[tfins]

Are that's another problem, when using (2) separate main AC power supplies like this, you will have a Ground loop, this is not a good idea to do this, as this too can cause the problems you are having also, which one is the worst, it hard to say as they are both quite bad, the Ground loop means you have no direct path to Earth /Ground so is not what you want.

The Estop shielded cable if it is grounded correctly then it will be ok, if it is not then it will create a problem

Twisted pairs, is very easy to do with two lengths of stranded wire cable, hold the two wires together in a vice or just clamp it to something, with it stretched out, put in your electric drill chuck and spin it until you have it twisted, then cut to whatever lengths you need

The ground issue will get fixed this weekend.

Twisted pairs sound easy enough. I plan to work on that this week.

For the shielded Estop wiring I am using two conductors with shielded foil and a shielded wire. That is connected to the star ground point and the control box end of the wiring only.

If we ignore the separate grounds for a second does having two main ac supplies that are separated by a few feet really a problem?

[mactec54]

The ground issue will get fixed this weekend.

Twisted pairs sound easy enough. I plan to work on that this week.

Main Power supply, Grounding, then Shields, then Twisted pairs, twisted pairs is the easiest to do but won't fix the main problem.

For the shielded Estop wiring I am using two conductors with shielded foil and a shielded wire. That is connected to the star ground point and the control box end of the wiring only.

No Shield Drain wire should be used to connect to anything, and never connect a Shield to a Star Point Ground Bus, Shields can only be clamped to the Ground Plane wherever they end, as per the snips I posted. When a shield is connected like this, it's not doing anything other than being an antenna, that will cause interference with any electronics that are around.

If we ignore the separate grounds for a second does having two main ac supplies that are separated by a few feet really a problem?

Makes no difference how far apart they are, both services are attached to the same machine, there can only be ( 1 ) Main Ground, and Power supplied to a machine, you are not the first to do this and won't be the last. This is what a true Ground Loop is.

Your 240v supply should be a 4-wire supply, ( 2 ) hot, Neutral and Ground if you live in NA, this will power the VFD Drive 240v and split to 120v for the rest of the machine

The 240v supply would go to your cabinet disconnect, and then split from there to the VFD Drive. you would have a Breaker in the cabinet for the VFD Drive and ( 1 ) for the 120v side.

[tfins]

- Twisted pairs completed
- Single ground completed

I found something interesting with the UC100 connection. When the UC100 is connected into the C10 breakout board the outer metal casing on the UC100 makes everything on the outer connector go to dc ground. Since this connector goes through the aluminum box it connects the DC ground to Earth. This does not seem right to me. I isolated it using heat shrink/electrical tape.

No Shield Drain wire should be used to connect to anything, and never connect a Shield to a Star Point Ground Bus, Shields can only be clamped to the Ground Plane wherever they end, as per the snips I posted. When a shield is connected like this, it's not doing anything other than being an antenna, that will cause interference with any electronics that are around.

So does the ground plane go back to the ground bus anywhere or is the ground plane just connected to the box which gets back to the star point grounding through the box?

The machine ran today for about 25 minutes without issue. Suddenly while it was traveling between holes on a drilling operation it studdered in the same way it has been. One difference this time is a UC100 error popped up. This happened two times in a row. In the manual the error is caused by the computer and UC100 loosing sync with each other. The computer has about 2X the requirements of mach 3. It is not connected to the network and is only running mach.

I am starting to think that this UC100 is on its way out and is causing some of the problems. It looks like most people are now opting for ethernet based motion controllers rather than USB. Rather than replace the UC100 I am thinking that one of their AXBB-E Ethernet Motion Controller/breakout board combos may be better than investing in something that looks like it is on its way out.

[tfins]

Re-reading this and other threads with similar noise issues I see a common recommendation of adding an EMI power filter. Do you have a particular brand or source you recommend?

[mactec54]

- Twisted pairs completed
- Single ground completed

I found something interesting with the UC100 connection. When the UC100 is connected into the C10 breakout board the outer metal casing on the UC100 makes everything on the outer connector go to dc ground. Since this connector goes through the aluminum box it connects the DC ground to Earth. This does not seem right to me. I isolated it using heat shrink/electrical tape.



So does the ground plane go back to the ground bus anywhere or is the ground plane just connected to the box which gets back to the star point grounding through the box?

The machine ran today for about 25 minutes without issue. Suddenly while it was traveling between holes on a drilling operation it studdered in the same way it has been. One difference this time is a UC100 error popped up. This happened two times in a row. In the manual the error is caused by the computer and UC100 loosing sync with each other. The computer has about 2X the requirements of mach 3. It is not connected to the network and is only running mach.

I am starting to think that this UC100 is on its way out and is causing some of the problems. It looks like most people are now opting for ethernet based motion controllers rather than USB. Rather than replace the UC100 I am thinking that one of their AXBB-E Ethernet Motion Controller/breakout board combos may be better than investing in something that looks like it is on its way out.

The Gound Bus is mounted on the Ground Plane, Star Point Ground is the Bus, you should only have one Grounding point, where all main Ground wires are mounted

I have used a UC100 since they first came out and it has never been a problem, the Case is normally Ground or Common for Dc

[mactec54]

Re-reading this and other threads with similar noise issues I see a common recommendation of adding an EMI power filter. Do you have a particular brand or source you recommend?

EMI filter the only one I recommend is TDK Lambda RSEN-2030L this Part number

This too has to be mounted in the correct place and wired correctly with correct Grounding

[tfins]

EMI filter the only one I recommend is TDK Lambda RSEN-2030L this Part number

This too has to be mounted in the correct place and wired correctly with correct Grounding

Excellent, thank you. I am going to go after all of the other items and throw the EMI filter as a last effort.

I have the clips for proper shielding grounding. Getting those installed this week. Ran the machine yesterday without issues using a much shorter USB cable (3'). The previous cable was about 10' due to the location of the PC running the machine.

[mactec54]

Excellent, thank you. I am going to go after all of the other items and throw the EMI filter as a last effort.

I have the clips for proper shielding grounding. Getting those installed this week. Ran the machine yesterday without issues using a much shorter USB cable (3'). The previous cable was about 10' due to the location of the PC running the machine.

Yes, the USB cable if unshielded can be a problem if too long, shorter the better.

This type shielded and with ferrite cores is good for helping