Messages

481

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: PMDX 407 Need help

« on: February 27, 2015, 12:52:45 PM »

The terminals of J2 on the PMDX-407 are from a miniature solid state
MOSFET relay that can switch up to 80 milliAmperes at up to 150 volts
AC or DC. Yes, they are like dry contacts.

We offer a small single phase contactor that works well for this application.
See:

http://www.pmdx.com/ContactorMD20-120



 

482

Cables, connectors, switches, contactors, sensors and other items / Re: Help with Proximity sensors

« on: February 27, 2015, 12:43:11 PM »

We have seen this sort of problem before, especially with the
tiny little 4mm sensors. The problem results from the fact
that the sensor has leakage current from the positive supply
coming out of the signal lead even when it is supposed to be
off. For a simple load like a relay this is not a problem, but
we designed a universal input on the PMDX-126 that works
with either NPN or PNP sensors. The leakage tricks the input
in thinking is sees a PNP sensor that is trying to turn on.

That being said, the LED on the PMDX-126 should still go
completely off when you disconnect the black wire.

There is a work around that will let the PMDX-126 work with
an NPN sensor with leakage. You need to connect a 470 ohm
resistor from the black signal lead (on terminal "12" in your
case) to the +5V terminal on J12 of the PMDX-126. This
will swamp out the leakage by diverting it into the +5v
terminal. Do not try to put this resistor to GND as this will
look like an NPN sensor turning on.

483

Announcements / PMDX-411 SmartBOB-USB in a DB-25 shell released

« on: February 26, 2015, 06:16:46 PM »

New product! The PMDX-411 squeezes a SmartBOB-USB inside the connector shell of a male DB-25 plug.

Now you can instantly convert most parallel port devices into a USB device controlled by Mach4.

See details here:

http://www.pmdx.com/PMDX-411

484

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: PMDX 407 Need help

« on: February 26, 2015, 03:42:26 PM »

OK, lets tackle things incrementally.

The 1.592 volts is showing that the PMDX-407 is loading down
the reference voltage coming out of terminal S3 on your motor
driver. When you get a voltage from S3 (Aref) and S1 (Agnd)
that is significantly lower than 5 volts then we are faced with a
motor driver that has a very low current capability on its reference
voltage output.

Given that they show a 10K ohm pot in their manual, this
may indeed be the case. The way around that is to use
an independent power supply for the 5 volt reference.

To use an independent power source for the reference, you
must have an isolated power source. It cannot be shared
with any other part of the circuitry in your machine. Choose
a 5 VDC regulated supply.

The negative side of this supply should connect to both
the Agnd on the PMDX-407 and to the INH2 terminal on
the motor driver.

The positive side of this supply should connect to the
Aref on the PMDX-407. It does not connect to the motor
driver at all.

The Aout on the PMDX-407 should connect to the S2
terminal on the motor driver.

Once we get this working, then we can tackle the Run/Stop
control issues.

485

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: PMDX 407 Need help

« on: February 25, 2015, 09:53:45 PM »

I hope that the S3 to S1 voltage is 5.4 VDC not 54 VDC.

Can you connect just S3 and S1 and take some measurements
between Agnd and Aout of the PMDX-407 without any connection
to S2. You should be able to vary the voltage on Aout from near
zero to close to 5 volts by varying the S word setting. This is
equivalent to having an external speed pot and turning it to get
different voltages.

Touching S2 without it having a drive signal may produce results
that are meaningless because it is high impedance and can pick
noise and respond to that.

As for INH2, my best guess is that it is almost the same as S1
except that the Min speed pot is bypassed. It should not hurt
anything to connect Agnd of the PMDX-407 to INH2.

486

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: PMDX 407 Need help

« on: February 25, 2015, 07:38:26 PM »

OK, the MM31002A is one of the most common style controllers. The speed
control connections should be:

PMDX-407            MM31002A

Aref                     S3
Aout                    S2
Agnd                   S1

The Min speed pot should be turned all the way down.

