PMDX Forum

General Category => Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories => Topic started by: Coils on January 19, 2015, 06:13:37 PM

Title: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Coils on January 19, 2015, 06:13:37 PM
First off hello to everyone, and a thank you to PMDX for putting up this forum, since I'm fairly new to CNC I know I'll be asking a lot of question too.  : )

I just purchased a PMDX-126, PMDX-107 and an ESS yesterday and have been looking over the manuals.

And my first question is a really simple one dealing with Home/Limit switch wiring.
In the PDF manual on page 22 it shows the diagram for "normally closed" switches and has the GND wire going out through the switches and coming back to terminal "13" (or vise versa). I know this is showing for one axis.
Do I need to wire each axis having it's own GRD loop, or can I have a single GRD and bring each axis back with their own wire & terminal/pin? Example; one (1) GRD wire out and daisy chained to each axis on one side of a NC switch (3 axis total), then GRN wire for X to #11, YLW wire for Y to #12 and BLU wire for Z to #13.
And if I can do this, does it matter which GRD on the J12 strip I connect to?

John
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Bob at PMDX on January 19, 2015, 09:49:33 PM
Yes, you can run a single "ground" wire from any of the "GND" terminals on J12 to all of your limit switches.  All four of the "GND" terminals on J12 are tied together on the PMDX-126 board (and also tied to the four "GND" terminals on J11).

NOTE: Just to reinforce this, the "GND" connections on J11 and J12 are **NOT** then same as the "PCgnd" on connectors J1 through J5.  The signals on J11 and J12 are isolated from the "PC ground".

Bob
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Coils on January 19, 2015, 10:14:43 PM
Thank you Bob, and all that info is helpful
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Coils on January 22, 2015, 05:38:16 PM
Got my order today, thank everyone involved for packing it so well and the fast shipping.

More questions to keep me from screwing something up.
 With the main power into the 126 board, I'm going to be using 110v (set the switch already) and wanted to know if it matters which screw on J8 the hot & neutral wires get hook to?
 And I see the manual says it has a "poly-fuse" for main power input, but should I have a fuse/breaker on the main power lines too? If yes, what size? I'm confused by the manual saying 0.150 amp max (on page 38 section 13.0 Main Power).
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Bob at PMDX on January 22, 2015, 05:57:32 PM
The AC hot and neutral may go to either of the two screw terminals on J8 - there is no polarity.

The "0.150 amp max" specification is for the maximum current that the PMDX-126 draws from the AC power input.  Since the PMDX-126 has its own internal poly-fuse, any external fuse in the AC line feeding the PMDX-126 would be to protect the AC wiring, and a 0.25A to 0.5A fuse should be sufficient.  If you don't care about the wiring then you don't need an external fuse on the AC line feeding the PMDX-126.  Whether or not you need a fuse in the AC power to your motor power supply is a whole nother matter.

FYI - speaking of motor power supplies, we have an app note covering EStop switches and configuring the PMDX-126 to control power to the motor and/or spindle drivers (including external fuses).  If you are interested, see app note AN003 here: http://www.pmdx.com/AppNotes

Bob
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Coils on January 24, 2015, 05:50:43 PM
I did get to read your reply yesterday but wanted to work on this a little while I had time to : )

Got the board powered up, then wired up the stepper drivers, e-stop, and home switched to the board.
Also was able to use the "Test" feature that's on the board to move the steppers, successfully too. That's a really nice feature and easier to use then you'd think from ready the manual. LOL
 That's as far as I had time for yesterday, so today I'll do a fresh install of Mach3, try tackling getting the ESS talking to the pc & Mach.


And thanks for the app note, that looks interesting and simple enough for me to understand. lol
As for spindle motor hookup I know I'll be asking a lot of questions about mine when I get to it, although it might seem simple to some of you.  : )

Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Bob at PMDX on January 24, 2015, 11:28:10 PM
Since you are using a SmoothStepper and will be using our PMDX-107 for spindle speed control, you should also check our app note AN002 (PWM Spindle Speed with Mach3, SmoothStepper, PMDX-125 or PMDX-126 and PMDX-106 or PMDX-107), also at http://www.pmdx.com/AppNotes.  This app note covers the various settings needed to make spindle speed control work with a SmoothStepper and our boards.

