Please help troubleshoot problems on PM-45M CNC

[rmantoo]

I bought a PM-45M CNC about 2 months ago, and finally got it set up.

I ran the drop for the electric myself: 230v 1ph is pretty easy! Both legs tested fine. Right about the time I screwed the faceplate into the box, I got a call and had to go to work for 3 weeks...

Today I finally plugged everything in, booted up the PC, and turned it on.

Everything comes on. VFD powers up, fan runs inside the electronics case, X, Y, Z, all jog manually with the Pendant. And the fan on top of the spindle motor comes on when I hit the green button.

Mach 3 recognizes when I plug the mill in, or unplug it. I'm using a USB to go from my pc to the mill.

However, Mach 3 appears to do nothing to the actual mill. When I hit the spindle on button in Mach 3, the border of the button flashes yellow, then stays yellow, but the spindle doesn't come on.

On the Diagnostics tab, "Output 1" will flash whenever I enter any command, such as spindle on/off, or any gcode.

I've also tried executing a simple gcode program... nothing on the mill appears to move, and I no relays activate, either. It takes maybe 1.5 seconds and you see each line of code being highlighted, line by line, then it hits the end... and nothing.

In the electronics cabinet, the VFD displays "PLC 1." Is that normal? Even if the vfd is hosed, though, that shouldn't stop the X, Y, and Z axes from moving, I wouldn't think.

Any suggestions as to what to check are greatly appreciated.

 

[matthewsx]

Do you have power to the controller? I don’t know what board it runs but that’s what I’d check if none of the axis move. VFD probably just runs the spindle.

John

 

[rmantoo]

Do you have power to the controller? I don’t know what board it runs but that’s what I’d check if none of the axis move. VFD probably just runs the spindle.

John

The controller is an NMotion CNC. It certainly looks like it has power. The pendant plugs directly into the controller, and since the pendant/jog wheel and axis selector on the pendant all work, I think so? I'll check for a power light in the morning (mill is in the garage, which I've already closed up for the night)

I just found the Nmotion user manual online, and a LOT of the settings I saw in the configuration and diagnostics are different from what's in the manual, so I think I'm going to go back through it like it's a new installation and configure all of the settings tomorrow. Kind of a "when all else fails, uninstall and reinstall" thing...

 

[Aukai]

I couldn't help it

 

[rmantoo]

I couldn't help it

View attachment 382730

Very definitely.

 

[rmantoo]

UPDATE: I got the X, Y, and Z axes to move using the soft jog function. "MPG" mode. Not sure that's the correct terms: I hit TAB, and what looks like this: And I can move it all around at that point.

However, when I put any gcode into the program window, it still doesn't move the machine, at all.









Does any of the following look wrong?

 

[B2]

If you have not done so look up the Delta VFD manual to find out the meaning of the code PTC1. This is probably important as it may mean there is a missing code parameter that the VFD may want to have.

Anyway, in "a" Delta manual I found on line I searched one PTC1 and found a code corresponding to "34: Motor PTC overheat protection", which appears to be a code not an error..... not that it means your machine is over heated. There is also a resistor called the Rptc1 which, at first glance, appears to be used to measure the temperature of the VFD or the motor to provide some protection? Maybe the VFD needs be programed with the specific value?

If you have not found the model number for the Delta VFD you have I suggest you look at the side of it. Mine was hard to see as it was installed tight against the case and so not easily visible. I finally got it by using my phone camera. It fit where my head would not!!! Once, you have the vfd model you can download the manual and search on the code.

Anyway, Where did you get this machine? I do not see a PM 45 CNC on the PM web site? Do you have a full view of the machine so that one can see it?

I have a PM940M CNC that I purchased from PM before they stopped offering CNC machines. It also has a Delta VFD in it and I have it running on Mach3. So it all sounds very similar. However, since I do not know if it is the same model as yours we cannot count on everything being exactly the same. So I helped another person (@Sal_the_man and @chocadile) who had a Pm940M CNC get his machine running and in doing so I posted a bunch of pictures of the Mach3 settings. You can search on their user names. I provided a lot of pictures of how Mach3 is set up as well as the Mach3 setup profile that came with my machine. So rather than my wading into all of your pictures maybe you could just look at the ones I and others posted for them. It is a long thread, but the info is in there. https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/pm-940m-cnc-pre-assembled.49011/page-14#post-646267

Since you have the soft pendant (software "MPG" mode) working it means that the UBS communication is working. I can sort of see, in one of your photos, that your hard ware pendant maybe the same as my own. If it works to move the xyz steppers and the xyz values in the Mach3 display are changing at the same time then it is communicating back to Mach3. It is connected to the Nmotion and telling the Nmotion how to run the steppers and at the same time telling Mach3 what has happened. It does this so that the tool position does not get lost.

If you found reasonable documentation for the nmotion controller please share it. I have the nmotion controller, but the doumentation I have is very poor and a lot of it is in Chinese. Maybe yours is better than mine!? Thanks

Dave

 

[B2]

Hi Sal,
I am still a newbie at Forum postings and so do not know if there is a better way to post these photos. Because there were so many images I will not post them as individual images. Because the resolution maybe important for you to be able to see the finer details of the images I did not want to simply upload them as thumbnails. So, I have put them into pdf files. As I said before, there are 34 photos, so you can determine if you got all that I posted.

Good luck,
Dave

Maybe this direct link will help you find my docuements that I posted.

 

[qualitymachinetools]

I HIGHLY recommend replacing that board with a Centroid Acorn or a Masso or something like that. Things have come a long way in the years since that 45-CNC mill was made, your life will be a lot easier if you upgrade and these boards are not that expensive.

 

[Bob Korves]

I sure like my older machines that have only dirt simple electrical hookups, and ZERO software or computerized controls. There are goesintas and comesouttas, and lever switches, and they always work, for the past decades, now, and probably well into the future... YMMV!!!