[Makodean]

Hey guys, I'm new here and I have been searching everywhere for some answers to my problems but can't seem to figure it out. I have a chinese 3020T (black control box) running on a Dell Optiplex GX620 with Windows XP Professional Version 2002 (32bit) set on EPP only mode and the port address is set to 378 in Bios and I can't get the darn stepper motors to work. When I turn the machine on the motors lock up and everything seems fine, I start the Mach3 program and hit the Tab button to enter the manual jogging mode and everything seems to be okay up until I hit one of the arrow keys on the screen or one of the keys on the keyboard and then my motors go loose the instant I touch either one of them and I have to turn off the machine, exist Mach3, start the machine back up and then enter Mach3 again just to do it all over again. Even though the steppers aren't moving, the DROs are moving on the screen. I have installed Mach3 as per the tutorial videos and believe the setting to be correct. I checked my cable to make sure it was a 1-1 cable via a continuity test. I have checked the voltage from my parallel port cable and I get 3.2 volts and 0 volts. Am I suppose to have 5 volts coming from the parallel port? I had read somewhere that the control box supplies the 5 volts to the stepper board. I do have 5 volts coming out of my probe plug that is attached to the same board. Anyhow, they adjust from 3.2v-0v as I jog the axis back and forth via keyboard keys and onscreen arrow keys. I have ran the driver test and everything looked good to my knowledge. I have the estop button working and even my touch probe responding in Mach3 diagnostics window. I have 5 leds lit up. I know for certain that 1 is for the estop and the other is for my probe so I'm assuming the other 3 are for the X,Y,Z axis..? Am I only suppose to have that amount of pins lit up? I don't know.
Okay, so now on to my settings, I have attached all the screen shots of my setting from my computer to my Mach3 settings below. In the motor outputs those are the numbers that came with the instructions for the machine. I have tried a few others that people have had tried but still no success in moving the steppers. I'm very confused at this point as to what could be my problem. I would greatly appreciate any help you guys could offer to get me up and running.

[Makodean]

I purchased a PCI parallel port card today and installed it. I changed the address in Port #1 to the address of the PCI card. I then disabled all other ports except for that port but I'm still having the same exact issue. I sure hope someone knows the answer. I would hate to return my cnc machine over something that is probably being overlooked by me being a complete novice. I think I've acquired a bald spot form this experience so far. haha

[wire10ga]

It looks ok to me. You might google "ballscrew 3020-3040 cnc router GUIDE.pdf" as this has a lot of screen grabs of how to set up the machine. I did notice on the port pins setup that you have the step low active checked. When mine is checked the steppers have a hard time moving. 3.2 volts on the LPT ports seems a little low, but if you tried another PCI card then I would rule that out. I also noticed that your Mach 3 says DEMO, have you tried a registered version?

[dusty2050]

Hey guys, I'm new here and I have been searching everywhere for some answers to my problems but can't seem to figure it out. I have a chinese 3020T (black control box) running on a Dell Optiplex GX620 with Windows XP Professional Version 2002 (32bit) set on EPP only mode and the port address is set to 378 in Bios and I can't get the darn stepper motors to work. When I turn the machine on the motors lock up and everything seems fine, I start the Mach3 program and hit the Tab button to enter the manual jogging mode and everything seems to be okay up until I hit one of the arrow keys on the screen or one of the keys on the keyboard and then my motors go loose the instant I touch either one of them and I have to turn off the machine, exist Mach3, start the machine back up and then enter Mach3 again just to do it all over again. Even though the steppers aren't moving, the DROs are moving on the screen. I have installed Mach3 as per the tutorial videos and believe the setting to be correct. I checked my cable to make sure it was a 1-1 cable via a continuity test. I have checked the voltage from my parallel port cable and I get 3.2 volts and 0 volts. Am I suppose to have 5 volts coming from the parallel port? I had read somewhere that the control box supplies the 5 volts to the stepper board. I do have 5 volts coming out of my probe plug that is attached to the same board. Anyhow, they adjust from 3.2v-0v as I jog the axis back and forth via keyboard keys and onscreen arrow keys. I have ran the driver test and everything looked good to my knowledge. I have the estop button working and even my touch probe responding in Mach3 diagnostics window. I have 5 leds lit up. I know for certain that 1 is for the estop and the other is for my probe so I'm assuming the other 3 are for the X,Y,Z axis..? Am I only suppose to have that amount of pins lit up? I don't know.
Okay, so now on to my settings, I have attached all the screen shots of my setting from my computer to my Mach3 settings below. In the motor outputs those are the numbers that came with the instructions for the machine. I have tried a few others that people have had tried but still no success in moving the steppers. I'm very confused at this point as to what could be my problem. I would greatly appreciate any help you guys could offer to get me up and running.

I am having almost the exact same problem. I get no response from the stepper motors at all. They do go in lock mode once power is applied. I have not tried buying a new printer port card yet.

[SG50]

Attachment 265416

This could be your problem, X,Y,Z not enabled. Enable1,2,3 should be checked (Green).
Port 1 for x,y,z. and all active low.
Pin number should follow what your machine settings given by manufacturer. Read the instructions for it.

[dusty2050]

Yep I did set those. I guess the model I have may not be matching the documentation that came with the machine. The picture of the machine in the documentation of the controller was different than the one in the box.

[Tomazzz]

Have you resolved this issue? I have bought 3040 in 2016 and I'm experiencing exact same issues...
Please post a fix if you have one
Cheers
Tom

[Black_Venoms]

make your settings look like this and, you should be good to go.Attachment 337806