[Elsa]

Hi everyone,

I am running a turbo bosch scara sr60 robotic arm, with a SM44PCV5 controller card, under mach3.
I have finally managed to make every axis move, except for one, the Y axis, and I can't figure out why all the other axis would move and not that one..

Any idea?
Thank you for any answer!
Elsa

[awerby]

How many axes are there on this machine? Are you sure the pins that you've assigned to the Y axis (whatever that is on a robot arm) are actually connecting to the motor that's driving it?

[Elsa]

Thank you for your answer.

It's a 4-axes machine. I recall that the pins are correct, but I'll check this weekend, I'm away from home right now and can't work on my machine.

Elsa

[Elsa]

So, I've checked and the pins are correct. But I still don't have the faintest idea why that one axis doesn't work. Yet I'm sure the motor is fine.

[awerby]

If you're sure you've got continuity between the parallel port pins that are supposed to be controlling the motor, all the way down your cable, and you can tell when they are changing state, try switching the leads from the Y axis to an axis you know is working (turn everything off first and let the caps drain before unhooking anything). See if the error transfers over to the previously-working motor, or if Y still doesn't work while the other one does. In the first case, it's a problem upstream, probably one of your drives. In the latter case, it's likely a problem with the Y axis motor.

[Elsa]

Thank you for your answer. I've switched the leads as you advised me to do. And indeed the previously-working motor is not working while the Y motor is. So that would mean the issue is with the controler card? It's really surprising as it's brand new. Could it be anything else in your opinion? How do I target the problem, if it's with the control card?
Thank you for your help!!! :-)

[Acctek CNC]

Hello Elsa
Good day
Y axis don't work , normal have three reason . 1) driver have problem 2) controller card have problem 3) from controller to driver connect wire or from driver to motor have problem .if your machine is new , I think it is some connect wire problem , please check these .thanks

Frank

[Elsa]

Hi Frank,

Thank you for you message! When you say "driver have problem", you mean the full-bridge drivers on the controller card? As to the wires, I have checked, and they are not the cause (I wish they were, it would be less expensive to replace...I'm really bummed to think it could be the controller card, I just replaced my former controller card, this one is new and it cost me over 300 euros...and I can't have it replaced as I bought it from a friend... :-/). Am I in to buy another controller card? :-(

Elsa

[Elsa]

This is my previous controller card, the one I had to replace. The new one is identical...

[awerby]

If everything else upstream from the motor checks out okay, particularly the cables, which, as Frank points out above, are the natural suspects, then yes, it's down to the controller. I can't help you with a component-level examination of these controllers, but the manufacturer might be able to repair them. Failing that, you'll have to replace them. If you really got this thing from a "friend", why won't that person do the friendly thing and give you your euros back, since it doesn't work?

One other thing you might try - blowing out the dust. Get one of those cans of "air" and blow out all those exposed electronic elements. It's surprising how many times that will fix intractable electronic problems, but apparently dust semi-conducts, and obscure error messages can suddenly blow away, never to be seen again.

Andrew

[Elsa]

Oh good idea, the dusting, I'll cross my fingers and try that!
As to getting my money back, I cannot unfortunately prove that the card was not damaged during my installing it, since it was new and never used when I bought it....

[awerby]

That seems like something a very skeptical equipment dealer might want you to prove, but a "friend" ? How exactly would you have damaged it by installing and attempting to test it?