[effimos]

i've just recieved a TB6560 'advanced' controller (the 3.5A version with case) and everything works fine, except the Z-axis motor wil only turn clockwise...

-> i have set everything like it should in mach 3 (like in the manual in the attachment...)

- X-pulse: pin 2
- X-Dir: pin 3
- Y-pulse: pin 4
- Y-dir: pin 5
- Z-pulse: pin 6
- Z-dir: pin 7

- enable 1: pin 16

-> i have also measured the cable and he is NOT broken

-> i also have switched the motors to see if my motor isn't broken but with another motor the problem remains the same.

-> and as you can see in the picture below, when setting the 'dir low active' to 'ON' he still will only turn clockwise but instead of pushing the '-' sign you have to push the '+' sign.

so is could this be a hardware problem? or a settings problem?
and can this be meassured IF it is a hardware problem?

thanks in advance!!!

[ger21]

Measure the voltage of the Z axis direction pin (7) while jogging in both directions. It should be 0V in one direction, and 5V in the other. Start at the parallel port, with the drive disconnected. If it's good there, then measure at the drive.
If the voltage i sgood, try increasing the pulse width. If your using Mach3, try setting it to 10-15. If that doesn't work, try Sherline mode.

[RomanLini]

Maybe there is too much weight on the Z axis? If the electrical testing Ger21 suggested does not lead to a soultion you could disconnect all the weight from the Z axis motor and check the result.

[effimos]

Maybe there is too much weight on the Z axis? If the electrical testing Ger21 suggested does not lead to a soultion you could disconnect all the weight from the Z axis motor and check the result.

the motors are not connected to anything so that couldn't be the issue i guess

[effimos]

Measure the voltage of the Z axis direction pin (7) while jogging in both directions. It should be 0V in one direction, and 5V in the other. Start at the parallel port, with the drive disconnected. If it's good there, then measure at the drive.
If the voltage i sgood, try increasing the pulse width. If your using Mach3, try setting it to 10-15. If that doesn't work, try Sherline mode.

thanks!
i meassured it and pin 3 (Xdir) & 5 (Ydir) both give 0v in one direction and +5V in the other direction.
but pin 7 (Zdir) does give 0V in one direction but only gives +1.5V in the other direction.

what should/can i do next?

[ger21]

Where did you measure it?

[effimos]

Where did you measure it?

at the parallel port. without connecting the controller.

[crane550]

I ran into the same issue with Mach when setting up my new machine last week. It had to do with the Dir Low Active or something like that.

Verify that you do indeed have have correct pin for Dir set up in Mach. Then switch your settings one at a time for that Axis (then change them back before trying the next one). Start with the Dir High / Low active.

[effimos]

I ran into the same issue with Mach when setting up my new machine last week. It had to do with the Dir Low Active or something like that.

Verify that you do indeed have have correct pin for Dir set up in Mach. Then switch your settings one at a time for that Axis (then change them back before trying the next one). Start with the Dir High / Low active.

the dir low active is there so you can manualy set/choose direction of the motor when pushing '+' of '-'. but that's not the problem i think.
pin 7 is the correct pin but the voltage of the pin in incorrect (1.5V instead of 5V) and therefore the controller probably doesn't recognise the signal...

[CarveOne]

the dir low active is there so you can manualy set/choose direction of the motor when pushing '+' of '-'. but that's not the problem i think.
pin 7 is the correct pin but the voltage of the pin in incorrect (1.5V instead of 5V) and therefore the controller probably doesn't recognise the signal...

1.5v is not a valid TTL logic low (0) or a TTL high (1). Set to active high and it should measure ~5v. Then see if you can jog the motor in + and - directions. You should be able to jog it both directions in the MDI panel also. If that works, change the keyboard arrow key definitions to get that working correctly as well.

CarveOne

[effimos]

1.5v is not a valid TTL logic low (0) or a TTL high (1). Set to active high and it should measure ~5v. Then see if you can jog the motor in + and - directions. You should be able to jog it both directions in the MDI panel also. If that works, change the keyboard arrow key definitions to get that working correctly as well.

CarveOne

What do i have to set to high? Because i have tried to turn on and off the 'dir active low' and this makes no difference. The only difference is that the motor wil turn clockwise with either the + arrow or else with the - arrow. But i cannot make it turn counter clockwise.
Can you explain it a bit more please?

