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1

Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories / PMDX-126 Step/Dir Outputs Pinout Question

« on: October 06, 2015, 03:09:43 AM »

I was wondering if it's possible to use pins 1 & 16 as step/dir pins?  I was also wondering if you can wire the e-stop to any other input other than pin 10?  The reason I'm asking is because on my smaller mill I'm testing out my Mesa 6i25 card with LinuxCNC and the firmware on the mesa card uses pin 1 as Spindle Speed and pin 16 as Spindle Dir when using Step/Dir Spindle control.  I plan on using my spare pmdx-126 board and my CNC4PC C6 spindle board.  The firmware also has the estop as pin 15. 

Thanks for all your help Bob & Steve.  I really appreciate it.  I finally have my big mill up and running and you guy's have provided excellent support to me when I needed it.  I plan on upgrading to Mach4 in a week or so I just don't know if I should buy the PMDX-410 and use it with my PMDX-126/PMDX-107 boards or buy the PMDX-422 and PMDX-407.

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Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories / PMDX-126 NPN-NO Proximity Switch Problems

« on: October 04, 2015, 12:06:09 AM »

I'm trying to wire my three proximity switches to my pmdx-126 to use as home switches. These are the switches I have:  http://www.amazon.com/SN04-N-10-30V-Approach-Inductive-Proximity/dp/B004V6PTKA
My switches run on 10-30v and have 3 wires.  I connected the three black wires to pin 11,  the three brown wires are connected to positive on a external 24v power supply and the three blue wires are connected to the ground terminal next to terminal 11.  I also ran a jumper wire from the power supplies ground to the same ground terminal that the blue wires are connected to.  I setup Mach3 and if I have active low selected then the leds on the proximity switches are always on and if I put a piece of metal in front of one sensor then all the sensors leds get brighter.  Also on the diagnostics page in mach3 I noticed that M1 Home, M2 Home, and M3 Home are always lit even if metal is in front of a sensor.  If I don't have active low selected the leds on the sensors are still always lit but the M1 Home, M2 Home and M3 Home diagnsotic leds aren't but they still don't respond to metal.  When I tested the sensors individually with my bench power supply they worked fine.  If anybody has any suggestions that would be great.  The only reason I'm using an external power supply is because I was planning on using PNP-NO sensors but then I bought these.  Should I try powering them off the PMDX-126?

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Generic Spindle interfaces, I/O boards, Misc boards and panels / PMDX-107 Test mode runs Rev

« on: September 29, 2015, 03:42:10 PM »

When I use test mode on the pmdx-107 my spindle runs in reverse.  I have it wired as Run/Dir mode.  When I issue a m3 command it runs forward.  Is this normal for this mode or is a setting wrong in my commander sk vfd?

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Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories / PMDX-126 E-Stop Question?

« on: September 29, 2015, 01:20:58 AM »

I'm about to install a Emergency Stop, Feed Hold and Cycle Start Switches on my mill.  I know how to install the cycle start switch and the feed hold but the emergency stop has two options.
If I connect the E-stop switch to my pmdx-126 board will the board notify mach3 that the e-stop was pushed?  I also have the pmdx-107 installed so when I push the E-stop I want it to disable the spindle and stepper motors.

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Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories / PMDX-126 and ESS Relay Mist Problems

« on: July 13, 2015, 02:52:33 AM »

I'm having a weird a problem where my fogbuster won't turn on.  The first time I power on the pmdx-126 and run gcode through mach3 the relay will turn on when prompted by the M7 gcode but after two tool changes the relay won't turn on the fogbuster when a M7 command is issued.  If I try to turn it on manually on the mach3 screen it show's that output 1 is enabled but the fogbuster still doesn't turn on.  I'm using the K2 relay on port 1 pin 14.  Does anyone have any suggestions?  I also have a pmdx-107 installed I disabled the spindle relays because I'm controlling the spindle manually at the moment.  Should I switch the K2 relay to multimode and use port 2 pin 14?  I was looking over the manual and noticed that the relay's have status leds,  I'll see if the led is lit when I enable the fogbuster.  I just think it's strange how it will work for two on and off cycles then it quits working and even If I reset the board and mach3 it still doesn't work again.

