[forrest39]

I just can't figure where I'm going wrong here. I hooked the G540 pins 7,8, and 9 to P3, P2, & P1 respectively on the X2 controller board. Using Mach3, I have enabled the spindle, but that's all I know to do. I'm getting no voltage or any response from the spindle. I followed the instructions from PMinMO.com, but I'm missing something here. I have also tried turning on the spindle switch just a crack to close the switch that's with the pot, but no luck there either.
Any advice greatly appreciated…
-Kevin

[Fastest1]

Are you using Mach 3? Are the relays enabled? Also though I couldnt find it in the Gecko G540 manual, dont you have to supply additional voltage for the VFD's out?

[AiR_GuNNeR]

First thing I would do is make sure you don't have the ground and V+ switched around.
Pni7 should be your pot ground and 9 is the pot power wire. If those are correct, and you are measuring a voltage between 7 and nine, tell mach to go to half speed and measure between 7 and 8. You should have around 5 volts if I recall.

[forrest39]

I am using the latest Mach3 with fresh xml from gecko. No relays - directly connected per the simple version on the pminmo.com example.

I have verified proper orientation of pins 7, 8, and 9. I get 11.93 V between 7 and 9, but nothing between 7 and 8. I have tried that at 100% and 50% - still no voltage. I would expect to see 10VDC at 100%, but now nothing.

Thanks for the help so far!
-Kevin

[forrest39]

The way I understand it, the G540 takes 10-12 VDC (as stated a number of places no more than 12 VDC) between pins 7 and 9 and will put out a modulated 0-10 VDC for 0-100% between pins 7 and 8. That's what the pot appears to do on the side of the machine.

I'm thinking there's something I'm missing in the mach3 setup. I have verified that the boxes are checked for "use spindle motor output" and PWM control". I also have the spindle enabled and pin 14 active for step pin #.
What else do I need to do to mach3 to get control voltage from pin 8?

Thanks, -Kevin

[forrest39]

After some RTFM (read the FULL manual) I discovered that I needed to enable and define pin 14 for output#1 in the output signals page of ports and pins. I can now toggle voltage on and off by clicking the spindle/F5 button on the main screen.

I still can not control the speed. Between pins 7 and 8 on the G540, I see 11.8 VDC with no modulation after toggling speed % in the spindle section of the main page.

So, close but no cigar… yet…

-Kevin

[forrest39]

I've tried everything I can find info and still no luck getting the VFD output pin 8 to produce a modulated voltage to run the speed controller for the X2. It goes on and off, but that's it.

I keep getting the message "PWM bumped to minimum setting." Can anybody explain what this means? I couldn't find an explanation in the Mach3 manual.

Thanks, -Kevin

[hoss2006]

Found this on yahoo from someone with the same error message.

"have you looked in Config/Spindle Pulleys? When you go there, you'll be in
the pulley that's active. Might be the ONLY one, but it needs to match what your
S command is. You can read the Mach3 manual to learn about pulleys, but I think
you're commanding a speed that's outside the set Spindle Pulley range and
getting the message from mach."

Hoss

[hub]

After some RTFM (read the FULL manual) I discovered that I needed to enable and define pin 14 for output#1 in the output signals page of ports and pins. I can now toggle voltage on and off by clicking the spindle/F5 button on the main screen.

I still can not control the speed. Between pins 7 and 8 on the G540, I see 11.8 VDC with no modulation after toggling speed % in the spindle section of the main page.

So, close but no cigar… yet…

-Kevin

Did you measure the voltage WITH or WITHOUT vfd connected?

[forrest39]

Thanks Hoss and Hub,
Yes, I read that thread too and tried setting a number of different pulley options but that had no effect.
I have tried getting the signal with the VFD connected and disconnected. By that I mean I am using the ground at pin 7 and the positive voltage to pin 9. From my understanding of how the system works, the VFD analog output to pin 8 should be a percentage of the input voltage providing the input does exceed 12 VDC.
I got the G540 in January or so of last year and I'm wondering if there may have been a revision since then. By looking at it, I can't seem to determine what rev I have.
I'm still thinking I have a Mach3 set up problem if I keep getting the "PWM bumped to minimum setting" message. I'm still scouring every board and user groups I can find, but no luck so far…
I thought the G540 was supposed to be plug and play };'0

-Kevin

[hub]

Thanks Hoss and Hub,
Yes, I read that thread too and tried setting a number of different pulley options but that had no effect.
I have tried getting the signal with the VFD connected and disconnected. By that I mean I am using the ground at pin 7 and the positive voltage to pin 9. From my understanding of how the system works, the VFD analog output to pin 8 should be a percentage of the input voltage providing the input does exceed 12 VDC.
I got the G540 in January or so of last year and I'm wondering if there may have been a revision since then. By looking at it, I can't seem to determine what rev I have.
I'm still thinking I have a Mach3 set up problem if I keep getting the "PWM bumped to minimum setting" message. I'm still scouring every board and user groups I can find, but no luck so far…
I thought the G540 was supposed to be plug and play };'0

-Kevin

the VFD analog output to pin 8
That would be analogue INPUT to VFD.

