[whitehedr]

So I got up the nerve to unhook the pot and hook the
X2 control board to my G540. After stumbling a little
bit with the configuration it is up and running. One thing
I noticed is that the button that an operator can use to turn the
spindle on from the main prog run screen has a yellow led
on each end flashing while the spindle is running. The yellow led
is also flashing on the toolpath screen only it is larger. Is this
flashing an indication that the spindle is running under Mach control
or is it an indication that I have not set something up correctly? I have
what sounds to be full speed on the spindle motor. I bought a
tach on fleabay today so I can actually measure the speed. I did measure the output of the G540 and it was 10 voltsdc. It varies as I change the spindle speed as I expect it would.

Next step is to move the motor control PWB to my controller.

RWW

[TXFred]

Would you be willing to post your configuration file here? I tried to get spindle control going, but it did not work well. I suspect that I didn't have it set up correctly in the software, so I'd like to see what you did to set it up.

Fred

[whitehedr]

Hi Fred,

I am currently away from my machine, returning home on Sept 19th. I will be more than happy to post screen shots of the config pages to show what I have done to get it running.

What I remember doing was setting the ports and pins for the spindle moter to port #1, pin 14. Pin 14 is called out in ghe G540 documentation as the pin for the PWM signal.

On the spindle cofig tab I set the PWM Base freq to 50 and the Minimum PWM percentage to 20 percent.

I also checked the Disable Spindle Relays box because I am just using the PWM to control speed. There is no reversing for my mill.

I do not have an index pulse set up yet so I do not have RPM feedback going to MAch3 yet. That will be a future project.

I set the pully ratios based on the published speed of the gearbox. 2500 max on hi and 1100 on low. I think tis will change when I get a tach and actually measure the spindle speed. The tach willl be there when I get home.

I also will be using the LMS bet drive system for the spindle so I am anticipating the my spped numbers will change.

I hope this helps.

RWW

[forrest39]

Well done!
I'm way behind both of you guys but am headed the same direction with spindle control on the G540. I'll be watching this thread carefully so I don't have to reinvent the wheel!!!
Thanks for sharing.
-4ist

[wildwhl]

Hello -

I'm posting here hoping you can help me/I can help you

I also have my x2 running by the G540 and it has been working great. I've had a new issue pop up, after two weeks or so of perfection, in that whenever I use my estop switch - it pops the 5A fuse on the X2.

My setup is nearly the same as whitehedr, with a slightly different PWM pulse (don't recall at the moment).

It *seems* that the popping of the fuse started about the same time I managed to get flood coolant running. I sealed/moved the electronics on the x2 higher - and I'm confident they are not getting wet.

Any suggestions?

WW

[whitehedr]

How is your estop switch configured? Is it possible you have a wiring error in your estop circuit that shorts out one of the supply voltages?


You could also UNDO the config for the coolant and see if the problem goes away. Make sure that any switches/relays are wired correctly.

Another thing you could try is to leave the config in the machine but isolate the wiring to the coolant switches/relays.

RWW

[whitehedr]

HEre is a pdf document showing the config pages for my spindle setup.

The spindle pulleys page is pure speculation on my part. I have not had a chance to actually measure the spindle speed since the tach I bought was DOA out of the box. I am also out of time as I am heading for Arizona for a month and a half. We pull out Wednesday morning so I will be real busy tomorrow with final prep. I hope this document helps others working to hook up the G540 and a mini-mill. I will have limited access to the internet while traveling to Arizona but when I do have connectivity I will check this thread.

RWW

[wildwhl]

Thanks for the response. At this point the coolant is manual (I haven't wired the relay for it yet - I just turn it off/on manually) and is not wired at all to the G540 (yet).

The estop is wired per the Gecko manual - terminals 10 and 12 from memory? Like I said, what is strange is that it worked this way fine for quite a while. Now, even when coolant isn't present, it pops the fuse as soon as I hit the e-stop.

I'm con(fused)

WW

(and awesome pdf, by the way - good job!)

[whitehedr]

Stray swarf lurking where it should not be perhaps.

Did you UNDO the coolant config settings?

Unhook the spindle control wires from the G540 to the control board. Hook the pot back up and see if you get the blown fuse when you do an estop.

On my machine when I get an estop the spindle stops as well. If the machine does not blow the fuse with the pot controlling speed and does blow the fuse with the G540 controlling speed then you probably need to have a chat with Mariss over at Gecko.

RWW

[wildwhl]

Thanks whitehdr. There are no coolant config settings to undo...but the thought on going back to the pot is a valid one. I'll give it a shot. Stray swarf maybe...need to dig into it more.

WW

[albert_chuy]

please any chance you can post a wire diagram best regards