[Dave Rothermel]

I would like to add a motion hold button like I had on the Hurco. Can I do that without getting a flashing reset in mach 3? I could push the button, then go do something, then come back and push it again and resume. I will have a lot of questions as I move on with the project. If I kill the input to the transformer that powers the geckos with emergency stop and bleed off the dc voltage to the gecko. Is this necessary for safety? I was going to power the 126 from the 220 volt input to the servo transformer. That is another thing about the BOB that caught my eye. BOB 115/ 220 input. Dave

[Jackal66]

I am also going to add a feed hold. That is one of the reasons I put home switches & limits on the same pin. This will allow for external buttons and 2 more inputs.

The guys on here can tell you how to wire it up and assign the pin# & OEM codes for operation. You can also search in: Machsupport Forum - Index

It will already be there, or someone can help you with a custom set-up.

The bleed resistor was in my plans, but after installing the Geckos they bleed it down pretty quickly.

When you turn off the power, the Gecko indicator lights ( In-position, warn, fault, power) glow for about 12 seconds.

Yes, The PMDX 126 already looked great, but the on board power supply is something that sealed the deal.

JAckal:cheers:

[Dave Rothermel]

"Your package from Practical Micro Design, Inc. is on its wa" is an email I got today. Boy that's service. They weren't to have drives till Monday. Jack, your earlier post about getting your money back for the drives you couldn't get, made me nervous. Got a lot going on next week. Don't know how much Hurco work I will get done. Looking forward to getting the drivers mounted, Got the holes drilled and taped for the drives. Need to drill and tap some more holes for wire clamps.
Will tape a three sided plastic bag dustpan to catch the shaving. after wards will vacuum out the chips and then take it off. Will take pix.s soon. Dave:banana:

[Jackal66]

Dave,

That order of drives that I got refunded for was from CNC4PC.

The owner Arturo Duncan is a great guy and is no way responsible for that incident. I ordered a Pendant and Driver board from Arturo to use up some of the refund. He was very apologetic and is extremely knowledgeable.

Right now my machine is running the trial version of Mach3. When it is ready to run for money I will buy my license from Arturo.

CNC4PC


Mach 3 license is $175 from most places, but CNC4PC has it for $149. It is legal, not a bootleg copy. Arturo sells enough that he has an arrangement with Mach3, as many others do, too.


The supplier that makes the Dugong drives ( here in the US) then sends them to Balasz ( the owner of Dugong in Hungary), for final assembly and testing, was the problem. Balasz told me that.

The sent a bunch of questionable drives to Balasz, and he wouldn't ship them, until they were right.

That made me think of availability. You can almost buy Geckos at any gas station & convenience store or laundromat.:bs:

Really, you can have a new Gecko in your hands within 24 hours, anywhere in the US.

As soon as my machine is running, a new Gecko, AMT encoder, & limit switch plus a few other spare parts are being put in stock.

My Hurco will probably always break down during a hot rush job.

Without spare parts, it would be scary to take in some of the quick turnaround jobs I do.

Dave, I'll bet you are excited just like that dancing banana.

Have you downloaded the Gecko manual yet?

JAckal :cheers:

[Dave Rothermel]

I always download the manual before I buy anything. I have manuals for CNC4PC c23. also viper. You don't know how your post have helped me.
I need to work more on the control panel. I have the computer setting next to the BOB/Drive cabinet. Makes it easier to get everything working. I played with spare pin 15 where the limits go. If I ground that pin I get E stop that needs to be reset. Won't work for motion hold. These are things that I can work on after I get it going. Dave:wave:

[Jackal66]

Well, I'm glad that my posts have helped. When I started thinking about a retrofit, there weren't any for Hurco's out there.

After we are finished, the both of us putting info on here should help some others.

If anyone else has comments, info, or problems they have run into, put it in here.

I have a PMDX 107 board that controls a VFD & direction of the spindle.

It won't be connected until I have the machine running in all 3 axis.

