[handlewanker]

Hi....if you blew the box up out of warranty would they sell a complete replacement control box with all the electronics for $50?
Ian.

[Adverse Effects]

no

well most likly

$50 + there profit
$100 + shipping $70 to $100 depending on the shipping they use (+$20 or $30 padding of the shipping so they make a few extra $ on the side)

so you have a box that is about $20 worth that would cost you around the $250 mark to your hands

and for that you get

1 x box with a few switches that fail after a few uses
1 x low quality PSU
1 x brake out board that isnt worth pissing on if it was on fire
4 x driver boards that arnt worth pissing on if they was on fire
4 x non shielded stepper motor cables that arnt worth pissing on if they was on fire
4 x low quality stepper motors with very brittle wire (already had to dismantle 1 of mine and fix a broken wire from the vibrations)


would you buy it?

yes?

i have a bridge over here in aussie land i would like to sell you and for a really good price

[handlewanker]

A BRIDGE!!!!.....I've always wanted one of those... how long is the bridge?.........LOL.

I'm going to need to compile a set of electros eventually, when I get to the final stage of building the bridge mill/router I'm involved with, so I might have some fun too with the EBAY offerings.

Are you going to replace all the components in the box.....power supply, controller etc etc.....I'm taking notes as I'm quite new to this lark.......I read a write up by Crevice Reamer on what CNC is all about and all the various combinations of the controllers, break out boards and steppers etc, so it won't be all up hill I hope.
Ian.

[Adverse Effects]

here is my build / rebuild thread almost everything i did is in there with some pics

[Superoo]

I'm replacing the control board with a G540

Yes - replacing the power supply.

And also replacing stepper / vfd cables with shielded.

But its early days for me, will post back once I fit this stuff...

[handlewanker]

Hi, just read the posts by Adverse on the rebuild..........what patience you guys have.

I think with the exact science of hindsight you could almost do a complete DIY make it by taking the dimensions form the existing router and doing a steel build.

I'm building a small 3025 bridge mill/router.....(moving table model)........and the cost of the steel tube for the almost complete machine is approx. $200......electrical items, spindle, linear rails and ball screws come next, but if you have a 2 grand ball park to work with on a larger machine it could happen.

I'm dammed sure that a complete machine, scaled up from the 3025 one I'm building and to the work envelope of a true 6040, could be built for under 2 grand and still have some dough left over for cutters etc......steel is dirt cheap relatively, compared to dedicated ally extrusions........provided you can do the welding yourself, or the send out cost will spiral exponentially.

Seeing as how the "turnkey" out of the box EBAY 6040's almost all need to be re-electrified, I'd think a market exists for a basic machine for buyers to fit their own electrics as they see fit......just a thought.
Ian.

[Adverse Effects]

i have already been down the self build route but not for me for a friend

DIY CNC Build - The Australian Electric Vehicle Asn - Page 1

[wholesaleneon]

Ok. So after spending several hours reading the whole post and a few others on the site, I have noticed a definite trend in everyone saying the controllers that come with these are complete junk. I'm a bit unfamiliar with aftermarket controllers. My Multicam routers at work have multicam supplied controllers. When it doesn't work they send out a technician.

So before I pull the trigger on this ebay 6040, should I just go ahead and buy a g540 right off the bat and skip hooking up potential junk? I would prefer to just buy everything at one time and skip the whole troubleshooting stage. What do you guys think my total will be to get it up and running properly? With the router being 1600 shipped, I assumed 900 to cover all the upgrades and software. 250 or so for deskproto, plus the g540, shielded cables, ect. Is that feasible?

[cyknife]

Hi everyone!

I have opt to purchase a bare bones 6040 after much Reading on this forum. FYI Rattm Motors @ aliexpress listing currently 655$ plus shipping, lowest I've seen. I have nothing but a tracking number as of yet but the package details indicate that my parcel weighs 36.3 kg. One post in this site suggest that there are differing weights of 6040 frames.

Anyone care to chime in regarding the weight of your frames?