Bob
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Coils on January 25, 2015, 02:42:08 PM
Yes I did see the AN002 and downloaded it, I only glanced over it so far. Waiting until I was ready to hook up the VFD so I can sit and look at this, the PMDX-126, the PMDX-107, the ESS, the VFD and Mach3 manuals all at the same time.
I know my head is going to explode when I get to this.  LOL


Well I got the PC, ESS and Mach3 talking to each other.
That was a little bit of a pain, the instructions for the ESS make it sound really easy. I'm using Windows XP in that pc and it doesn't have that ?Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)", just a TCP/IP that still has the area to put in IP & Subnet Mask thing, after messing with it for a while I even tried a net search on this IPv4 thing but couldn't find anything about adding this to XP.
Had to run that Configurator thing from Warp9 to get it to connect to the pc, then got it to connect to Mach3.

After getting these talking to each other I hooked the ribbon cables to the PMDX-126 board and got the basic stuff setup in Mach3 ports & pins, motor tuning, and got the three axis set close to were they need to be (within a couple thousandths per inch of travel). Just need to fine tune them later, put in the distances each axis travels for the soft limits and some of that other minor stuff.


Question of the day  : )
Anyone know any place that has good info about the ESS Plugin Config in Mach3? The manual for this is very basic with no info about these and I can't find any place that explain them, only found some screen shots with little info.

So off to have some fun reading manuals and getting a headache  : )
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Steve Stallings on January 25, 2015, 03:59:49 PM
Jeff Birt over at Soigeneris has done a good job of explaining EtherNet SmoothStepper installation.

http://www.soigeneris.com/Document/Warp9/Installing_and_Configuring_the_Ethernet_SmoothStepper.pdf

He has other useful documents also.

http://www.soigeneris.com/documentation-content.aspx

Steve Stallings
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Coils on January 27, 2015, 07:55:52 AM
First off sorry for the long post

Thanks Steve, and I did see Jeff's write up (the first link) and downloaded it, but I didn't find the list of articles so some of those might be helpful.

That PDF you linked to does cover setting up the pc for the ESS, explains setting up the PWM and mentions the ESS Home & Limits window. But in Mach3 there's the Config Plugins tab at the top of the Mach3 window and when you open that there's 5 or 6 ESS options to choose, a couple are self explained but a couple I have no idea how to use them or if anything needs do to them. That's why I asked about any good write ups so I can see if I need to do anything with those.
But I can join and ask on their forum since it's their product.



And I knew I was going to get confused with the VFD hook up, and I think it's mainly the VFD that's doing it.
Oh and I don't think I mentioned it before, but I upgraded to these PMDX products from a Gecko G540 (BoB and drivers all-in-one thing), so this is really a lot to me, and I'm most likely going to be typing this all out and not making it any easier for those trying to help. : )

But I'll start with a very easy question about the PMXD-107 first.
- Does the PMDX-107 generate the 5v/10v power for the PWM signal? If yes then a yes answer will do, just want to make sure.

Now this is where it gets confusing to me, it's the VFD manual because it explains things as if anyone reading it is experience with the product, and a lot of it I don't understand what they are talking about so I get confused and second guess how it should be hooked up to the PMDX-107. Or I might be over thinking it because of all the info in all the manuals. LOL
I might have to find the link to the manual so someone can look at it?

The VFD is a Control Techniques (Emerson) Commander SK series, if any of you are familiar with these it might be easier yet.

There are two rows of what they call "control terminals", T1 thru T4 and B1 thru B7, I think I understand them but not sure how to connect them to the PDMX-107, mainly the B terminals.

The T terminals on the VFD seem easy enough;
T1 - 0v/gnd gets hooked to the Agnd on the 107
T2 - Ref Input gets hooked to Aout on the 107
T3 - +10v which I don't think I need

The B terminals are what I'm not sure of, I think I'm confusing myself or over thinking it;
B2 - +24v output. I was told this is the power terminal to close the other B terminals for their function. I'm guessing this goes to the 107's COM for the onboard relays?
B3 - Digital Output, 0v-+24v (zero speed). I have no idea what this is for and don't think I need it? Didn't use it with the G540.
B4 - Drive Enable. I had a jumper from B2 to this before, I was told this needs to be active before a "RUN" can be activated. I was thinking about having this and B2 going to the main contactor so it would be active when I hit the power switch for the cabinet, but then it would be active all the time while the power is on in the cabinet. So I do need advice on this because I don't know if having this on the Fwd/Run terminal on the 107 will activate this first or not? And I did think of the relays on the 126, but I was hoping to use those for flood & mist later on.
B5 - Run Forward.
B6 - Run Reverse. Don't know if I need this for a mill?


