the Diagnostics page in Mach, you should see the simulated LED
for the Probe signal light up when you trigger the probe.

One consequence of using an Active High probe signal is that it must always be
connected to the input pin even when not being used. If you wish to physically
remove the probe in order to protect it, you will need to provide a shorting
clip from the pin 15 input to Ground in order to keep the Probe signal inactive
while the probe is disconnected.

462

Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories / Re: I think my K1 relay is dead.

« on: March 16, 2015, 04:37:21 PM »

What do you have setting Output 3? A script, or are you using
M3 to turn on the laser diode?

If you could post your XML file we can take a look to see if it
should be working, assuming the output control is not part
of a script.

463

Announcements / SmartBOB-USB plug-in updated to 0.18.97

« on: March 16, 2015, 10:25:56 AM »

The Mach4Hobby plugin for the SmartBOB-USB family of controllers has been updated.

Slaved axis support now available and there are improvements to homing.

Full details HERE: http://www.pmdx.com/Downloads_/ReleaseNotes_Ver_0_18_97.html

464

Announcements / Mach4 build 2270, 2269 released (back on track)

« on: March 16, 2015, 09:42:26 AM »

Build 2270 of Mach4Hobby can be downloaded here:

http://www.machsupport.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Mach4Hobby%20Installer-2270.exe

.... or here:

http://www.pmdx.com/Downloads_Mach4/Mach4_Hobby_Releases/Mach4Hobby%20Installer-2270.exe

Build 2269 was short lived and going directly to build 2270 is recommended.

This build runs with PMDX SmartBOB USB plug-in version 0.18.97 or newer. Plug-ins can be downloaded here:

http://www.pmdx.com/PMDX-SmartBOB-USB-Plug-In

Build 2270 includes the following changes that will impact the user experience:

1) Fixes bug (again) in the delta mode motion data in API that slipped in when Screw Mapping was introduced in build 2251. This bug prevented correct motion data from being seen by SmartBOB plug-ins prior to 0.18.97 version. (note - SmartBOB plug-in version 0.18.97 now uses only absolute mode motion data)

2) Fixes bug in startup code that affected slower XP machines. Symptom was that Mach4 did not start or the loader complained that Mach4 was already running. Task manager could be used to kill the Mach4GUI.exe instance and then Mach4 could be re-started. Startup now waits until XP gets all processes ready before trying to launch GUI.

3) Updated comp to handle Linear Set Over and Arc Set Over.

There are other changes behind the scenes including:

4) Added a worker thread to execute button scripts.

5) Added --MC_OWN_THREAD flag to prevent long scripts from blocking the execution of the GUI. This flag is a comment and must be the first line of the script.

Mach4Hobby is evolving rapidly, so be sure to check that your plugin is compatible with the version of Mach4Hobby that you are running.

Steve Stallings

465

Cables, connectors, switches, contactors, sensors and other items / Re: PMDX-126 + tormach probe + electronics help

« on: March 14, 2015, 09:57:38 PM »

The comment about "working normally" was not a description of
signal levels but rather a statement that if the probe acted as
described, then probing should be possible with Mach3.