About 10 years ago, I put a sharpie marker in a CNC knee mill, and used that with the spindle off to test programs, off sets ,etc.

This Hurco will be done the same way, until I am familiar with MACH 3.

Then the spindle board & VFD will be hooked up & sorted out. Then the Pendant, then the feed hold & other switches, coolant, etc.

One at a time works better for me.

JAckal:cheers:

[Dave Rothermel]

I am buying a Emco compact 5 cnc mill. Got a deal on it with a lot of there tooling. Can't wait. Going to ask you about Mach 3 settings. What about steps per inch? I think the lead screw a 5 turns per inch. The encoders are 1000 steps. Did you have trouble tuning your drives? I am sure I will have more. The more questions we ask, the more we help other people. Any body have questions please ask. Your question may be something that I had not thought of. Dave:wave:

[Jackal66]

Dave,

That is funny you asked about the tuning. I have been racking my brain to figure that out. I was always making it over complicated.

Just last night I asked Hood <( He is the guru for MACH. Self taught, he knows more about MACH & solving problems than the MACH people do. They let Hood try out new revisions first to make sure they are ok, before they release a version).

He answered rather quickly, and my Hurco screws are 5 turn per inch.

Very strange isn't it.

Here is the reply:

Jog speed is very slow


JAckal:wave:

[Dave Rothermel]

I have the original encoders. bloke said They were 1000ppr. the screws are
5 turns per inch. Does that mean that i need 5000 counts for a inch. How much kernel speed should we run. I have a 2.8 GHZ. computer. Dave

[Jackal66]

I am not sure on the encoders. That is one reason I changed to the AMT.

Are the factory ones quadrature encoders?

Mariss at Gecko recommends the AMT encoders, and usually when someone has problems, the change helps with the tuning and corrects the problem.

Also, I didn't want to get mine all set-up for the factory ones, and have one of them mess up and have to buy a factory replacement.

The factory ones from AMTS are $375 each here:



While the AMT ones are $27 each new.

That is expensive enough to keep me from having a spare one in stock.

Mach sees the counts per revolution as 4x ( if it is a quadrature encoder. I think??)

If so, that would mean yours would need to be set at 20,000??

You might have to mess with the [pulse multiplier] settings on the Geckos. That is what some call electronic gearing. It actually lies to Mach and tells it you have different encoder reading than what you really have.< ( We better get someone else to confirm this)

Right now, all I can run is 25,000 kernel because I don't have the official-paid-for MACH license yet.

My CPU is 2.4 GHZ and I should be able to run 40,000 Kernel after I buy the license. Yours can probably run more.

Wish I was more help on this, as in ( Definite answers). I 'll do some checking and maybe someone will chime in here that knows for sure.

JAckal

[Al_The_Man]

I have the original encoders. bloke said They were 1000ppr. the screws are
5 turns per inch. Does that mean that i need 5000 counts for a inch. How much kernel speed should we run. I have a 2.8 GHZ. computer. Dave

If the motor direct drives a 5t/inch B.S. and the encoder is 1000p/rev, after the x4 drive multiplication of the pulses, this would equal 4000p/rev with one rev being .2", therefore the resolution is .2/4000 = .00005".
Al.

[Jackal66]

Thanks Al,

That cleared it up. According to Hood the Mach settings on mine are:

500 line encoders are 2000 pulses per rev for Mach and you need 5 turns of screw for 1 inch so 10,000 steps per inch is what you need. At 25KHz kernel the max Velocity you will achieve is 150 IPM
Hood

Then that would mean Dave's [Steps Per Unit] setting would be 20,000???

Does this sound right to you?

Mine are 500 line encoders

Dave's is 2 x mine @ 1000 line encoders

Mine is set @ 10,000 pulses per inch

Dave's would then be 2 x mine @ 20,000 pulses per inch.

I keep trying to plug in some magic formula.(chair)(chair)(chair)(chair)

I've read too many of the build-ups with the guys having a 5:1 ratio or some odd ratio. They are using all kinds of formulas & numbers and I think that mine should have 2 pages of math calculations.:idea::nono:

Thanks again, Al.

