Re: How I fixed my Chinese TB6560 controller (updated)
My 12 yr old saved his money and bought a kit, off ebay, that included this latest tb6560 3 axis board (the one Joh-nny is working with), a 24v power supply, and 3 nema 23 6 wire motors. He's building a small cnc dremel/router. Nothing real complicated...2x4 frame, ball bearing drawer slides for guides, threaded rod for screws. We're trying to hook up one motor, to test out the system. We haven't even been able to get one axis to spin. I've read several things about the ports and pins in the instructions being wrong. We've tried several different settings and still nothing. When we hook up to the x axis, the motor locks up but will not turn when we jog in mach3. Now I'm reading about all of these mods to make the board work...I'm starting to think we are in way over our heads:mad:
Can anyone verify working port/pin settings for this board? Can anyone give us some basic ideas to at least get this thing to spin? I have a very disappointed 12 yr old, right now!
Re: How I fixed my Chinese TB6560 controller (updated)
Hi Jer,
I have the latest one too. These boards always work, the error is mostly with the software settings and later with steps sometimes. If the motor locks that means u r doing it right. Play around in Mach 3 and check some videos on youtube. I had a similar experience initially, bt managed to run after a lot of trial n error.
Re: How I fixed my Chinese TB6560 controller (updated)
Did you invert the enable Signal? It needs to be set as low to disable steppers, high to enable them. I didn't do that the first time i tried my board and had the same problem.
Also the mod's really aren't that difficult to do. You might even find that the board is usable as it is, especially if it's only for a small machine. Play around with the settings switch to halfstep mode. I'm sorry that I can't give you detailed instructions on how to set up mach3, as I'm using an Arduino to stream the G-Code via a usb-connection.
Re: How I fixed my Chinese TB6560 controller (updated)
Joh-nny, this is the first I have heard of inverting the enable signal. Is this a setting in Mach3? Which page? Thanks for the help!
Re: How I fixed my Chinese TB6560 controller (updated)
rajshinai, Thank you, also! It's good to know we are on the right track.
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Re: How I fixed my Chinese TB6560 controller (updated)
Hi all,
I've been reading this thread since some time and decided also to buy one of those boards from Ebay. They are cheap and I don't fear soldering :)
I also got the newest 3-axis version in combination with a power supply and three nema 23 steppers (1A). I didn't make any modifications and all axis seem to work. I will try to replace C25/C26/C27 as soon I get the parts. What's the point of jumpering the opto couplers if the board works with them untouched?
For those who have problems setting up the board with Mach3, take a look at the guide I got with my board. Fig.5 and Fig.6 on page 7 should help. And if you are a Mach3 beginner like me: Read the Mach3 manual! Especially the installation guide.
Re: How I fixed my Chinese TB6560 controller (updated)
Jumpering Optocouplers does indeed not improve functionallity. I ended up doing so though because I used the Optocouplers from the board to properly isolate the input (PC) from the Stepper driver. The board has one common ground accross the whole of the board which is really bad in case something goes wrong, because your PC could very well get damaged. I built myself a small extra PCB that properly implements an optical isolation with the optocouplers from the board (easy if your using an arduino with grbl which is what I'm doing, a bit harder if you use an LPT cable and a PC). The way the optocouplers are used on the board simply makes them useless.
Also remove the resistor i marked in one of my earlier posts, this reduces noise a great deal. I made some videos from before/after each mod, I'll be uploading those to youtube as soon as i've got some time.
Re: How I fixed my Chinese TB6560 controller (updated)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
FelixZ
Hi all,
I've been reading this thread since some time and decided also to buy one of those boards from Ebay. They are cheap and I don't fear soldering :)
I also got the newest 3-axis version in combination with a power supply and three nema 23 steppers (1A). I didn't make any modifications and all axis seem to work. I will try to replace C25/C26/C27 as soon I get the parts. What's the point of jumpering the opto couplers if the board works with them untouched?
For those who have problems setting up the board with Mach3, take a look at the guide I got with my board. Fig.5 and Fig.6 on page 7 should help. And if you are a Mach3 beginner like me: Read the Mach3 manual! Especially the installation guide.
Felixz, thanks for posting this guide! We were finally able to get my son's setup to work, using this guide! Thanks again!
Re: Blue board modification
I removed the R55, R60, R61 and replaced C25, C26, C27 by 270pF as Joh-nny recommended. My board is now working with much more steps per second than before (about 2.5x on 1/8 step mode)!
Thank you!
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Re: How I fixed my Chinese TB6560 controller (updated)
Hi guys,
Firstly, thanks for taking the time to post your findings on the problems with this board, and for sharing the information on how to fix them.
I have a board which looks slightly different to the pictures on this thread, but it seems to be suffering with the same problem, missing steps when using mach3, even when the speed is set to just 50%. If i move more than 1 axis at a time it also happens. The DRO might say i've moved 10mm when I might have only moved 2mm.
My setup is a cheap little X2 mill, pc running mach3, 6560 board and some arcade buttons and levers in a custom built touch screen display console with a jpac USB arcade controller to manually control each axis.
By looking at the pictures i've attached, can anyone please tell me if it's possible to fix my board with the same components (resistors, capacitors etc) and where to solder the parts?
Thanks, Alan
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Re: How I fixed my Chinese TB6560 controller (updated)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
AlanVK
Hi guys,
Firstly, thanks for taking the time to post your findings on the problems with this board, and for sharing the information on how to fix them.
I have a board which looks slightly different to the pictures on this thread, but it seems to be suffering with the same problem, missing steps when using mach3, even when the speed is set to just 50%. If i move more than 1 axis at a time it also happens. The DRO might say i've moved 10mm when I might have only moved 2mm.
My setup is a cheap little X2 mill, pc running mach3, 6560 board and some arcade buttons and levers in a custom built touch screen display console with a jpac USB arcade controller to manually control each axis.
By looking at the pictures I've attached, can anyone please tell me if it's possible to fix my board with the same components (resistors, capacitors etc) and where to solder the parts?
Thanks, Alan
There are some users have the knowledge and desire to experiment and tweak this board and be happy with it. However, Those in the know understand how poorly designed this board is. I had this board and threw it away after trying to give it away.. Simply because even though I have the ability to make the mod there are too many other negative variables with this board that will make it no fun to operate.
One could spend hours with it dreaming of a very low cost means to get 5 axis. The reality is this board is junk. The driver chips themselves are old school and have known faults that newer systems do not worry about. You can be running along fine and suddenly another problem rears its head. This may have been a good deal 20 yrs ago. But today I feel one would be better served purchasing a hobbyCNC kit with motors at a very low cost and be done with it.