[David Da Costa]

bp092 I got the limit switches from CNC4PC along with the C11 (not C11G) board. The e-stop switch came from IMSRV (http://www.cadcamcadcam.com/index.as...S&Category=16).

Other cables connectors I had hanging around.

Ger21, thanks for the infor, I am now thinking about getting the hobbyCNC kit to replace the xylotex as it seems that it may be better suited to Joe's machine.

[bp092]

David, so you would advise against the xylotex now? Any specific reasons? Or should I stick with it? I like it because it's all complete for you and cuts out any soldering. But if you think the hobbycnc one is better let me know, would be good info.

[David Da Costa]

Not sure yet bp092, I need to do some more research, but I am a bit concerned that the controller may not be rated high enough.

[David Da Costa]

Does anyone know if the 269 oz.in stepper motors I got with my Xylotex kit will work with the HobyCNC board?

Thanks

David

[joecnc2006]

Does anyone know if the 269 oz.in stepper motors I got with my Xylotex kit will work with the HobyCNC board?

Thanks

David

I believe those are 4 wire bi-polar drives, so no they will not work.

what i would do is get another power supply and try it out before switching electronics.

Do you have a couple of Comp. PSU's you can wire in series to get 24v 10-12amps? that way you can eliminate if it is an amp issue.

[David Da Costa]

Thanks Joe, I will have to check what I have when I get home.

[bp092]

David, have you talked to xylotex? It's their product, they should be able to help you with htis kind of stuff. And what do you mean but you don't think it is rated high enough? As in it isn't putting out enough power to push a machine like this? Haven't other people on here successfully used xylotex kits?

[ger21]

You might want to consider changing leadscrews to a 1/2-8 2 start screw. The motor would spin at 40% of the speed it does using 1/2-10. Because steppers have more torque the slower they spin, you might find you can go faster with the same motors and drive. Joe bumped this thread that used this method.
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23546

[David Da Costa]

Thanks Gerry.

I am now back from SF MacWorld so before I do anything else I am going to check to see what voltage the power supply is set at and also what VRef the controller is set to. These were all preset by Xylotex as I bought their system ready kit.

David

[David Da Costa]

Well I spent the day trying to solve the problem of missing steps/ stalling on the z axis. I stripped the z-axis down and am quite happy that it is running a smooth as possible.

I also checked the power supply and the vref on the xylotex board and the psu was set to 27.5v so I increased it to its max of 28.5v. The vref for all 3 axis was set at 3.3 so I increased that to the max of 3.6.

This made no noticeable difference. I played around with the motor tuning in mach 3 but was unable to solve the problem even with the speed and accel set very low. I even hooked up a more powerful PC and no difference.

The problem only seems to occur when moving the z axis up.

I am getting very close to ordering the hobbycnc kit as I am running out of ideas.

Does anyone with a "Joe router" actually have a xylotex setup running okay?

Joe if I order the HobbyCNC package should I get the transformer they recommend from Allied or should I get something else?

Feeling quite frustrated at the moment.

[DougO]

This is not sounding good David. The Xylotex 269 is the kit I have. After installing the z carriage I thought that was going to be a lot of work for those little motors. And I haven't included the router yet. This is not a light machine.

Hope you enjoyed your trip.

Doug

[David Da Costa]

Joe (or others) what do you think about using the xylotex 425 oz/in steppers instead of the 269's I have now. I am not to concerned about high end speed and would be quite happy at 60 ipm.

David

[joecnc2006]

Well I spent the day trying to solve the problem of missing steps/ stalling on the z axis. I stripped the z-axis down and am quite happy that it is running a smooth as possible.

I also checked the power supply and the vref on the xylotex board and the psu was set to 27.5v so I increased it to its max of 28.5v. The vref for all 3 axis was set at 3.3 so I increased that to the max of 3.6.

This made no noticeable difference. I played around with the motor tuning in mach 3 but was unable to solve the problem even with the speed and accel set very low. I even hooked up a more powerful PC and no difference.

The problem only seems to occur when moving the z axis up.

I am getting very close to ordering the hobbycnc kit as I am running out of ideas.

Does anyone with a "Joe router" actually have a xylotex setup running okay?

Joe if I order the HobbyCNC package should I get the transformer they recommend from Allied or should I get something else?

Feeling quite frustrated at the moment.

Yes you need the 10amp transformer, I would 1st try to change the PSU to make sure it is not the amps.

When you jog does the z axis work fine by itself?

[gtschance]

All,

I am using the Xylotex drive with 3 425 oz/in stepper motors on my Joe R2 machine. I have so far only cut air but am getting very close to having my setup permanently mounted on my garage work table storage lift mechanism (pictures forthcoming). So far, I am getting what appears to be reliable moves (no lost steps) from all 3 using some of the various "stress test" G-code and a few signs (from Vcarve) that I hope to cut for real soon.

The PC driving the setup is a Dell GX60 (1.8 GHz). I am using Mach3. I use a CandCNC Mini-IO in front of the Xylotex driver board.

In my case I have the Xylotex set to do 1/8 stepping but hear that 1/4 shoud be good enough. I have a Xylotex 24 V power supply and the settings were done by me using a Digital Volt Meter (that I trust). All three motors will do at least 80 IPM plus without issue. My problem axis remains X but I am getting close - my previous problem was inaccurate surfaces on my bearing blocks (bearing blocks for x were very bad, y moderately bad and z appeared perfect).

Today, just as a test, I put a temporary clamp that pulled on the bottom of my table end panels (spreading them further) and was able to drive x up to 100 IPM without vibration.

I can drive my Z (with the Hitachi router mounted) at 120 IPM without issue so far.

I stress however, I have NOT yet cut anything but air.

George

[David Da Costa]

It works fine if you give it plenty of throttle, but if you move it slowly up (I am using a Shuttle express as a jog controller) you can get the motor to stall and also if you repeatedly move fast up and down it will eventually stall going up.

I think the main issue is when doing a rapid up (G0) at say 20 ipm it is missing steps causing it to then feed down lower than intended.

My test run is based on cutting one of the sides of the gantry and the first operation is to drill the holes and I have not yet got past this step as if ends up trying to drill the holes increasingly deeper because of it losing a few step each time on its rapid up. This is even at a motor setting speed of 30 and accel of 1.5 with pulse widths set to high numbers like 4.

[David Da Costa]

That's interesting George. I loose steps cutting air! What volts do you have the power supply set to and also the vrefs?

It would seem that maybe I should get the 425's

[joecnc2006]

Don't forget I am Using 200oz.in. motors with no problem, so the 269oz. should work. my power supply is 36v 10amp.

David I am pretty sure it is your PSU if you increase power you can push the motors more to work with the machine.

[David Da Costa]

Can you recommend a power supply and source? I am not that good at electronics so if someone can point me in he direction of a higher rated supply that will work with the xylotex card I will be grateful.

Thanks

[joecnc2006]

i'm trying to figure out your problem, plus looking for links for you, i have been looking for 20 mins now

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showth...t=computer+psu

Joe

[David Da Costa]

Thanks Joe - much appreciated!!!