Dave,

Here is the window where the steps per inch entered:



It is under motor tuning. You have probably read the manual enough already to know that. If someone else is following this, maybe it will direct them where to look.




JAckal :wave:

[Dave Rothermel]

I just want to get it running. When I have encoder problems, I will them change out.
Will buy encoders to replace the ones that's there. If I have spares, I won't need them.
I don't need to make a living with this machine like you do. Dave

[Al_The_Man]

Then that would mean Dave's [Steps Per Unit] setting would be 20,000???

Does this sound right to you?

Mine are 500 line encoders

Dave's is 2 x mine @ 1000 line encoders

Mine is set @ 10,000 pulses per inch

Dave's would then be 2 x mine @ 20,000 pulses per inch.

I keep trying to plug in some magic formula.

Looks correct.
I have not used Mach yet in a practical application, I have played around with it just to become familiar, I use other systems mainly, but the resolution calc is the same whatever system.
Al.

[Jackal66]

Dave said:

If I have spares, I won't need them.

That what I am hoping with mine. I you keep a good spare tire for your car you will never have a flat.

Wishing now I would have saved my encoders and could have gave them to you for spares.

Thanks Al, for the confirmation.

JAckal

[Dave Rothermel]

jack, There is a good tutorial on the ftp://machsupport.com/Docs/Mach3%20Setup%20Tutorial.pdf That is vary helpful in setting up the Hurco. Did you get your limits switches set up. I got my switches paralleled.
I trip a switch the light for that pin comes on the BOB. Still moving the servos with a power supply. Dave

[Jackal66]

Dave,

Thanks for the reminder. I downloaded that months ago and never printed it out. I kept looking for it thinking it was somewhere in the regular MACH 3 manual.

That will help a bunch with my limit switches. They are all wired up, ( sharing pin #12) but I need to enable & assign the active trigger.

Thanks a lot,

JAckal:wave:

[Jackal66]

Thanks to Dave, I found out that my x axis wasn't enabled. After looking at the chart on the tutorial. it made me go and look.

Now I am ready to put my wiring in conduit, hook up the lube pump, and start messing with the mill.

The VFD & spindle can be hooked up in a few weeks, after everything else is tuned.

JAckal:cheers:

[Dave Rothermel]

On the Hurco the KM3P has the y servo motor inside the casting on the front. Mine, the KM3 has the servo motor on the right front outside with 1 to 1 belt drive. How do I get 4 times the pulse rate? The geckos 1,3,5,ect. Could you send me the switch settings on the 230Xs? May need to go back with my Broth en law to the VA Friday. Going to Cleveland at noon Tuesday. Be back Wednesday night. Got more holes drilled and tapped on my mounting plate.
Fuse holders, and more wire hold downs. I want stay home and work on it.
Will take my laptop with me. Dave

[Jackal66]

Dave,

The pulse rate is read x4 automatically by MACH. I am guessing it is because of the [ Quadrature] encoder.< If this isn't the correct reason someone point this out.

Everywhere I searched, when setting the switches on my encoders, they told me "MACH reads times x 4 on encoder".

Here is a link from Hoods answer, post #2:

Questions about wiring this up

Question from Jackal:

4) My encoders are the AMT-102 type from Digi-ikey. Digi-Key - 102-1307-ND (Manufacturer - AMT102-V KIT)

What setting should I use for starting out? Here are the switch settings and different resolutions. http://products.cui.com/CUI_AMT102-V...df?fileID=3816

Answer from Hood:

If using the parallel port then probably about 500 lines per rev (2000 as Mach sees it) would be ok. If using the smoothstepper or similar then probably 2000 lines per rev (8000 to Mach) would be fine

Right now my Geckos are running the factory default settings right out of the package.

( Man those switches are small. I have to use jewelers magnifiers just to see them)

Dave,

You definitely have the CNC bug now. You are addicted just like the rest of us.

JAckal:wave: