[Valguy1]

I recently bought a MultiCam44+ table that had been in storage for about 5 years. I believe the CNC had been reworked by the sign company that I got it from. Apparently, the company began experiencing some problems with the Z axis. The company was planning on reworking the control scheme so they had some extra parts which I received. Ultimately they bought a 5 x 10 machine.

My question is: What makes sense in 2024 as far as controllers / motion software / interface cabling, etc? The CNC I bought has a 2 hp Perske Spindle, 4 NEMA 23 stepper motors, 365 Oz. The controller / breakout board appears to be what I’ve heard referred to as a C10 Card. I have a 36 volt power supply and a Hyong VFD to drive the spindle, ~ 4 limit switches that appear to be Prox type, 4 drivers for the motors. Motor Diver cables have resistors wired inline.

In addition, I have a brand new GeckoG540 Controller, a spare NEMA23 motor, a spare Limit Switch or two and 4 non solder YL-SMG-90M cable ends to connect to the G540. I believe the company planned to use the G540 and eliminate the drivers and C10 card. They were running Mach3 Software.

So here we are in 2024 . I haven’t decided on a Computer yet and or Parallel/USB (UC100?) or Ethernet (UC400?) interface. I’ve plugged in the 120 and have a red light on the C10 Card and the Limit Switches are lit up. My thought is to bring the CNC home and hook up the single phase 240 which runs the VFD and the vacuum motor. I was planning on buying a UCB 100 to cycle the machine off of a laptop or a desktop. I was going to use the Mach3 Trial to jog the machine.

Once I saw movement I intended to remove the drivers and C10 card and replace all with the G540. That seems like a much simpler controller. I think I can run relays to the VFD, wire in the Limit Switches, and control the VFD speed from the G540. I was going to use the non solder plugs to terminate properly for the G540.

Now is where my confusion starts. I think I can jog the unit with a standard parallel cord from a desktop or use a UC100 and a laptop using Mach 3 Trial. The question is…….. Do I want to use the Mach3 going forward? I understand it has been out of support for years now. With a UC100 or a UC400? If UC400 I think there are other programs that could be used in lieu of Mach3 and I will need a separate power supply if (is it) uncc software is used. I’d also like to keep using the g540 and add a Pendant if possible.

Lots of questions I know. I’ve watched countless hours of youtube videos, but, then I notice the advice might be 8 years old or 12 years old. I think I’m at a spot right now where I can go in a couple of different directions in regard to controller and motion control software. I’d appreciate some advice on what to do moving forward.

I plan to use the CNC for wood and HPU signage, mostly,

Thanks in advance.

[joeavaerage]

Hi,

Once I saw movement I intended to remove the drivers and C10 card and replace all with the G540. That seems like a much simpler controller.

Yes, it is a simple solution, but is quite limited. Firstly the G540 has a max voltage of 50VDC...and that is not enough. It might have been OK back in the days when the G540 was 'current', but it is
well behind the curve now. You should aim for individual stepper drives of at least 80VDC, they are the current 'norm'. Second issue is that the G540 has just one 'ports worth' of IO,
ie the equivalent of one parallel port or 17 IO's. That might have been OK decades ago, but these days we want and need more.


A UC100 has one port or 17 IO's
A UC400 has two ports or 34 IO's
A UC300 has five ports or 85 IO's.

Clearly the UC400 or UC300 are better for a new machine.

I haven’t decided on a Computer yet and or Parallel/USB (UC100?) or Ethernet (UC400?) interface.

A parallel port is just too far behind to be considered. It was great in the early days, it was cheap and it worked....mostly. Today is is just way WAY WAY behind. USB is quite noise prone, thus you want
an Ethernet connected motion board.

I myself use an Ethernet SmoothStepper (51 IO's), and have a number of reasons to believe it is superior to any of the CNCDrive boards (UC100,UC400,UC300), but be aware I am biased. In particular the ESS
by Warp9TD has a better Mach4 plugin.

With either of these boards (ESS or UC300) you'll need a breakout board, and for quality and completeness I'd recommend an MB3 for an ESS or a UB1 for a UC300. They are both CNCRoom products.

All development on Mach3 ceased nine years ago. Not withstanding that it still works and has a loyal fanbase its obsolete. I use Mach4, and have done for nine years, having used Mach3 prior to that.
In my opinion Mach4 is light years ahead.

If you are keen on the CNCDrive motion borads, UC100, UC300 etc the UCCNC by CNCDrive is comparable and competitive with Mach4. Mach4 has the edge if you want to customise your machine, its GUI editor is pretty complete
and its scripting language (Lua) and program structure allow you to do many things to customize your machine to your needs. If your machine is fairly conventional then you may not need a great deal of custom code, in which case
UCCNC is as good as Mach4.

Craig

[Valguy1]

This is great info. Thanks so much. I am confused about a couple of things though. The motors I have are (4) KL23H286-20-8B I understand them to be rated to 50 vdc and 2.8 amps/ea. The power supply I have is a kl-350-36 36V 9.7A Looks to me like the Power Supply was undersized both in terms of Volts and Amperage for the (4) NEMA 23s - so I figured a 48 volt power supply was in order anyway. I'm confused about the 80 volt Drivers though. Seems like a 48V 12 A Power supply would have driven the motors to almost their max capability.

[joeavaerage]

Hi,
those steppers even when in parallel winding config are still 6.8mH inductance, which is moderately high. Ideally they would have 2mH or less.

ALL steppers lose torque the faster they go, its the physics of steppers. The higher the inductance the worse that torque degradation with speed is. Your steppers are only fair at best.
The classic way to overcome the degradation is to use a higher voltage driver, so in your case you want as high as you can get, I would suggest 80VDC as a minimum or some readily
available moderately priced drivers are 110VDC or 80VAC, which is equivalent.

A stepper does not have a voltage rating per se. It has a current rating, and to exceed that rating is to over heat and destroy it. Voltage however can go up until it sparks out inside, usually hundreds
of volts. As a general rule current is what generates torque while the higher the voltage the torque remains the same (fixed by current) but the stepper can go faster.

The steppers are rated at 2.8A each, so with four of them then 11.2A, but seldom if ever do they all draw max current at the same time, so a power supply of half to two thirds, ie 6 to 9A would be
ample.

A driver is a bit like a transformer, but one that operates on DC. Despite the stepper taking 2.8A continuously the driver 'transforms' the input voltage, say 80VDC, down to 5V or so, just enough to drive 28A
through the winding. Like a transformer as the voltage is transformed down the current is transformed up. So the driver may only consume 2.8 x 5/80 =0.15A and yet still deliver 2.8A to the stepper!!
It that clever or what?? The only time the full voltage is applied to the stepper is at that instant when it 'steps', and that is when you need the high voltage to make the bloody thing take notice!.

The bottom line is don't worry too much about the power supply current, but get the highest voltage you can. Second issue is that most people buy switch mode power supplies because they are cheap in this power range,
but linear supplies are better. They handle overloads like a champ whereas switch mode supplies just give up the ghost or worse blow up.

This would kick arse: 90VDC @ 11A or 1000W, linear and well made. When you finish with it you can melt it down a make a f*****king tank with it!.

https://www.antekinc.com/ps-10n90-10...-power-supply/

Craig

[arturod]

I think we can help you. We have done lots of those machines. Please reach out to us: https://cnc4pc.com/contact

Make sure to send pictures.

Check these out:
https://cnc4pc.com/blog/post/mach4-atc-toolchanger
https://cnc4pc.com/forum/projects/to...acro-for-uccnc

Arturo Duncan
https://cnc4pc.com