[ronald44181000]

Does anyone know of a site made for those of us who don't a working knowledge of electrical design and function? The reason I ask is that while I have the stepper wiring portion figured out. It is the Control Box wiring that has me stumped. Like everyone else at some point we all have had to wire up their first contol box and were extremely nervous when handling hundreds of dollars worth of electronics. I haven't as of yet found any places that the instructions are in Plain English. It seems that everyone you talk to is an expert. Yet none of them can describe an operation without a lot of mumbo jumbo.

In my case:

Within the confines of my case are a 36V Power Supply, a Gecko G40, an input plug for the supplied wall voltage and on the opposite side are a Master Kill Switch and a Lighted On/Off Switch. The only other article within the case is a Buck Shunt to take the output from my power supply and convert it down to 12V for whenever I decide to add a Homing Switch.

Any input that anyone has would be greatly appreciated.

[naspc]

Buildyourcnc.com

[wizard]

You need a schematic first and foremost. Generally simple machine controls end up being awfully similar though details may vary. Without some electrical background though, communication will be difficult.

[RicknBeachcrest]

I have several posts in my build thread on building a control box. Starting with this one.
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/cnc-wo...ml#post1217178

They really aren't that difficult. Remember neatness counts and you will thank your self for keeping accurate notes.

[ronald44181000]

At this point a lot of the confusion lies in the fact that their is a 4 hookup Master kill Switch along with a 4 hook up On/Off Switch. And do I hook up the On/off Switch directly to the Power Supply and Bypass the Master Kill Switch entirely? Also which side do I place the In-Line Fuse into? Also if I were to Draw a Schematic would that make it easier for others to assist me in my connections?

[Toinvd]

pls. add picture of your box .

For the AC part.
I would connect the input power from the input plug to the ON/OFF switch.
From there to the powersupply.

If the master kill switch is a push button, you could use it as a E stop
Keep all low voltage cabling away from the AC cabling
And as already said, make a neat cabling and good diagram.

[ronald44181000]

Here are pictures of my box as it sits at the moment.Attachment 328838Attachment 328840Attachment 328842

[Toinvd]

I'll come back tomorrow, and will try to make a drawing in your nice box

[ronald44181000]

Thanks for your assistance as I've tried Gecko and so far haven't had a response.

[ger21]

At this point a lot of the confusion lies in the fact that their is a 4 hookup Master kill Switch along with a 4 hook up On/Off Switch.

Why did you buy these if you don't know how they are used??

With a G540, all you really need is a simple switch to the power supply.

[ronald44181000]

Because this is what I was advised to purchase. Besides not all of us have unlimited funds to purchase a turnkey solution. And while the actual stepper wiring is easy. The proper wiring of everything else required is rarely broached anywhere.

[ger21]

I wasn't advising a turnkey solution.

I use a simple 120V light switch to turn my system on and off.

For most small hobby machines, all that other stuff is over complicated overkill.

[ronald44181000]

I can understand where your coming from, but the confusing thing is that I found a perfectly logical wiring diagram that appeared to have included everything in a sensible enough way. The problem is, it included no way of turning the system on or off without the use of the E-Stop Switch. Which is not what they are designed for.

[RicknBeachcrest]

I agree with Gerry. I would take that 4 hookup Master kill Switch out of the box. It is complicating things more than they need to be. Do you have a link to this thing? I'm curious as to what it does, because I sure don't see a good need for it.

Also you should plan on putting a small muffin fan pointed towards the back of the G540. The G540 heatsinks to the back and it needs to be cooled down.

[wizard]

I can understand where your coming from, but the confusing thing is that I found a perfectly logical wiring diagram that appeared to have included everything in a sensible enough way. The problem is, it included no way of turning the system on or off without the use of the E-Stop Switch. Which is not what they are designed for.

E-Stop switches are usually hooked up to sme sort of master control relay. As to the value of the E-Stop for a home built machine, I really see it as a question of the machines size. Even for a personal machine it is advisable if the machine is sized such that you find yourself out of reach of the control panel. Even on a desktop machine, accessed only from one side, it is useful to have a switch that kills the machine completely.

Now a toggle switch can accomplish this but do be aware that it isn't acceptable with respect to the machine control standards. Releasing an E-Stop switch should not allow power to be reapplied to a machine. This requires a separate switch to reset the E-Stop circuit. From your standpoint you need to evaluate if an E-Stop circuit is worth it.

From my standpoint being able to power down quickly in the event of a crash is a valuable feature. On a larger machine though this requires a remotely installed E-Stop.

As far as your electrical problems go how you go about building it does depend upon a few things. For example is this a 120 VAC machine or a 240 volt machine? In general you want a set of primary fuses and then run your power though an E-Stop relay or a motor rated switch. From there you go to a distribution block, you pick off lines from the distribution block to the various subsystems, preferably feeding each through a fuse or circuit breaker. So you would have a line going to your power transformer for the steppers drives, a one for the electronics, a line for a coolant pump if you have one, and etc. Of course you have to keep in mind what the current rating of your feeder circuit is.

In any event try to avoid over thinking this. Your first machine can be rather simple.

[ronald44181000]

I understand where you're coming from, but at this point in time the actual machine portion is all assembled and at 1.5 meters by 1 meter by 125 millimeters in a confined space. I felt it necessary to have an E-Stop Switch. Furthermore this is a 120V system powered by a 36V Unregulated Power Supply and I will be using a 48V Milling Spindle on a separate Power Supply.
There is also a Buck Shunt to lower the voltage to 12V for my Homing Switches.
Where I got into trouble was the wiring schematic that I was following only had an E-Stop Referenced along with the Homing Switches, Power Supply and the Gecko G540 Stepper Driver. I added an 8 position Bus Bar to alleviate electrical distribution problems and the Buck Shunt to drop the voltage for the homing switches.
It was later on that I was informed from within the CNCZONE Forum that it wasn't a very good idea to wire the system without a separate On/Off Switch.
This is the main issue. Everything else seems to be logically arranged in my mind and I can't get my head around How I go about Wiring in the Lighted On/Off Switch!!!!!!!

Do I connect it into the harness of the E-Stop Switch or do I wire into the Power Supply Directly?
The wiring of the actual Stepper Motors to the Gecko G540 is foremost, so easy that its a non-issue.

[ger21]

Just wire the e-stop to the G540, as shown in the manual, and put a simple switch on your power supply.

[ronald44181000]

Here is the schematic that I was originally working from when I was advised to add an On/Off Switch as E-Stops are not designed for that type of use.Attachment 328916


All I need help with is what and to where do I wire the 4 Position On/Off Switch too?

[ger21]

Do you have any pics or info on the switch?
The switch should go in front of the power supply.

[Toinvd]

Hoi Ronald.
The E stop is a way to stop all action from the controller ( gecko 540 ) and disable power to the motors.
And now to your starting question.
Your nice box can be wired as in the attached diagram

First, have a good ground point to connect all ground wires.
So the safety ground from the input connection and the G ( ground ) from your powersupply needs to be connected to the metal of your box. On the picture, it looks like there is such a connecting point close to your powersupply.
Then: connect the AC power wires ( N and L ) from the input connection to the power switch S1 in the drawing. From the power switch to the emergency stop S2 in the drawing and from there the N direct to the power supply and the L through the fuse to the power supply.