[Bob La Londe]

C23 Analog Output Not Working

I have a 12VDC hooked up to input. Step is set to pin 14. Spindle is set as step direction. No matter what I do the 0-10VDC output just give .010VDC.

I am not sure the problem is in the C23 yet though. I would figure the pin 14 LED would light if it was getting the signal from the smoothstepper.

[keebler303]

I guess the problem is with mach. You setup your spindle in motor tuning and it is enabled in ports and pins?

[Bob La Londe]

The problem is you have to setup the spindle in the Smoothstepper too....

Well, my service call for this morning rescheduled again... I spent the morning configuring the VFD for system control. Its was a little trickier than the proximity homing switches I configured yesterday. I'll need to find my optical tachometer and do some calibration, but its working. I did shorten the spin up time substantially. There is a slight delay between time the VFD reaches frequency and the motor reaches the set speed, but its pretty close. I've got 0-60hz set at 2 seconds. It takes right at 5 seconds for the motor to reach full speed at 3600 RPM apx at 120Hz..

There were a couple hangups. You have to setup the configuration in Mach 3, tie in the BOB, program the VFD, and configure the spindle control in the Smoothstepper. The VFD is weird too. It needs to be in external control only mode to work with external start and frequency, but it needs to be in panel control made to program. Then the BOB wants 25Khz signal source settings for the spindle controller. The lowest spindle frequency setting from the smooth stepper I saw was 32Khz. On top of that the speed, steps, and acceleration settings in the documentation for the BOB aren't even close to what worked.

[keebler303]

Bob

If the lowest SS setting is 32 KHz then you need to reduce the max velocity in motor tuning so that the maximum frequency output to the BOB is 25 KHz. You adjust your steps per and velocity to dial it in on 25KHz and so it matches your actual spindle RPM. The acceleration should be set very, very high in mach, that way the acceleration will be controlled by the VFD rather than mach.

Matt

[Bob La Londe]

I have the VFD programmed for 2 seconds from 0-60 hz. In timing tests I get between 4 and 5 seconds from 0 to 120Hz under Mach control. I think thats pretty good. That 5HP motor has a lot of mass to get going. I have a bit of adjusting to do on speed from Mach to Speed at the motor. At top speed I am only getting 118.5 hz on the VFD so something is still off. I do not necessarily have to get 3600 RPM. I just want the RPM to be accurate at slow speeds for tapping. I will be tapping with a spring loaded sliding head, but still. It can bite me quick if its off more than 1 or 2 RPM.

[Bob La Londe]

I have the VFD programmed for 2 seconds from 0-60 hz. In timing tests I get between 4 and 5 seconds from 0 to 120Hz under Mach control. I think thats pretty good. That 5HP motor has a lot of mass to get going. I have a bit of adjusting to do on speed from Mach to Speed at the motor. At top speed I am only getting 118.5 hz on the VFD so something is still off. I do not necessarily have to get 3600 RPM. I just want the RPM to be accurate at slow speeds for tapping. I will be tapping with a spring loaded sliding head, but still. It can bite me quick if its off more than 1 or 2 RPM.

Hmmm... the more I think about it, the more I think I am not going to be able to tap that way. I have to have a delay programmed in Mach for the spindle to come to speed, but a delay would be an issue for tapping because the spindle comes up to speed very quickly when its only at 200-500 RPM I guess I could do some math and calculate the distance before I break a tap based on the pitch and the amount of spring slide action I give the holder when I make it... Nah, I think I'll just keep tapping on the drill press when a part comes off instead. Pretty hard to beat the sensitivity of the human hand.