The Max speed pot should probably be turned all the way up, unless
you know that when using the original external speed pot, this would
cause the motor to overspeed.

It appears that the voltage supplied by the MM31002A at its S3 terminal
is only +5 volts with respect to S1. You should be able to confirm this
with a multimeter, but be careful as this point is NOT isolated from the
line voltage. You should also be able to vary the voltage between
Aout and Agnd from 0 to almost 5 volts using S word settings in
Mach4.

The issue with the INHIBIT input on the controller being opposite of
a RUN signal and the warning about failsafe operation still apply. If
you need further help with wiring a contactor relay to control the
mains input to the MM31002, let me know.

487

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: PMDX 407 Need help

« on: February 25, 2015, 05:16:06 PM »

Oops.... the Inhibit input on these controllers will stop the motor when the
output on J2 of the PMDX-407 turns on. On the other hand the document
that Bob referenced was for the motor controller supplied by Sherline. It
may be that SpectraLight supplied a different motor control.

Please tell us the specific model of motor control that you have.

The INHIBIT input on DC motor controls such as Minarik and KBIC (Penta)
units is NOT fail safe (motor will start if a wire comes loose), nor is it compatible
with the output on J2 of the PMDX-407 because its operation is inverted from
a Run command.

We normally recommend that you switch the mains power coming into this
type of controller using a contactor relay such as this:

http://www.pmdx.com/ContactorMD20-120

The coil of this contactor can be controlled by passing 120 VAC through J2
on the PMDX-407.

488

Announcements / Mach4 build 2238 released

« on: February 25, 2015, 04:06:51 PM »

Build 2238 of Mach4Hobby can be downloaded here:

http://www.machsupport.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Mach4Hobby%20Installer-2238.exe

.... or here:

http://www.pmdx.com/Downloads_Mach4/Mach4_Hobby_Releases/Mach4Hobby%20Installer-2238.exe

This build runs with PMDX SmartBOB USB plug-in version 0.17.86 or newer. Plug-ins can be downloaded here:

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

Build 2238 is a minor update and includes the following changes that will impact the user experience:

1) Updates to printing from G-code and LUA editors
2) Add search function to LUA editor
3) Fix syntax sensitive color highlighting in G-code and LUA editors

There may be other changes behind the scenes.

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

489

Announcements / Mach4 build 2230 released

« on: February 20, 2015, 04:27:08 PM »

Build 2230 of Mach4Hobby can be downloaded here:

http://www.machsupport.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Mach4Hobby%20Installer-2230.exe

.... or here:

http://www.pmdx.com/Downloads_Mach4/Mach4_Hobby_Releases/Mach4Hobby%20Installer-2230.exe

This build runs with PMDX SmartBOB USB plug-in version 0.17.86 or newer. Plug-ins can be downloaded here:

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

Build 2230 includes the following changes that will impact the user experience:

1) Updates to lathe screen for installers
2) Updates to language support files
3) Ignore setting #3000 or #3006 when generating the tool path (buffering)
4) Force G95 for G32, G76, and G92 lathe threading. Improve error messages in G76
5) ModBus plug-in improvements
6) Added some code to set the position before the run to here is done

There may be other changes behind the scenes.

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

490

Announcements / Registered users -get NOTIFIED of announcements, click NOTIFY button above right

« on: February 19, 2015, 10:32:26 AM »

The NOTIFY function is available in all categories, not just ANNOUNCEMENTS.

To use the NOTIFY function you must be logged into the forum, and then navigate
to the area of the forum for which you wish to receive notifications.

If you want notifications for an entire category, navigate to the list of threads in that category.
You are currently looking at a single thread. If you want to be notified of all announcements
you should go back to the Announcements category before requesting to be notified, then click
on the NOTIFY button to the right side of the dark bar above the selection.

If you want notifications about a single thread, navigate to that thread, and then click on the
NOTIFY button to the right of the REPLY button above the dark bar.

