[RakmUp]

Hello...I have a 5-axis controller hooked up to motors and they spin seemingly randomly when engaging the system...but won't jog and for all I can see have no power when not engaging.

It is a logitrol control and ametek 40VDC servo motors. Instructions said if the motors don't run or run out of control...: "Try reversing the motor leads or the encoder Phase A/B leads (but not both!)."

I made a connection adapter cable and swapped the Motor Leads with that and still nothing. I only did one drive...not sure if that matters. It won't spin/jog. Thought that would be easier than the encoder cables swap.

I am checking the power cables and it appears there is no power to the motors when jogging even. I can get 40 VDC when engaging at the plug by the motor....stays 0 and the motors freely turn as in not engaged when jogging.

I also get no faults on Diagnostics tab of Mach3.

Any thoughts are appreciated!!

Thanks...
Chuck

[engnerdan]

Can you provide some more info on your system?
1. Make and Model of servo drives
2. Make and Model of servos
3. Breakout Board or motion controller you are using
4. Picture, schematic, or description of how you have it all connected?

-Dan

[RakmUp]

Thanks Dan!
1: I can't tell the individual drives maker...but the system was by Logitrol - Lowcostcncretrofits - from 2006. I heard they used Gecko's at least on some builds...but there are no markings that I can see. Pic attached.
2: Ametek Servos...40VDC...pic attached
3: Again...no interior labels but made by Logitrol.
4: I have a make shift schematic of the power supply as it had it's own issues prior to finding this roadblock. Nothing of the controller box.

[RakmUp]

Inside controller and PS schematic.

Attachment 288252Attachment 288254Attachment 288256Attachment 288258Attachment 288260

[RakmUp]

Attachment 288262

[jfong]

They are gecko320's without the aluminum cover on. You can go to geckodrive.com and get a copy of the PDF manual.

I have about a 8 of them running several machines. If the PID potentiometers are set wrong, they can cause the motor to spin erratic when initially powered up. The manual will tell you where to initially set them when setting up for the servo motors first time. The way they mounted the drives makes it slightly difficult to adjust the pots. You will need a short screwdriver.

[jfong]

If the servo motors do not lock up when power is on, the err/reset pin is probably enabled by either a Estop button or by the breakout board/motion controller/PC. If you don't have a manual schematic, you will have to trace the err/reset pin and see where it goes.

[RakmUp]

Thank you Jfong...kind of a relief there is a document for the drives. I received a 4 pager that just shows the parallel port connections and encoder pins, the pendant connections and the relay output...nothing internal. Really short screw-driver!
The manual doesn't show the PID clock positions...is it based on the drive flat on its back? All of them are set exactly same way...approx 45 degrees of square. A clue to where the start of the err/reset pin is? E-Stop is pin 10....same thing? Wouldn't Mach3 flag that?

[jfong]

Err/res is pin5 on the drive itself. The gecko manual gives a description on how that works and how to enable the drive if it is in fault condition. Since I can't tell how the drives are wired up inside the case, I could be giving you wrong information on how logitrol set them up.

Does the fault led on the drive turn on right away when you power up??

[jfong]

Make sure you download the older gecko320 manual and not the newer gecko320x which you do not have.

[RakmUp]

Yes...the lights are lit all the time. They blink a bit when engaging but on all the time, I did see I don't have the newer ones. The wire in pin 5 goes direct to the engage switch....says hold for 4 seconds then release...that is when the motors spin randomly...then they appear to go to the back of box to a plug where you can plug in limit switches. I don't have a lot of time this morning to see the whole route though.

Thanks for looking at this...

[jfong]

Ok the err/res is going to some enable switch, that's good.

First of all, I would unplug the parallel port cable going to your PC. Let's assume that there might be a pin i/o configuration error that might be causing a problem. We just want to see if the fault light goes off and the servo motor holds position.

Plug in one motor to a drive and turn on power. Hold enable switch atleast 5 seconds. What happens??

If the motor spins fast for a few seconds and enable light goes on there is a motor wiring issue.

Use a multimeter and check if there is +5 volts at the encoder motor plug.

Turn off all power.
Check the 4 encoder wires to see if good and wired correctly to servo drive.

If that all checks out, reverse the motor power cable.

Turn on power and press enable switch. Does the servo motor hold position now?

[RakmUp]

OK....step by step reporting:

LPT unplugged
only one motor plugged in
engage switch for 5+ seconds
motors spins intermittently as if only on a pulse.
Release switch...all fault lights go on (the powered one stayed on and flickered)
motor spins freely.
I do get 5 volts at encoder. All wires appear connected solidly to plug.

Reversed red and black at drive.
Power on...engaged....servo locked! ! Awesome! Wonder why that didn't work with the switching connector I made?...anyway!!! Maybe all powered had to be switched.

on to change other drives over and will continue to check out!

Thanks Jfong! excellent!

[jfong]

Good news. Once you have all servo motors installed, then plug in the parallel cable. You will have to configure the pinout I/O for all the step/direction pins, estop etc.

Hopefully they provided a port schematic in the instructions.

[RakmUp]

So now...I can get 3 axis' turning as desired. The other 2 I cannot. "A" needs to be slaved to Y and B is rotational. (or vice-verse)
They are powered and locked and hum a bit but will not turn with Y or by themselves.

I think I have Mach3 set properly for slaving and motor tuning. Watched several videos as well and haven't found anything further to help me.

When slaving an axis, do both Y and A have same hot button keys set or leave A blank (999)?

I have also swapped Z and B cables and now B turns on z key but Z-motor doesn't on B keys. So...if anything it is the drives for A & B that may be at issue? Not sure how to begin to trouble shoot those.

Also...my mach screen shows X,Y,Z and 4. There is only 4 axis...with 1 additional slaved. I assumed it would show DRO for all axis? I can live with it like that if I can get the slaved motor to turn with Y.

Is it going to be this way all the way through...a little progress...a block...a little progress...a block? ;-)

[jfong]

If the servo motor is locked and holds position, the drive is likely to be good. It's just a i/o configuration that is preventing it from moving.

I run a slave setup for my X axis. The slaved axis does not show up on the DRO. That would be confusing if it did.

It's been awhile since I had setup my mach3 config so I have to look at it again. I'm at work now.

[jfong]

Take a pic of the Mach3 i/o port pin config screen and post it.

Also post a pic of the logitrol port i/o config manual if you have it.

[RakmUp]

I don't know where I would be without you jumping in Jfong...thanks so much!

All drives tuned the same for now. They don't jerk when starting but seem slow. I'll fine tune that on the machine when moving mass. The one low value checked here has been tried both ways...grasping at straws.

Attachment 288542Attachment 288544Attachment 288546Attachment 288548Attachment 288550

[jfong]

Both my primary axis and its slave are on the same parallel port . Looks like you have your slaved B on your second parallel port. I don't know if that works for mach3, it should but I haven't tried it.

I would slave your Y axis with A axis so both are on the same port. Use your B as the rotary.

You can't really fine tune the PID until the motors are hooked up to the leadscrews anyway. The drive needs a load to get proper tune.

The pinouts for x,y,z,a look correctly entered into mach3.
You didn't provide the logitrol port specs for B.

If it still doesn't work, I would trace the step/direction wires for A and B and see if it actually goes to the correct drive connection. They may have hooked it up wrong in the factory.

[jfong]

Do you know your encoder specification? When testing a motor that isn't attached to a leadscrew, I always put the Mach3 "Step per" the same as the encoder pulses per rev. That way when I tell mach3 to move 1 inch, the motor will spin one complete revolution.