Hello CNCzone,

I started a thread on another forum and Russ "cncman172" mentioned that a lot of very knowledgeable people are using this one as well. So, I decided to move my questions to this one. So as not to be too confusing, I copied and pasted the start of the thread from the other forum and changed the font color to green. Please see below. Russ mentioned that some pics of my machine set up may be helpful as well as copies of my files. So, I will see if I can attach the zip files.

If you read below, you will understand that I am not familiar with cnc's and this is my first attempt to run one. I am trying to make this cnc available to our students. Mostly Industrial Design students will be using it and they are currently using Fusion 360. But before we can even start to learn how to produce the files and save as g-code, I need to make this machine functional. So, far I've learned that K2CNC decided to use Dynomotion's KFLOP in a different way than most people. The best that I can understand is that they flash their startup programs on to the KFLOP instead of using the "Initi" button. This causes problems for "nebies" like me. After, and if, I can ever get this cnc up and running again, I wonder if this problem could be rectified by moving the K2CNC flashed programs to the "Initi" button. But first things first, any help with understanding what went wrong and getting the spindle and homing back into service would be appriciated.

Thanks,
Robert



Hello,


I’ve just been put in charge of figuring out how to run our cnc for our students. I’ve never run a cnc before but before I can even start to play around with it, it seems to have some issues that I’m hoping someone can help me with. It could just be me! And not the machine. I’m a newbie to all this so sorry and thank you in advance. K2CNC seems to have stopped their business and I have not had any luck contacting them. This piece of equipment did not come with any sort of manual except for what Dynomotion posts online for their KFLOP microcontroller.

I was running Firmware version 4.31s one week and the next the spindle would not turn back on. The second week the “home” button started to send the xyz axis in the opposite direction of the limit switches. The control pad, however, still moved the xyz in the correct direction. I read that the simulation program could stop the spindle from operating properly. I was using it a lot as I tried to figure things out and not crash the machine! The new Firmware 4.32 was meant to fix this issue. So, I set out to load the new Firmware. I read the DynoMotion manual for how to “flash” new firmware and I found a thread describing what to do in this forum. I thought I understood but I think I must have missed something. If someone knows about K2CNC’s and how DynoMotion works with it, I would be grateful for your input. I’m thinking this is a software/firmware issue and not a hardware issue but I would not be a good judge for this.
Issues:
1. The spindle stopped working.
2. The “Home” button started homing backwards and now, after new firmware, doesn’t work at all.
What I’ve tried:
A. Tested for continuity in the emergency stop button and big and small green start buttons. Good!
B. Run test program “chips” (found in software). Seems to run where it should but I could not get spindle to turn on.
C. Installed new Firmware 4.32 and this is how I did it.
1. Saved all files to thumbdrive just in case!
2. Downloaded Firmware 4.32 from DynoMotion to host computer.
3. Flashed new Firmware to KFLOP board.
4. I checked the “Initialize Program” (K2mc_driver.c) and it was listed but had no .c program in the file. 0 bytes
5. I pasted and copied the old “initialized Program” from the thumbdrive and pasted into the KFLOP Driver folder. “Copy and Replace” This is the only file I've copy/replaced.

6. Compiled/Downloaded K2mc_driver.c file to Thread 7 in Kmotion.exe (no errors)
7. Flash/config. “User Memory” w/start Thread #7 box checked @ start up.
8. Disconnected host computer.
9. Cycled KFlOP board by turning power to box off/on
10. Reconnected host computer.
11. Reset target short cuts to new firmware files.
12. Restarted computer.
Results: “Home” user button still not working. Still no spindle rotation. XYZ and A axis’ all work and sample “Chips” program runs. NO spindle. Headache!