If you are already set up for notifications, the button will read UNNOTIFY and will remove your
NOTIFY request.

You must be registered and provide a valid email address in order to receive notifications.

By default you will be sent one email when a new item is added. No additional emails will
be sent until you visit the forum again. If you desire automatic notifications for ALL new
posts in the selected area, you must change your notification settings in your profile here:

http://www.pmdx.com/PMDX-Forums/index.php?action=profile;area=notification

There is a drop down selection box that defaults to "Instantly - but only for the first unread reply".
This should be changed to just "Instantly" or any other option you prefer.

491

Box level controller products / Re: Sherline Compatibility

« on: February 18, 2015, 02:27:43 PM »

The product that we alluded to being more convenient and less expensive
is the PMDX-411. This is basically a PMDX-410 less the terminal strip and
crammed inside of a DB-25 plug. We have ordered the blank boards for
the production run and should have units available to order by the end
of next week, 28 February 2015.

492

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Mach4 build 2223 and new SmartBOB plugin released

« on: February 12, 2015, 08:40:47 PM »

Build 2223 of Mach4Hobby can be downloaded here:

http://www.machsupport.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Mach4Hobby%20Installer-2223.exe

.... or here:

http://www.pmdx.com/Downloads_Mach4/Mach4_Hobby_Releases/Mach4Hobby%20Installer-2223.exe

The updated SmartBOB plugin needed to run build 2223 can be downloaded here:

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

Build 2223 includes the following changes that will impact the user experience:

1) Added support for printing from gcEdit and mcLuaEdit screens
2) Added Native Language Support mechanism in wxMach, gcEdit, and mcLuaEdit
3) Fixed quirks with "decimal" character ( . vs , ) when using Native Language Support
4) Fixed bug with resuming after activating E-Stop while a homing operation was running

There may be other changes behind the scenes including:

5) Started adding infrastructure to API for rigid tapping

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

493

Announcements / Mach4 build 2223 and new SmartBOB plugin released

« on: February 12, 2015, 08:28:25 PM »

Build 2223 of Mach4Hobby can be downloaded here:

http://www.machsupport.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Mach4Hobby%20Installer-2223.exe

.... or here:

http://www.pmdx.com/Downloads_Mach4/Mach4_Hobby_Releases/Mach4Hobby%20Installer-2223.exe

The updated SmartBOB plugin needed to run build 2223 can be downloaded here:

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

Build 2223 includes the following changes that will impact the user experience:

1) Added support for printing from gcEdit and mcLuaEdit screens
2) Added Native Language Support mechanism in wxMach, gcEdit, and mcLuaEdit
3) Fixed quirks with "decimal" character ( . vs , ) when using Native Language Support
4) Fixed bug with resuming after activating E-Stop while a homing operation was running

There may be other changes behind the scenes including:

5) Started adding infrastructure to API for rigid tapping

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

494

Announcements / Mach4 build 2192 and new SmartBOB plugin released

« on: February 12, 2015, 08:27:00 PM »

Build 2192 of Mach4Hobby can be downloaded here:

http://www.machsupport.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Mach4Hobby%20Installer-2192.exe

.... or here:

http://www.pmdx.com/Downloads_Mach4/Mach4_Hobby_Releases/Mach4Hobby%20Installer-2192.exe

The updated SmartBOB plugin needed to run build 2192 can be downloaded here:

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

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

495

Cables, connectors, switches, contactors, sensors and other items / Re: Relays

« on: February 09, 2015, 06:17:21 PM »

Todd,

The logic outputs from the PMDX-126 can drive the solid state relay that you listed,
and most similar ones.

If speed is not an issue, you can use this style of SSR to control the coil of another
relay, or to control the AC mains input to a wall wart. Keep in mind that the turn
off delay on a wall wart may be several seconds as the laser bleeds down the filter
cap in the wall wart. If you have an electronics recycle place or similar nearby, you
may get lucky and actually find a 3 volt output wall wart.

Steve