Hi all,
I bought a Chinese (Redsail) CNC router several months ago. I was surprised (=disappointed) to find that the only way to operate the spindle motor was to use the front panel controls on the VFD.
I have therefore replaced the supplied breakout board with one that has integrated spindle control (0-10V output).
I can get the X, Y, Z and A-axis motors to turn, but I cannot get more than 4.0 volts from the breakout board output.
As shown in the results of my testing (below), I have also found that the voltage does not change when different speed commands are issued in Mach3.
The settings used to get 4.0 volts are;
Spindle Pulley Number 1
Min = 0, Max =24000, Ratio = 1 (adjusting these settings made no difference)
Engine Configuration > Ports and pins > Motor Outputs
Spindle Enabled √, Step Pin = 14, Dir pin = 1, Dir Low Active = X, Step Low Active = X,
Step port = 1, Dir port = 2 (adjusting these settings made no difference)
Engine Configuration > Ports and pins > Spindle Setup
√ Disable Spindle Relays
√ Disable Flood/Mist relays
□ ModBus Spindle – Use Step/Dir as well
√ Use Spindle Motor Output
√ PWM Control
□ Step/Dir Motor
PWM Base Freq. = 4166
Minimum PWM = 5%
Spindle Motor Movement Profile
Steps per = 60, Velocity = 24000, Acceleration = 100
The following tests were done using a multi-meter connected to the 0-10V output and GND on the breakout board. The VFD was disconnected. The 10V adjust trimpot on the breakout board was set to maximum.
As you can see, the only factor that affected the output voltage was the PWM Base Frequency settings;
Config>Ports and pins>Motor Outputs – Spindle Setup
PWM Base Freq 4166 (= the highest I can set it to)
Minimum PWM 5
S6040 0.01V
S6041 4.00V
S12000 4.00V
S24000 4.00V
PWM Base Freq 2083
Minimum PWM 5
S2999 0.01V
S3000 2.14V
S12000 2.14V
S24000 2.14V
PWM Base Freq 1000
Minimum PWM 5
S1959 0.01V
S1960 1.08V
S12000 1.07V
S24000 1.07V
PWM Base Freq 250
Minimum PWM 5
S1239 0.01V
S1240 0.28V
S12000 0.28V
S24000 0.28V
PWM Base Freq 50
Minimum PWM 5
S1000 62mV
S12000 62mV
S24000 62mV
I also tried different Step Pulse and Dir Pulse settings (from 0 to 10us) which made no difference to the output voltage.
Just in case it matters, here are some details of the rest of the set up;
Computer
Desktop Pentium 4 2.8GHz running Windows XP (with built-in DB25 parallel port set to EPP mode)
1 Gb RAM
Mach3
(Version R3.043.066) Kernel Speed 25000Hz
Breakout Board
Unbranded Breakout board with 0-10V PWM output
Identical to this one - CNC Interface Board Adapter Controllable Conversion Spindle MACH3 KCAM4 EMC2 | eBay
Another page with this board - Pictures of CNC Router MACH-CNC Interface Board For PC MACH3 KCAM4,Buy CNC Router MACH-CNC Interface Board For PC MACH3 KCAM4 Products from Weiku.com
VFD
Xinfutai VFD (model FT-C001521 KDI)
INPUT: 1 PHASE 220v 50/60Hz
OUTPUT: 3PH 220V 7A 150%
Spindle motor
JGF-65B-1.0KW
1.0KW 220V 3.33A
400Hz 24000rpm
Redsail Tech. Co., Ltd.
Http://www.hflaser.com
At this stage I am assuming that there is a fault in the breakout board. I would appreciate any other ideas before I buy another breakout board.
Cheers