For some reason threads #6 and #7 are the same now and before there were only six threads loaded.
Here are the .c program threads listed in the C program screen of KMotion.exe
#1 bitJog_slimit.c (location KFOP>Driver>)
#2 InitStepDir3Axis.c (location KMotion 432>C Programs>)
#3 StopCallBack.c (location KFOP>Driver>)
#4 SetStepPulseLength.c (location KMotion 432>C Programs>)
#5 homing_zyx.c (location KFOP>Driver>)
#6 k2mc*_driver.c (location KFOP>Driver>)
#7 k2mc_driver.c (location KFOP>Driver>)

This is exactly what it looked like before I loaded the new firmware except that Thread #7 was blank instead of a copy of #6 and location was KMotion 431s where they are now KMotion 432 the new firmware.

Specs: I am learning to us KMotionCNC (we do not have Mach3)
Model: K2CNC KG4925
3-axis plus rotary 4th axis
4x Delta AC servo motors with Delta AC encoders 3p
Delta VFD-B spindle driver 3ph w/ HSD 3ph spindle.
Dynomotion KFLOP Rev 1.2 motion control board
K2CNC breakout board, Rev. 1.0 6axis capable
Windows 7
Firmware: 432 (recently updated from 4.31s as of Monday)
Software: K2CNC version 2.0.4

Questions:
When do I use the “Initiate” button in KMotionCNC? And do I have to?
Do I need to use the “Save, Compile,Download,Run” button in the KMotion.exe C program screen?
Should I delete one of the K2mc_driver.c files from the Threads and if “yes” which one?
Did I need to clear all of the "Thread" files before downloading the K2mc_driver.c file?
Is Mach3 easier to use? why?


Thanks again for any thoughts or help.
Robert


Robert,

When you flashed the KFLOP with new firmware you stepped on the C program that was flashed into the KFLOP, that should run on startup. If you check one of my previous posts on one of these machines you can find the actual C programs loaded for the K2CNC as it used an ELTE spindle and Imaginer posted all the original C programs. Check each thread and make sure you have all the programs loaded. TK from Kmotion team actual provided instructions on how to flash the startup program again. When you load new versions of Kmotion firmware for K2CNC machines you need to backup everything before you start. The Kmotion team does not recommend you flash programs into the KFLOP however, K2CNC indeed did use this method. Read that post and I am pretty sure you can get back to where you started.

Russ Larson


Robert,


Sorry, Yes I posted this on cnczone, and I am cncman172. LOL


The first step is to look in the directory where you have Kmotion installed and list out all the C programs you have in that directory.

Reading your description you K2CNC machine controller using KFLOP will be slightly different and we will probably need photos of the board close up to determine how to proceed. The system Imaginer had used the Proprietary K2CNC servo driver and it sounded like you are using Delta VFD, Delta Servo motors and perhaps you are using the K2CNC breakout board with their servo drivers.


You will find the original files found on Imaginer's machine on CNCzone you looked the right place but you need to be a member to see the files that you can download. That is probably why you did not see the ZIP file that contained all of his programs. In fact he zipped the entire directory so I could examine everything to help determine why his spindle did not work.

For homing to work you must have a Homing C program, which appears to be in Thread #5 but that must have been compiled and downloaded into the KFLOP. You need to get each thread to look exactly like it did before you did the upgrade. You also need to make sure the InitStepDir3Axis.c is downloaded and flashed into the KFLOP if I recall correctly.

The Spindle you are using is pretty standard, normally you have to press in the init button on the controller box for about one second which enables the drives, then you would normally home the machine. Most people also have to press the init program button to initialize things, in the case of K2CNC they were doing that automatically by flashing the program for startup. You might want to press the init button and see if you can get the spindle to start. Since you are able to move the machine around clearly some initialization has taken place. See what you can find for files and put some pictures up, Lots of traffic on CNCzone, so you might want to join since it is free and lots of experts on that forum. TK is also an outstand support person from Dynomotion who knows absolutely everything about the KFLOP and all their other products. He is a great guy to work with and is extremely sharp.


Russ