And how did you measure the voltage? With VFD connected or disconnected?

Hub

[hub]

What are your settings in Mach? You have the PWM check box checked?

[forrest39]

Hub,
Yes I have PWM checked and spindle speed control. If I understand it correctly, the pin 8 goes to P2 on the speed controller. As it is, I have P3 connected to pin7, and P1 connected to pin9. Pin 7 is the common and I measure 11.9 or so volts between pin 7 and pin 9. When I activate the spindle on the mach3 main screen, I get measure the full input voltage between pin 7 and pin 8, but as I toggle down the percentage, there is no change in voltage. I have measured this with pin 8 connected to P2 and disconnected. The result is the same except that the spindle runs full tilt if it is connected.

Any other ideas? Thanks, -Kevin

[forrest39]

I sent this note to mach support…

I am attempting to utilize the vfd drive contol portion of a G540, but I keep getting the error message "PWM bumped to minimum setting." With my current settings, I am only able to turn the signal on and off, but am unable to modulate the control voltage.

Can you give me some ideas of where to look? I was unable to find any documentation about this error message.

Thank you for your help,
-Kevin

And the answer is:

Hi Kevin,
Under Config>Spindle Pulleys you have options to assign specific speeds for minimum and maximum as well as pulley ratio. It is giving you the error because you are operating with a incorrect speed assigned on the pulley you have specified.
---
Andrew Mitchell
Tech Support

So that leads me to wonder how mach3 knows the spindle speed. I have never thought about this before, but does mach3 need to have some spindle speed feedback (from a C3 card for example) for PWM to work? I had just assumed that if you tell the spindle to run at 100% then it would put that voltage through to pin 8. 50% speed would permit 50% of the input voltage etc..

Maybe I'm a little closer, but still no plan of attack…
-Kevin

[hoss2006]

You don't need any input like a c3 for the spindle control to work.
Mach outputs based on the pulley rpms you set.
Don't expect it to be dead on, more like ballpark.
I take it you've seen whitehedr's pdf on the mach config settings.
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/attach...6&d=1285020948
you also need to check the g540 manual for your version because the vfd+ and vfd gnd pins have
changed on newer boards than pminmo used.
G540 VFD
Hoss

just to ask, are you inputting a figure in the spindle speed box so mach knows
what you want to run?
i.e. the 2500 in the pic which is what I set the max spindle pulley to in this example

[forrest39]

Hoss,
Thanks for that link to whItehedr's settings post. Mine were almost exactly the same, but I hadn't realized that I needed a '1' in the step low assignment.
It fired right up! :banana:

As you say, the speeds are somewhat ballpark, but close enough to start with. I can tweak the ratios and then do some feed tests to get optimum values.

Anyway, HAPPY HAPPY!!!!!:cheers:

Now to finish the cabinet and cooling setup.

-Kevin

[forrest39]

I hate to admit this, but perhaps somebody else can learn from my boneheadedness... I hadn't put anything in that window that Hoss had mentioned. I probably have been hitting the button all week with something that had worked and didn't know it...

So for all others following this saga, read Hoss's last suggestion.
It may have been in the manual, but just plain missed it.

Thank you all for the advice, and good luck to all behind me!

-Kevin:wee:

[hoss2006]

Congrats!
Hoss

[hoss2006]

I hate to admit this, but perhaps somebody else can learn from my boneheadedness... I hadn't put anything in that window that Hoss had mentioned. I probably have been hitting the button all week with something that had worked and didn't know it...

So for all others following this saga, read Hoss's last suggestion.
It may have been in the manual, but just plain missed it.

Thank you all for the advice, and good luck to all behind me!

-Kevin:wee:

Don't feel bad, I've done spindle control before on the X2 but when I did it
on the g0704 this year, I puzzled and rechecked connections for half an hour
trying to get an output from mach till it dawned on me, guess what the problem was.
Hoss

[Fastest1]

We have all done this! Sometimes more than once. Maybe not with the VFD settings in particular but with some little unseen setting somewhere deep within.:tired: