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IndustryArena Forum > CNC Electronics > Hobbycnc (Products) > OK I can't find the problem gremlin and it's driving me crazy...
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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Posts
    1

    OK I can't find the problem gremlin and it's driving me crazy...

    Hello Everyone!

    I would appreciate some guidance here...

    I purchased a 3 axis HobbyCNC EZ Rev0 Chopper driver board and soldered it together. Tested voltage as per instructions and its correct.

    Power supply is a Meanwell NES 350-24v with 14.6 amps output

    I am trying to run 3 Powermax II P22NRXG-LNN-NS-00 stepper motors

    My computer is a Windows 7 machine and did not come with a parallel port, so I purchased a PCI-E 1284 DB25PIN card and installed it. I also purchased a cable and tested it for continuity with my multimeter, the pins are indeed straight-through (some posts suggested weird wiring inside the cable could cause issues)

    I have the 8 wire motors wired up as:
    B - blue
    b - orange
    COM - 2 black wired into one COM terminal
    COM - other 2 black wired into other COM terminal
    a - red
    A - yellow

    Using Mach 3 I have the Ports & Pins setup as:
    X axis pins 2, 3
    Y axis pins 4,5
    Z axis pins 6,7

    Everything else I can see is set to Pin 1.

    I plug this baby in, turn it on and I cannot seem to get anything to happen. No noises, no nothing.
    What simple but painfully obvious step have I missed here?
    I appreciate your help!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    2083

    Re: OK I can't find the problem gremlin and it's driving me crazy...

    Hi Dakk


    with the power on are the motors locked in position ?

    if the reference voltage on pin 13 is over 2v or none of the mode jumpers are fitted the stepper driver IC goes into sleep mode

    a while ago I tried a printer port adaptor in a PC but I could not get it to work
    from what I understand not all IC's used in the adaptor cards work with Mach 3

    you could try building this tester from Geckodrive.com :-

    Attachment 262582

    It could make it easier to prove the HobbyCNC board is working

    without a logic probe it can be difficult to test the step pulses from the printer port
    you will not se them with a multimeter


    John

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Posts
    36

    Re: OK I can't find the problem gremlin and it's driving me crazy...

    Is the address of the card correct and the same in M3?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    2083

    Re: OK I can't find the problem gremlin and it's driving me crazy...

    since the mother board had no on board port I set the adaptor to 0378 hex ( mach3 default address)

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Posts
    15362

    Re: OK I can't find the problem gremlin and it's driving me crazy...

    Dakk

    Mach3 does not support a Parallel Port in windows 7 64bit, you will need a UC100,or a Smooth Stepper Etc to use Mach3 with windows 7, I have seen others have the same problem using windows 7 with trying to use a Parallel Port

    32bit can work with a Parallel port but if you have 64bit it is not going to work

    Have you checked the output from the Parallel port
    Mactec54

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