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Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories / PMDX-126 Air Solenoid Relay

« on: April 16, 2015, 02:11:12 PM »

Hey Guys,  It's been a while since I wired a relay and just want to make sure I'm doing it right.  I'm wiring a 120vac air solenoid for my coolant to the relay on the pmdx-126.  Do I wire a live wire to the com terminal and then connect my air solenoids live wire to the NO terminal on the pmdx?  What do I do with the N and gorund wires?

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Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories / PMDX-126 and Safety Relay E-Stop

« on: April 05, 2015, 02:30:55 PM »

I picked up a safety relay from a friend and was wondering whats the best way to wire this with the PMDX-126?  I'm going to have the stepper motors power supply wired so if the e-stop is hit it triggers the safety relay which is connected to a contactor to cut power to the stepper motor drives.  For the vfd I'm going to use a relay on the safety relay to trigger the vfd to ramp to a stop.  My main question is how should I connect the E-Stop button so that its wired to the safety relay and the PMDX-126's e-stop terminal?  Should I use a relay with two N/C Contacts or can I wire the pmdx-126 e-stop terminal to a relay on the safety relay?  I attached a wiring diagram that I got from the safety relay manual.

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Parallel Port breakout boards, motherboards, and dedicated accessories / PMDX-126 Controlling Machine Power

« on: March 24, 2015, 07:24:54 AM »

I was looking at the AN003 Note about controlling machine power and was wondering if the emergency stop switch in the diagram operates at 24v or 120v?  I'm looking to stop my spindle and stepper motors if the E-Stop is hit.  I'm controlling my spindle with a VFD and my stepper motors are powered by a 48v power supply.  Would I cut power to both of these if an E-Stop is hit?  What kind of contactor is needed to wire my machine like the diagram in AN003?  Also if the E-Stop is hit in Mach3 does it cut power to what ever is hooked up to the contactor?

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Generic Spindle interfaces, I/O boards, Misc boards and panels / Wiring PMDX-107 to ACtech Lenze VFD

« on: March 22, 2015, 11:21:18 PM »

I was wondering if somebody could help me with wiring the pmdx-107 to my lenze vfd.  I will be using mach3 and want to be able to control the speed from mach3 and gcode.  I also want to be able to start/stop the spindle with mach3 and M3/M4.  I'm also wondering if it's a good idea to wire forward and reverse or just forward for the spindle.  Here's the vfd's manual so you guys can look at the settings/connections.

http://www.precision-elec.com/product-literature-pdf/ac-tech/smv/product-manuals/smvector-operating-instructions-manual.pdf

Page 21 of the manual shows the terminal strip connections on the vfd.  Page 26, 30 show the input parameters for the vfd.  Thanks for your help.

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SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / PMDX-422 and PMDX-126 Questions

« on: March 21, 2015, 04:45:54 AM »

I noticed that the PMDX-422 can be hooked up to the PMDX-126 in expanded mode.  If I connect these two boards will I still be able to use Mach4?  I know I can use 10 inputs from the pmdx-126 but what about the relay outputs on the pmdx-126.  I need one 120v relay that can be controlled by mach for my coolant.  Can the relay on the PMDX-422 be controlled by gcode commands?  It would be awesome if you provided a application note for using these two boards together.   Thanks Luke

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Generic Spindle interfaces, I/O boards, Misc boards and panels / PMDX-106 vs PMDX-107 Questions

« on: March 12, 2015, 03:11:26 PM »

Can both of these boards connect to dc motor controllers?  Also what are the main differences between the two.  I know the PMDX-107 is made to be mounted on specific bob's.
Can the PMDX-107 or PMDX-106 be controlled by step & direction signals?  Does the PMDX-107 have the same capabilites as the PMDX-106?

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SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / PMDX-407 Power and Specs

« on: November 19, 2014, 11:22:00 PM »

Will the PMDX-407 draw power from PMDX-422 or will a seperate power source be required?  Also will the PMDX-407 plug directly into the 26 pin ribbon header on the pmdx-422 or will it connect to it through a cable?
Do you know what the dimensions of the PMDX-407 are going to be?  Thanks.  I can't wait for it to be released.  I check the website everyday to see if it's for sale.  Do you have any pictures of the unit that you would be willing to share?