[jjku]

We got a new NM135 with Mach3 and we're having difficulties with the spindle.

Running M3S500 won't start the spindle. At M3S900 the spindle starts to spin and at M3S1000 it seems to spin at full speed. Setting the spin rate faster than 1000 doesn't seem to change the speed at all.

We ran the automatic spindle motor tuning. But it didn't do anything.
We're completely new to this.

Another question is that when we got the machine, there is a setup PDF for the Mach3mill. The problem is that the setup seems to make things worse, so we just work off of the NM135Universal profile. Is that right?

[ihavenofish]

We got a new NM135 with Mach3 and we're having difficulties with the spindle.

Running M3S500 won't start the spindle. At M3S900 the spindle starts to spin and at M3S1000 it seems to spin at full speed. Setting the spin rate faster than 1000 doesn't seem to change the speed at all.

We ran the automatic spindle motor tuning. But it didn't do anything.
We're completely new to this.

Another question is that when we got the machine, there is a setup PDF for the Mach3mill. The problem is that the setup seems to make things worse, so we just work off of the NM135Universal profile. Is that right?

i think you should work off the universal. as for spindle... my memory escapes me as to how to get the numbers right. theres 2 spots where it could be messed up. one is in the pulley setup, and one in motor tuning.

being a long weekend, i dont know if youll get an tech answer from novakon til tuesday. maybe someone else knows more.

we had to adjust the nm200 for the same reasons, but novakons tech came and did it, not me.

[jjku]

Thanks for the reply. I'll try to look into that. I'll post my results for all to see

[jjku]

Ok.... got the spindle to work, but only kind of.

1. In Mach3 under spindle, should the actual RPM of the spindle show up there? If I run M3S1000 beside the S I see 1000 and beside S-ov I see 1000 but RPM has 0. I thought there was a spindle feedback system on these machines...

2. Can anyone get speeds between 500 and 1000? It appears that I can go from 500 to 1000 but nothing in between. For what we need it for, we need to have variable speeds between 500 and 1000. Should it be able to step between 500, 600, 700, 800, 900 and then 1000?

Novakon tech was really nice, but had little input as to whether the machine could do those speeds. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

[ihavenofish]

Ok.... got the spindle to work, but only kind of.

1. In Mach3 under spindle, should the actual RPM of the spindle show up there? If I run M3S1000 beside the S I see 1000 and beside S-ov I see 1000 but RPM has 0. I thought there was a spindle feedback system on these machines...

2. Can anyone get speeds between 500 and 1000? It appears that I can go from 500 to 1000 but nothing in between. For what we need it for, we need to have variable speeds between 500 and 1000. Should it be able to step between 500, 600, 700, 800, 900 and then 1000?

Novakon tech was really nice, but had little input as to whether the machine could do those speeds. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

there is not spindle speed feedback in mach3.

my spindle is back to being screwed up i found - after i switched control computers.

ill have figure out the exact setup and post it. might not be for a few days though.

[jjku]

Ok.... got the spindle to work, but only kind of.

1. In Mach3 under spindle, should the actual RPM of the spindle show up there? If I run M3S1000 beside the S I see 1000 and beside S-ov I see 1000 but RPM has 0. I thought there was a spindle feedback system on these machines...

2. Can anyone get speeds between 500 and 1000? It appears that I can go from 500 to 1000 but nothing in between. For what we need it for, we need to have variable speeds between 500 and 1000. Should it be able to step between 500, 600, 700, 800, 900 and then 1000?

Novakon tech was really nice, but had little input as to whether the machine could do those speeds. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

[jjku]

there is not spindle speed feedback in mach3.

my spindle is back to being screwed up i found - after i switched control computers.

ill have figure out the exact setup and post it. might not be for a few days though.

Ahh ok.

Thanks for the heads up. Looking forward to seeing the setup.

[g29cc]

In the Motor configuration menu there is spindle settings. You will have to play with that to get your motor "tuned" to get it to what you want.

My NM 200 was double the rpm. If I wanted 1000 rpm, I had to type in 500 rpm. So I changed and tweaked settings till I got the rpm to run at 1000 ( close to its something like 975 rpm at 1000 rpm, 2000 rpm is like 2014 rpm etc ). It wont be exact. And there is no feedback to mach with rpm on my NM200 either.

[Frogblender]

Can anyone get speeds between 500 and 1000? It appears that I can go from 500 to 1000 but nothing in between. For what we need it for, we need to have variable speeds between 500 and 1000. Should it be able to step between 500, 600, 700, 800, 900 and then 1000?

Attached is my spindle setup from Mach3, which works great above 1000rpm. Values were obtained by trial/error. Below 1000rpm is a bit of a crapshoot (M3S500 usually won't start the spindle spinning).

When I was diddling with rpms, I bought an almost-free handheld tachometer from ebay, which is very handy. The attached data shows RPM as set by the "S" command, and resulting RPMs measured by the tach. you can see it is not exactly precise, but good enough, especially considering 99% of the time the mill is pegged at max rpms.