[effimos]

i've seen alot of people with the same problem, something about the parallel port of the pc not being able to output 5V on pin 7 and not alot of people get it solved...

until i've read about someone that just switched pin 9 with pin 7 in his cable and set pin 9 in Mach 3 as the 'dir' pin for the Z-axis.

this way the pc outputs 0V/5V on pin 9 while the controller board recieves the 0V/5V on it's own pin 7 (like it should!).

i've tested my pin 9 and this one does give 0V/5V so i'm going to try this too. (Pin 9 is normaly used for the 4th axis, wich i don't have so i can easely use it)

i'll update tomorow if this works....

[twistedfuse]

Possible that you may need to set your Parallel port to ECP/EPP mode. To do this it is done through your bios settings at computer startup.

If you have trouble just search google for the terms and you will find plenty of information on the setting and how to change it.

Daniel

[CarveOne]

What do i have to set to high? Because i have tried to turn on and off the 'dir active low' and this makes no difference. The only difference is that the motor wil turn clockwise with either the + arrow or else with the - arrow. But i cannot make it turn counter clockwise.
Can you explain it a bit more please?

The parallel port pin at the input to the breakout board (or the input to the G540 driver if you have that) for the DIR signal must have the correct voltages for the breakout board input circuitry. The breakout board output then sends the proper voltages to the coils of the motor(s).

Have you swapped the motor connections to see if the fault transfers to another motor? If one coil in the motor has an open circuit, or if there is an open wire to the motor, or if there is a bad breakout board driver output you will see no reversal even if the breakout board has good input signal voltages.

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

According to your description, the AC servo motor moves only one direction on the CNC machine, this could be caused by:
1- The signal cable from CNC control system to the AC servo motor is short circuit or broken.
2- The connecting component of the AC servo driver is broken.

Solution:
Check the signal cable or change the AC servo driver or send it back for repair.

The TB6560 is a step motor driver according to the PDF document. It appears to have no thermal, or open and short circuit protection in the motor output circuits. It may well be true that one output is damaged and in need of repair. These boards do not have a good reputation for reliability in this forum.

CarveOne

[effimos]

Where did you measure it?

now i've switched my pin 7 with pin 9 (inside the cable) and set the direction pin of the Z-axis in Mach3 to pin 9.
-> this means that my parallel port will output 0V/5V to pin 9 in the cable, but my controller recieves the 0V/5V on pin 7 (like it is intended)

so now i do meassure 0V and 5V on pin 7 when i jog my Z-axis in Mach3
-> only now the motor does nothing! he doesn't even turn in one diection anymore, he doesn't turn at all!!
(ps: he does 'lock in' when the power is turned on...)

and if i reset the pin to '7' again in mach3 while using the 'normal' cable again (without pin switching), i have 0V/1.5V again like before and the motor turns only clockwise, like it did before. (but he turns!)

what could be wrong?

i've checked/meassured the cable for defaults but everything is O.K.
the ONLY thing that has changed is that i now DO have 5V on pin 7 (with the cable tweeking) instead of 1.5V so logicaly this HAS to work, not?

it looks like the signal to make the motor turn has fallen away but how can i check this? AND how can this be when with the one cable he does turn (but only clockwise) and with the other cable he doesnt turn at all (while the only difference is that the dir pin is giving 5V like it should... all the other pins are EXACLY the same as in the other cable :S)

i hope you understand what i mean?

[louieatienza]

The TB6560 is a step motor driver according to the PDF document. It appears to have no thermal, or open and short circuit protection in the motor output circuits. It may well be true that one output is damaged and in need of repair. These boards do not have a good reputation for reliability in this forum.

CarveOne

+1... You're certainly not the first with crazy problems with this board, and certainly won't be the last! Have you tried running the z axis stepper off another axis?

[effimos]

+1... You're certainly not the first with crazy problems with this board, and certainly won't be the last! Have you tried running the z axis stepper off another axis?

so i've read
these boards do NOT have a good reputation.

but now the problem actually is not on the board but on my parallel port.
the port wil not output the right signals to pin 6 (for the stepper to activate) and pin 7 (for direction)

but your idea is kind of the way i repaired it now.
i mean... i've seen that pin 8 and pin 9 on my parallel output DID give the right signals.
so now i've made a custom parallel cable where pins 7 and 9 are switched and also pins 6 and 8 are switched.

in mach 3 i've then set the step pin to 8 instead of 6 and the dir pin to 9 instead of 7.
but by switching these pins inside the cable the board still recieves these signals on it's pins 6 and 7.

so problem soved!

[CarveOne]

Very good! I have used the Mach3 pin assignments to untangle the motor wiring in my control box so that I can run twisted pairs of wires more neatly from my breakout board to the G203v drives.

You can install a parallel port card in your computer if the computer's main board parallel port is not working correctly. Those that output the full 5v logic levels are getting more scarce though.

CarveOne