[jtemple]

Hi all,

Looking into purchasing one of these pneumatic syringe pumps to use as an extruder for a 3D printer:

Nordson EFD | Ultimus

Ideally this syringe would be mounted on my Syil X4 mill and used as a hybrid 3D printer extruder. I would like to connect the pump to Mach3 so that everything can be controlled simultaneously with the same code. I was thinking of using the coolant commands (M7/M8/M9) to control turning the pump on and off. There are two kinds of connections from this pump to the PC: RS232 and 15-pin I/O. Any ideas as to how to control this system from Mach3?

I have little to no experience with electrical wiring and limited experience with Mach3 so please be thorough in your response if you can.

Thanks,

Josh

[underthetire]

We use the same units on a high precision stage. Easy breezy. Just need to close a contact (relay) on the I/O port to start the pumping operation. Pin 5 to pin 6.

[jtemple]

Excellent, I'm glad to hear that. Just to clarify are you also using Mach3 to handle the pump? If so how are your outputs configured?

Also if you could describe what kind of relay you are using and how you're connecting the PC to relay and relay to pump that would be great. Thanks again!

[underthetire]

No, I said high precision Personally I think Mach3 sucks A$$. We use Aerotech slides and software, and it's own controllers. (this is big$$$) Mach 3 should be easy to just use the output for the coolant pump though, and get a small relay for whatever breakout board your using. Micro relay would work fine, it's only about a 20ma through the I/O pins on your pump. All you would need to figure out is the output voltage of your breakout board.

[jtemple]

Gotcha! Okay, so there is already a relay system wired to the breakout board of the mill that's designated for the coolant pump. I've attached the wiring diagram. According to the manual, the first relay is controlled by 5vdc. So I'm assuming I can wire from the second relay to the Ultimus pins 5 and 6, correct? Or is it a problem that the second relay has a 220vac connection? How would I physically go about wiring the relay to the female I/O connector on the pump?

Sorry for all the questions! Like I say, I don't really have any experience in electrical matters.

[underthetire]

Don't think you need the second relay at all. All a relay is, is a switch. If the board has a relay on it, it's coil voltage is probably 5 vdc, but you don't care at this point. The coil switches dry contacts open or closed. The pump is only looking for a closed signal on those two lines. To use actual voltage input, it's different pins on the i/o. The second relay on that print would be for a higher current load, such as a motor, since a small board mount couldn't handle the inductive load of a motor. Hook up the board, put a meter on the output of relay 1 and cycle the coolant. You should see continuity then open as you switch the coolant on/off. Those schematics don't really tell me what's going on with relay 1. If it actually does output voltage as it appears in the drawing, then you will need to use the other I/o pins or another relay. Only a meter will tell us anything about it.

[jtemple]

Alright, well at least I know it's possible and we will go ahead and order the fluid dispenser. Thanks again for all the help, I may have a few more questions when we go about trying to set it up.

[underthetire]

The ones I set up were micro inch resolution. The stuff these PHD guys come up with after we get it working was amazing. A whole new world is coming...

[jtemple]

Not these PhD guys by any chance was it?

Omnidirectional Printing of 3D Microvascular Networks - Wu - 2011 - Advanced Materials - Wiley Online Library

[underthetire]

Not that I know of, but the biology department I don't go in to. They may be working on it. This is lets say, more of a mechanical application. It's so new, all the potential applications for this process have not been found yet. Most of the PHD guys in this department figure a layman can't understand what they are doing, only one of them will talk to us. I call it the Sheldon room.(big bang show reference) Funny thing is, they can't assemble or actually build much of anything, but can dream up crap that's mind blowing.