I've never had a need to go below 1000rpms, so it's never been a problem. I'm pretty sure my NM135 motor would never reliably get 500, 600, 700, 800, 900 (the controller doesn't seem to respond fast enough when the motor stalls at these slow speeds). If I did need that slow, I'd consider replacing the two toothed pulleys with another set with a 2:1 ratio - this'll give you twice the torque (which you probably want for whatever you're doing at 500rpm **what are you doing at 500rpm??**), and puts the motor into a reliable RPM range.

[ihavenofish]

ahhh. well that rules out the advice from me and g29cc. the older nm200 machines use step and direction for spindle control. the more recent 135's use pwm control which is entirely different.

[Frogblender]

ahhh. well that rules out the advice from me and g29cc. the older nm200 machines use step and direction for spindle control. the more recent 135's use pwm control which is entirely different.

My 135 is from Apr09 - not that new; one of the first with the 6000rpm spindle.

[JoeBean]

Dealexcel.com has some really cheap tachs that work decently. Free shipping too.

[jjku]

Attached is my spindle setup from Mach3, which works great above 1000rpm. Values were obtained by trial/error. Below 1000rpm is a bit of a crapshoot (M3S500 usually won't start the spindle spinning).

When I was diddling with rpms, I bought an almost-free handheld tachometer from ebay, which is very handy. The attached data shows RPM as set by the "S" command, and resulting RPMs measured by the tach. you can see it is not exactly precise, but good enough, especially considering 99% of the time the mill is pegged at max rpms.


I've never had a need to go below 1000rpms, so it's never been a problem. I'm pretty sure my NM135 motor would never reliably get 500, 600, 700, 800, 900 (the controller doesn't seem to respond fast enough when the motor stalls at these slow speeds). If I did need that slow, I'd consider replacing the two toothed pulleys with another set with a 2:1 ratio - this'll give you twice the torque (which you probably want for whatever you're doing at 500rpm **what are you doing at 500rpm??**), and puts the motor into a reliable RPM range.

Thank you for the input! I'm using the slow speeds to tap into aluminium and hardened steel. Not sure if this machine can do it then. I got a reversible tap and it seems to be performing at 500.

I do have a tachometer from Reed. At 500 RPM I get 410 RPM consistently, so at least that is "reliable". Between 500 and 1000... pretty much nothing happens, it always spins at 410.

If anyone has replaced the controller with something more reliable, please let me know.

[jjku]

My 135 is from Apr09 - not that new; one of the first with the 6000rpm spindle.

Yeah... our machine is fairly recent and does the 6000.

[jjku]

If you guys were to replace the controller board. Which controller board would you choose to get the most control out of the spindle?

[LeeWay]

I don't have a Novakon, but I do use Mach to control the spindle on my home made lathe and mill.

I use Homann Designs speed control board. Tiny little thing. Deceptively small. Works big.
I used the DC-06 model.

Both my machines use a DCmotor. I use the motor speed controllers from Surplus Center.

I am running my mill on 220 VAC and 110 on the lathe. I set up using the top speed I want to use, which is 6600 on the mill. Then I selected my slowest speed possible to actually mill something. I was able to dial in near exact for those two speeds. In between though was off a bit more, but still in range. Not good enough for rigid tapping, but well within parameters for milling.

[RonGinger]

Dont forget to set the pulley speeds, Under config pulley you set the min and max speed for each pulley. Mach uses that. Even if you use only 1 pulley you must set pulley #1 to the right values.

[JoeBean]

Just out of curiosity, is the controller on this mill made by Sangmutan (it would have a rip-off Harley Davidson logo slapped all over it)? If so there are a couple things outlined in this thread that might help you out. In particular, note how to drive the board with a standard 0-5V input signal, so you could use an output from a parallel port, or just a power supply, to test to see if it's the signal that's screwing up the speed. It seems that those in that thread did get consistent speeds.

I did manage to complete the spindle calibration and I am within 50rpm across the board with the speeds I have randomly tested. I can live with that and I can reverse the spindle with the m4/m3 commands so that is good.

If you still have troubles posting over there, or PMing or emailing "Kung Fu Panda" may get you an answer. He seems pretty helpful and knowledgeable (note the photo & instructions on p5 of the thread for connecting to 120V).

[jjku]

Dont forget to set the pulley speeds, Under config pulley you set the min and max speed for each pulley. Mach uses that. Even if you use only 1 pulley you must set pulley #1 to the right values.

Yeah. I set the pulley ratios. Doesn't matter what I do, if I put M3S500 all the way to M3S900 it goes 410 RPM (read with a tach).

Is it possible that no one else taps with this machine?

[trauba]

Yeah. I set the pulley ratios. Doesn't matter what I do, if I put M3S500 all the way to M3S900 it goes 410 RPM (read with a tach).

Is it possible that no one else taps with this machine?

Were you ever able to tap threads with the NM-135?