Again sorry for the long post.
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Bob at PMDX on January 28, 2015, 12:01:25 AM
But I'll start with a very easy question about the PMXD-107 first.
- Does the PMDX-107 generate the 5v/10v power for the PWM signal? If yes then a yes answer will do, just want to make sure.

Yes.  DIP Switch #6 controls whether this is 5V or 10V.  See the PMDX-107 User's Manual section 4.0 on page 12.

The T terminals on the VFD seem easy enough;
T1 - 0v/gnd gets hooked to the Agnd on the 107
T2 - Ref Input gets hooked to Aout on the 107
T3 - +10v which I don't think I need

Almost correct.  Terminal "T2" is the "remote speed reference" and terminal "T4" is the "local speed reference".  Which one is used depends on how terminal B7 is configured.  If you leave B7 un-connected, then terminal "T4" should be connected to the PMDX-107's "Aout" terminal.  If B7 is connected to B2 (+24V) then connect the PMDx-107's "Aout" to terminal "T2".

The B terminals are what I'm not sure of, I think I'm confusing myself or over thinking it;
B2 - +24v output. I was told this is the power terminal to close the other B terminals for their function. I'm guessing this goes to the 107's COM for the onboard relays?
B3 - Digital Output, 0v-+24v (zero speed). I have no idea what this is for and don't think I need it? Didn't use it with the G540.
B4 - Drive Enable. I had a jumper from B2 to this before, I was told this needs to be active before a "RUN" can be activated. I was thinking about having this and B2 going to the main contactor so it would be active when I hit the power switch for the cabinet, but then it would be active all the time while the power is on in the cabinet. So I do need advice on this because I don't know if having this on the Fwd/Run terminal on the 107 will activate this first or not? And I did think of the relays on the 126, but I was hoping to use those for flood & mist later on.
B5 - Run Forward.
B6 - Run Reverse. Don't know if I need this for a mill?

These will be used to allow the PMDX-107 to turn the spindle on and off, and/or control the direction:

B2 - Yes, this connects to the PMDX-107's "COM" terminal
B3 - Yes, you do not need this.  It indicates when the spindle is stopped.
B4 - keep jumpered to B2 (+24V), the VFD will not do anything if this is left "open"
B5 - Connect to the PMDX-107's "Run/Fwd" terminal
B6 - *if* you ever want or need to run the spindle backwards and depending on how you have parameter 11 configured (see below), connect this to the PMDX-107's "Rev/Dir" terminal.
B7 - Leave this disconnected to select "local speed control" (terminal T4)

According to the only version of the manual I was able to download (without registering on a web site) says that parameter 11 controls the start/stop logic (i.e. the function of terminals B4 to B6).  It says that the default setting for units in the United States is "4", which makes B5 a "run" signal, and B6 a "jog" signal with both of these being latching signals (i.e. once B5 is connected to +24V the spindle will run until B4 is disconnected from +24V).  THIS IS NOT THE PROPER SETTING.  Verify and/or change parameter 11 to "0" (which is the European default).  This makes B5 "Run Forward" and B6 "Run Reverse" and the inputs are non-latching (i.e. the motor moves only as long the "Run Forward" is connected to +24V).

Also, parameter 05 controls where the VFD gets is speed commands.  This should be set to "AI.AV".

See your manuals for instructions on how to set the parameters using the built-in keypad.

Bob
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Coils on January 28, 2015, 11:19:50 PM
First off Bob, sorry for putting you through this, but I do really appreciate you going out of your way on this part of it.

The way you explained everything in those answers makes sense to me about the VFD, and now I understand a little more of the VFD manual. LOL
I wish they made their manual more like the PMDX manuals, there's only a few things in your manuals that make me scratch my head so far, but I found most of those answers searching the net.


OK I did everything you said, followed the PMDX manuals and the AN002 App Note, and the VFD manual. After I got everything hooked up and setup per the App Note for Mach3 & the ESS, I did the testing thing were you put command codes in the Mach3 MDI screen to set speed, turn the spindle on/off and forward/reverse codes.
This kind of worked, when I put in the reverse command (M4) it went forward, everything else worked like it should. I did check the lights on the PMDX-107 and they came on individually for both forward & reverse when the codes were typed in. I even disconnected the wires from the VFD and reconnected them just to be sure, then doubled checked the VFD settings, still not running in reverse.
So I'll send Emerson an email about this and see what they say.

