[massajamesb]

Oh nuts! Ok I guess Im going to have to study Mach3. There goes my dry run until after christmas because Im going away for a bit soon (The trip kind not the jail kind! ) . Im worried about my Y stepper motor now though....should the X and Z not still turn when I click 'Cycle Start' regardless of the Y ?

I don't see Y causing them to not turn. Didn't Y lock up on you the other day after you got the board assembled, and you turned the computer on?
I would be willing to bet you just have a bad wire connection somewhere.
You already know what happens when you have a bad problem, and since you don't see smoke, I bet you just have a loose connection, IMO.

[diarmaid]

Ok Im checking my Y wires now, but I still dont know why X and wont turn....

[massajamesb]

They are enabled.....should I do anything in 'Ports and Pins', 'Output Signals' ?

No, I don't think so. It has been a while since I configured mine, so I don't remember exactly. Sorry.

[massajamesb]

Ok Im checking my Y wires now, but I still dont know why X and wont turn....

Don't worry, I am sure the answer is right in front of you.

You can also try Kcam and Turbocnc if you just want to see them do a quick jog, they are a little less confusing to set up.
Really the best thing to do would be to print out the setup instructions for Mach, and read them while you are "away". I bet there is something small I am forgetting, and just don't remember. .

[diarmaid]

and read them while you are "away".

lol...thanks for the help massa. I will do with the instructions. Im actually going to America for two weeks, but Im still around for another week or so, just really busy at the moment. Im sure I'll find time to sort it all out.

My Y is giving me problems....I think it may be the soldering but not 100% certain yet....

[diarmaid]

Still trying to connect my X stepper into my Y output on the driver board...brb....

[massajamesb]

well, if all else fails, very carefully reflow all the solder with everything on Y.
I feel if you had a real prob with something, you would see more smoke. Unless the protection circuit on the driver chip is kicking in.
So switching motors did not work?

[diarmaid]

Woohoo! My X motor is warming up and locked when plugged into the Y output on my driver board. Thank god! I prefer the thought of buying a new motor to re-soldering!! Im just connecting my troublesome motor into my X driver board port now to see what happens....brb.....

[massajamesb]

:banana: :wee: :banana: :wee:

[diarmaid]

Re-wiring this is a pain in my cashew nuts!.....brb....

[diarmaid]

Do you think this is symptomatic of a bridge in my board somewhere?

I wired back in the original Y motor that wasn't working to my X axis that was. And now that original motor is working on the X axis, but the motor and axis (Y) that was 'fixed' only 5min ago is not working again on my boards Y axis output. It feels loose. SUMMARY: Z and X will work but not Y. If I disconnect X then Z and Y will work. I hope that made sense..........ideas?....

[diarmaid]

Im going to disconnect X again to double check that Y (Which was the original problem) is definately working just with X connected. Maybe not enough amps for the 3 motors....but my transformer is 23Amps....

[diarmaid]

Ignore my previous two posts. I must have made a mistake somewhere!

I disconnected my X axis and my Y motor is still turning freely in my hand. Must be a soldering problem...what do you think?

[diarmaid]

Im starting to think Im imagining things , but I really was sure that Y was locked with X connected. I double checked! Maybe it was and it's just a strange soldering problem mixing it all up.

Im going to re-solder the output terminals on the board this weekend and see if that makes a differance. Thanks for all the advice folks. Guess movement will have to wait a while longer but if I don't get time to sort them out before the end of next week it'll have to wait until after christmas.

L8rs.

[massajamesb]

Hmmm. I doubt the power supply is at fault. Being a "chopper" drive, even if it was a 3-5 amp supply, it should lock all three up.I am at a loss for words. I would email Dave on that one, unless you find something else.

[massajamesb]

Im starting to think Im imagining things , but I really was sure that Y was locked with X connected. I double checked! Maybe it was and it's just a strange soldering problem mixing it all up.

Im going to re-solder the output terminals on the board this weekend and see if that makes a differance. Thanks for all the advice folks. Guess movement will have to wait a while longer but if I don't get time to sort them out before the end of next week it'll have to wait until after christmas.

L8rs.

Well, sorry to hear of the confusion. Don't worry, it will all come together. I am sure it is something simple. Hope it works out right. Let me know if I can help any more.
Edit: I know the drive chips have a protection circuit in them, I would power down the board and let the protection circuit reset (if it has kicked in, that is) and try again, one axis at a time. I would be willing to be you were not mistaken about the stepper locking up. I bet it did lock up, but you may have disconnected the motor too soon, and kicked the protection circuit on. Just a guess though.

[diarmaid]

....Hope it works out right. Let me know if I can help any more.

Will do, I still have to figure out Mach! Cheers m8. G'nite.

[paulC]

Other things to look for.
1. Mach software does not like slow PCs. Symptoms are: Just dont work.
2. Make sure you follow the installation instructions and reboot at the appropriate time or you will need to uninstall and re-install driver.
3. There is a debounce setting in Mach that can be used to suppress noise on signal lines. This can be the cause of e-stop messages. Refer to manual.
Paul

[ger21]

Do you have a port assigned to each pin in the ports and pins? Make sure it's not set to port 0, and make sure the port address is correct.

[diarmaid]

Hello all.

I re-soldered my joints on the back of the board (Which looked fine ) for the Y output and its working now. Stepper locked tight.

So now Im going to wire it all up fully again and delete Mach to re-install it clean.

Then I need all of your help to get some steppers spinning......Im here all night and no work tomorrow so grab a coffee and relax!! Current time is 19:00hrs and counting....I'll take screenshots of Mach as Im trying to get it working so you can all advise me better.

I'll be back in about 30mins when its sitting on front of the computer and getting mach working time!

L8rs.

Gerry, how do I assign the ports as per your post above? Tx.