[Adverse Effects]

wholesaleneon while the G540 (i have one) is a grate unit it requires you have a LPT port (printer port) on your computer and that is becoming less and less possible as there just not making mother boards with them much now

if i where you i would be looking at other controllers that use USB as that seems to be the norm these days

[minicncuser]

I bought a 3020 off ebay about 500 I think it said 52 pounds but that was everything too it was fun to play with but the spindle was done for about 70 hours and it was a bit small to make much on

[ger21]

The G540 is a stepper drive, not a motion controller. It doesn't require a parallel port, just a parallel port connection. You can plug a G540 into motion controllers like the Smoothstepper or UC100 with no problems.

Having said that, you might also consider the Leadshine MX3660 or MX4660. They can run more powerful motors than the G540, and I've heard they're as good if not better.

[wholesaleneon]

The G540 is a stepper drive, not a motion controller. It doesn't require a parallel port,just a parallel port connection. You ca n plug a G540 into motion controllers like the Smoothstepper or UC100 with no problems.

Having said that, you might also consider the Leadshine MX3660 or MX4660. They can run more powerful motors than the G540, and I've heard they're as good if not better.

The parallel port isnt a problem. I have a computer specifically for this purpose. Its an older computer with the port and 32bit windows. I should be good in that regard.

I didn't want to upgrade the actual machine unless it was necessary for operation. My main goal is getting EVERYTHING i need to get it reliable. I'm trying to learn from everyone's experiance with these things. Other than the g540 and cables, what else do I need to look into? And where can I buy the cables? do they have specific end connections on them?

[Adverse Effects]

ok if that is the case here is what i had to do to my 6040
1:- replace controller with G-540
2:- replace all stepper cables with grounded shielded cables
3:- replace the VFD <-> spindle cable with heavy shielded grounded cable
4:- remove and disassemble all ball nuts (has some gritty sand stuff in 1 of mine)
5:- fit homing / limit switches
6:- go over the whole unit and check for striped threads / lose bolts (i had to helicoil 2 of mine and several where lose)
-------
things to do

upgrade power supply from 24VDC to 48VDC
build a dust cabinet because this thing throws crap all over the place and even in to the next room

that is about it i think

[snowyskiesau]

That list is exactly what I had to do to my 6040 to make it usable.
I also had to shim some of the bearing mounts as as they were drilled much too big

[wholesaleneon]

Thanks for the info guys!

Where did you guys get the shielded cables and 48v power supply from?

What software are you using? I was seriously considering the multi axis desk proto. It says its CAM only. I need CAD/CAM software.
And what about post processors?

Any suggestions?

[Adverse Effects]

i use
Google SketchUp to draw in

add-ons of SketchUcam to setup and generate the gcode with mainly 2.5D but it can do 3D stuff

to run the Mill i use Mach3 and would like to have a look at Mach 4 but its to expensive for a home hobby user

[pmcquail]

ok if that is the case here is what i had to do to my 6040

2:- replace all stepper cables with grounded shielded cables
3:- replace the VFD <-> spindle cable with heavy shielded grounded cable

Which end should the cables be single point grounded, at the controller or the mill?

[Adverse Effects]

controller end and both on the spindle<->VFD to earth the mill frame

[Ron Thompson]

I just bought one of these 6040 routers from Ebay. 800w water cooled spindle.
4 Axis CNC Router ENGRAVER Engraving Machine Carving 6040 Four Crafts Great | eBay
It has, of course, no documentation. The driver board is a JP-3163B. with a separate 4th axis driver.
I would like to connect the "Nowforever" VFD to the 0-10V output on the board to gain speed control in the G-code. I can't seem to find out how to activate it in Mach3. I don't know how to tell what pin it is.
I have found a pinout drawing, but it seems to be for an earlier version of the board, as the pins and jumpers aren't exactly the same. In any case, the pin is marked 0-10v, but no designation for the parallel port pin.
Any help would be appreciated.
BTW, after swapping to shielded cables, the machine seems stable. Before, it was losing steps when the VFD was on.