But at least I can make it work going forward (clockwise rotation), start & stop and change speeds through Mach3.

Next will be the VSD Speed Calibration for the PMDX-107, check the spindle rpm with the digital tachometer, and try running a few test G-codes.

A huge thank you Bob, you really helped me a lot with this VFD thing.
Hopefully I'll be able to make some chips this weekend  : )
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Bob at PMDX on January 29, 2015, 12:50:03 AM
When you say:

Quote
they came on individually for both forward & reverse when the codes were typed in

Just to be absolutely clear, do you mean that when you entered the "M3" command the "Fwd/Run" LED on the PMDX-107 came on and the "Rev/Dir" LED stayed off.  And when you entered the "M4" command  the "Fwd/Run" LED went off and the "Rev/Dir" LED came on?  And that both of these LEDs were not on at the same time, right?

If this is the case, make sure that you've set parameter 11 in the VFD to "0" (zero).  And verify in your copy of the VFD manual that param 11 = 0 makes B6 mean "run forward" and B7 mean "run reverse".  Also verify that this setting means the inputs are "not latched".

Here is a test you can run.  Remove the wire from the "Fwd/Run" terminal on the PMDX-107 (which should be connected to the B6 terminal on the VFD).  There should now be NO signal connected to the B6 terminal.  Then move the wire from the "Rev/Dir" terminal on the PMDX-107 to the "Run/Fwd" terminal.  Now go to Mach and give it a non-zero spindle speed and an "M3" command.  If the VFD is correctly configured the spindle should run in the reverse direction.  If it still runs in the forward direction there may be some other parameter in the VFD that needs to be changed.

Bob
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Coils on January 29, 2015, 04:27:28 AM
 "And that both of these LEDs were not on at the same time, right?"

Correct, only one light came on at a time. Fwd/Run with M3 command and Rev/Dir with the M4 command.

I'll check the VFD setting again, but yes I did set parameter 11 to 0, and parameter 5 to AI.AV

I'll also try what you said about the wires too
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Coils on January 29, 2015, 04:27:08 PM
OK good update

First when I hooked up all the wires the other day then did the parameter changes, and even after turning the power off and back on later I doubled checked the wiring and the parameters were the same as I put in.
Sitting here looking over the VFD manual for a while I found hidden in it a note something like this "some parameters will not take effect until there is a reset of the unit". Light bulb over my head turned on  : )
So by simply unhooking the jumper wire from B4 (enable/reset) and reconnecting it, reverse now works and when I put it in reverse the display shows a -number for the Hz.

I know I said it before, but the manual for this VFD sucks for someone like me that doesn't deal with electronics all the time.  That's sounds like a good excuse, right? well it does to me  LOL


Thanks again
And I know I'll be back again with more questions later  ; )
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Coils on January 30, 2015, 04:29:53 PM
I had some time last night to play with the mill a little, and I'm really happy with these boards (the PMDX-126, PMDX-107 & Ethernet Smooth Stepper).
I'm just a hobby guy and have them hooked up to a modified Rong Fu RF31 clone (table only now) with a home made column and Tormach 770 head, before I was controlling this with a Gecko G540 and it worked good but it wasn't great because it would loose steps when repeating tasks multiple times.

Last night I did several simple things and kept running the G-code like ten to twelve times for each code to see how accurate they would repeat that many times, same tests I did with the G540 before.
I did this on a piece of 2x10 board with a 1/4" end mill and did a circle pocket, rectangle pocket, circle bolt pattern around the pocket, rectangle bolt pattern around the pocket, rows of holes across the entire work area and varies arches of different sizes. As mentioned I did these ten to twelve times for each code and everything worked fine, I couldn't get more then five before doing the same tests.

Still need to fine tune the "steps" in Mach3, the X & Z are still off a few thousandths at 6" of travel, but it was easy to get it this close and only took a few tries the first time it was powered up.


Thanks again for all the help, and making such nice products, I'll recommend your company to anyone and if I do another build I'll be buying from you again.
I see there's a "show and tell" area, I'll take some pics and hopefully a short video of my crude build.
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: SeabeeGizmo on May 17, 2015, 03:18:23 AM
I am glad I found this thread.

 I am using the same setup, 126,107, and Emerson commander sk.

 I think my trouble starts in the beginning of the string.  I made the connection from 107 to the Emerson. I pushed the test button on 107 the spindle made a sound like it wanted to start but did not move. I entered M3 at Mach3, the J10 relay clicked but 107 did not do anything.

 M3, M5 works but M4 does not. ( I do not need M4 but maybe it will help in figuring out what is up )

Charge pump: I read about it but I do not understand it.

 If I hit the spindle on Mach3 relay J10 works, but 107 dose not do a thing. I pushed the 107 test button and it runs the test. I hooked my tester to it and the power 10v and reply works.

I am falling in to the 2% rule. You have to be 2% smarter then the equipment you are working with.

The 126 boards dips are all on.
The 107 dips 4-5 are on.
Mach3 ports/pins (spindle) grn, 16, 17, red, red, 1,1
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Coils on May 17, 2015, 10:47:37 PM
Hello Seebee,

I hope I can help, but if I don't I'm sure someone who can will be along soon.
First, I never looked at the XML files, I don't know how to open it. Sorry
Second, I had all the manuals and the PMDX AN002 AppNote infront of me, it was confusing looking at all those manuals at once. Here's the link to the AppNotes if you need it. http://www.pmdx.com/AppNotes

There's a few things that I can see you need to check and most likely need to fix/change.
The first, your showing that you have "pins" 16 & 17 in your Spindle Ports/Pins. Pin #17 is the "Charge Pump" pin. And the "Charge Pump" is just a signal that is sent from Mach3 to the 126 board, if the board doesn't receive this signal (when it should) it means something is wrong, it's just another safety feature type of thing and is not needed but it's nice to have just in case something happens to the PC.
Also I think you need to fix something for the J10 relay, mine doesn't activate when I turn on the spindle, I'll have to look at the manuals closer to answer this.

Here's some of my setting.

In Mach3

Motor Outputs tab
Spindle Ports & Pins line is;
grn, 16, 14, grn, red, 1, 1

Output Signals tab
My "Charge Pump" is;
grn, 1, 17, red

Spindle Setup tab
Relay Control (upper left of window);
Disable Spindle Relays is "checked"
Motor Control (top center);
Use Spindle Motor Output is "checked"
PWM Control is "checked"
PWM Base Freq - 25
Min PWM - 1%


Dip Switches on the boards;
126 - #1 OFF, the rest are ON
107 - All OFF
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Coils on May 17, 2015, 10:52:39 PM
Now I just want to comment and ask about the picture you posted.

That's a nice setup you have in that cabinet, everything is spaced out and you have room to add to it.
Mine is really tight, got too much stuff : )

Question;
Is your heat sink for the Gecko drivers water cooled?
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: SeabeeGizmo on May 18, 2015, 12:57:30 PM
I thank you for the reply and good info.  will try it out tonight.

 The heat sin I made it out of an alu block 400x50x80. I am going to hook it up to the old cpu cooler I found. This way I can use the cooling fan to move air in the box. The box is an old house elec breaker box. I cut part out of both sides and covered with 5mm plex glass. This way I do not have any trouble with the shielding for the stepper cables.

 
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: SeabeeGizmo on May 24, 2015, 02:59:31 AM
 I do thank you Coils and Steve for all your help.

 It is working, I have set it on a test run to level the table (MDF). What bits are good for use on MDF?

 The box I am not 100% complete on but close. I got the idea from a video I watched about using plex on the sides to keep the cable grounds away from the box body.

 Now all I have is playing/testing the motor amps and speeds.

Regards
Gizmo
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Coils on May 28, 2015, 10:38:42 PM
Glad to hear you got it working.

Sorry can't help with the MDF cutter, hope you found the answer by now.


That's a nice looking machine and box.
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: SeabeeGizmo on May 29, 2015, 01:07:10 AM
 I have two thinks I am trying to figure out with it.

1. I wired up a button in a box by the spindle that goes to the Estop on the 126 card. If I push it the card does the Estop as designed. BUT. If I push the Estop reset button on Mach3 the 126 will not exit Estop (the red light is on (126)) so I have to turn power offon to the 126 to reset. What am I doing wrong?

2. The stepper motor that is on my X axis now, it was my Y axis. I turned my table direction. From time to time ( it looks to be ramdumb ) make a jump in speed. Most of the time the it is OK but from time to time it locks up the screw making noice. This puts the machine out ot (now) X axis ''0''.  ???  Bad motor?

Regards
Gizmo
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Bob at PMDX on May 29, 2015, 04:19:10 PM
I have two thinks I am trying to figure out with it.

1. I wired up a button in a box by the spindle that goes to the Estop on the 126 card. If I push it the card does the Estop as designed. BUT. If I push the Estop reset button on Mach3 the 126 will not exit Estop (the red light is on (126)) so I have to turn power offon to the 126 to reset. What am I doing wrong?

As long as the red LED on the PMDX-126 is on, Mach3 will not come out of reset.  Did you release your EStop switch?  Is your EStop switch "normally open" or "normally closed" (I presume normally closed if you connected it to the EStop input on the PMDX-126). 

Quote
2. The stepper motor that is on my X axis now, it was my Y axis. I turned my table direction. From time to time ( it looks to be ramdumb ) make a jump in speed. Most of the time the it is OK but from time to time it locks up the screw making noice. This puts the machine out ot (now) X axis ''0''.  ???  Bad motor?

It sounds like the motor tuning parameters are not correct and Mach is trying to run the Y axis (which used to be the X axis) too fast and the motor "cogs".  When you swapped the X & Y axis in Mach, did you also change the motor tuning?  Of course this presumes that the X & Y axis have different tuning settings.

Bob
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: SeabeeGizmo on June 01, 2015, 01:15:58 AM
The button I use for the Estop was a NO so I hooked it to a relay. The relay NC set is hooked to the 126 Estop. If I push the button the relay fires the switch to the Estop opens and the system goes to Estop. I let up on the the button the relay switch closes, but the RED light stays on.

I played some more with the motor settings and it has stopped the jumping. Hopefully that one is fixed.

Now I am working on speed cantrol to get better cuts and bit live. This is some different the running my 75- J2 Bridgeport.

Ben having fun. grin

Gizmo
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Bob at PMDX on June 03, 2015, 09:12:55 PM
The button I use for the Estop was a NO so I hooked it to a relay. The relay NC set is hooked to the 126 Estop. If I push the button the relay fires the switch to the Estop opens and the system goes to Estop. I let up on the the button the relay switch closes, but the RED light stays on.

Do you have anything connected to the PMDX-126's FAULT input?  This is located next to the EStop input.

If you have a N/O EStop switch, you can leave the jumper clip (or wire) shorting the PMDX-126's EStop input to GND, and then connect your N/O switch to the FAULT input and the adjacent GND terminal.  With the switch open, the red LED on the PMDX-126 should be off and the board should function normally.  When the switch closes, the red LED should turn on and the PMDX-126 will disable all of its outputs.

As far as why your existing setup with the N/O switch controlling a relay keeps the PMDX-126's red LED on I'm not sure I can explain, unless the relay is some kind of latching relay.  You can test this by pressing the EStop button to energize the relay (and the red LED comes on).  Then release the EStop.  If the red LED remains on, take a piece of wire and short the EStop terminal on the PMDX-126 to the adjacent GND terminal.  The red LED should turn off.  If not, then something is not behaving as it should.

Bob
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: SeabeeGizmo on June 05, 2015, 04:20:52 PM
The red light is still on Bob...   Next....

 Yesterday I wired up a relay that would close on the fault of 126 if the 134 card lost power and put the other relay back to the Estop like I had it before. The dam thing worked ??? The Estop red light would go on  off with either of the switchs pushed. (Estop or fault) It worked all day. Then last night when I tested it the red light would stay on. So I turned off the power to the 126, waited 30 sec. turned the power back on to the 126 and it started working again.

 Could it have something to do with the power we have over here? 130,130, ground. There is only one other country in the world that has the same setup. One of the east blockers.

Bruce
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Steve Stallings on July 19, 2015, 02:49:28 AM
Bruce,

Have you found your problem?

This problem should not have anything to do with the power system in your country unless for some reason it causes excessive electrical noise to couple into your emergency stop wiring.

The emergency stop system can also respond to two other things.

The ERR+ and ERR- terminals on J13 of the PMDX-126 are used for servo driver fault signals. If voltage is applied across these terminals it will cause an eStop.

The J19 interface for our PMDX-133/124 motherboards also contains an eStop signal input. If you have connected this to some other type of board, it may be providing a signal that is interpreted as eStop.
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: SeabeeGizmo on July 20, 2015, 01:57:30 AM
Hi Steve,

 Thanks for the reply.  The relays that I use are standard DPDT 250v 10a. They are what I am using to jump from gnd to Fault and Estop.

 When I power it up for the first time I flip on the main breaker. This power the 126 card, 24vdc supply and the cooling system. The Estop is set because I have not set my emergency buttons.

 Once all are in the open setting the 134, Gicko's and the relay wired to the Fault get power. The button (to repay) in the box by my spindle is the only thing hooked up to Estop on 126. Now the Estop light goes out and all is good to go.

 Now if at sometime later if I push one of the E buttons the system stops and goes into Estop. This is right. But is I reset the buttons the 126 Estop will not reset until I either turn off power to 126 or close Mach3.

regards
Bruce
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Steve Stallings on July 21, 2015, 09:53:37 PM
Bruce,

I am having a hard time visualizing your relay wiring. Can you post a sketch or diagram?

Steve Stallings
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: SeabeeGizmo on July 24, 2015, 03:58:06 AM
 I did not show that the two relays going to the Estop are in ser. Plus my E switches have two N/C switches on them.

 Hope this helps.

Bruce
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Steve Stallings on August 08, 2015, 08:01:40 PM
Sorry, somehow I missed the notification that you had replied.

I cannot figure out your logic from your diagram. Too many things
do not show their actual connections, but rather have labels. You
no doubt know what is actually connected where, but I cannot tell.

Your problem symptoms sound like something is acting like a
latching circuit or self controlling feedback. The PMDX-126 does
not have any latching behavior from its E-Stop or /Fault inputs,
but if you combine outputs from Mach3 and the PMDX-126 into
circuits that control inputs to E-Stop or /Fault, such a condition
could have been created.
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: SeabeeGizmo on August 14, 2015, 02:27:59 AM
Sorry from being late on the reply. Thought I had set it a long time back, but do not see it.

 The problem is this the same.

Gizmo

PS: made this yesterday. If anyone wants the V-carve 8 files please give me your email address in a message.
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: SeabeeGizmo on August 14, 2015, 02:31:30 AM
test post
Title: Re: My PMDX-126 Thread
Post by: Bob at PMDX on August 14, 2015, 09:42:39 AM
The problem is this the same.

The problem is the same... as this?
Quote
When I power it up for the first time I flip on the main breaker. This power the 126 card, 24vdc supply and the cooling system. The Estop is set because I have not set my emergency buttons.

 Once all are in the open setting the 134, Gicko's and the relay wired to the Fault get power. The button (to repay) in the box by my spindle is the only thing hooked up to Estop on 126. Now the Estop light goes out and all is good to go.

 Now if at sometime later if I push one of the E buttons the system stops and goes into Estop. This is right. But is I reset the buttons the 126 Estop will not reset until I either turn off power to 126 or close Mach3.

There is still too much missing information (at least to me) in your diagram.  You commented somewhere previously that two of the relays were actually wired in series, but I don't see that in the drawing.  And do you really have 7 EStop switches in your system (3 shown to the left of the main 230VAC, 3 shown to the right of the main 230VAC and one shown on gantry)?

Do you have anything connected to the ERR+ and ERR- terminals on the PMDX-126 (located just above the Fault terminal)?

If you are still having the issue shown above, lets try something different.  Do you have  DC voltmeter?  If so, the next time the PMDX-126 shows EStop (red LED is on and won't turn off when you think it should), measure the voltage between the EStop terminal on the PMDX-126 and the adjacent GND terminal.  Also measure the voltage between the PMDX-126's Fault input and the adjacent GND terminal.

In order for the PMDX-126 to come out of EStop, the EStop terminal must be close to 0V (say less than 0.5V, roughly), *AND* the Fault terminal must *NOT* be close to GND (say, above 3V, roughly - but I need to make some measurements when I get in the office later today).  Also, the voltage from the ERR+ to ERR- terminal must be close to 0V (not referenced to GND, rather ERR+ referenced to ERR-).

Let us know what voltages you measured in these 3 places.  If they are not as described above then we need to figure out what is either pulling the Fault input to GND or NOT pulling the EStop input to GND.

Bob