Taking the CNC Plunge

[TomS]

Are you planning on turning the spindle on and off with mach3?

You can do that with one of the contactors and a SSR. An e-stop or limit trip would stop the spindle.

Not going to turn the spindle on and off with Mach 3 at this time. Maybe later once the mill is up and running with a few hours on it. I would like to wire the e-stop so that it stops axis movement and spindle rotation when activated. The spindle motor circuit wiring is as it came from the factory; the 24vdc transformer latches the spindle contactor (KM1).

Tom S

 

[jbolt]

If you want to stop the spindle with only the e-stop button you could do that by switching the spindle motor contactor with an e-stop switch with 2 NC contacts, 1 for the limit circuit and one for the contactor coil circuit. This would not stop the spindle on a limit trip. A switch like this with an extra NC contact block would do the trick.

To stop the spindle on an e-stop and limit trip you need to trip the contactor with a relay. Your BOB has a low volt relay that could control an SSR that would then control the contactor coil. At that point you are controlling the spindle with mach3.

Before I did the VFD conversion I had my spindle wired to run from mach3 or manualy using a 3 position switch. In position 1, mach3 would turn on a SSR to energize the contactor. Position 2 was all off. Position 3 would bypass the SSR and energize the contactor directly. I found this useful for doing manual work or using edge finders.

Having used the mill for over a year I am now comfortable using mach3 to do what I used to do manually.

Jay

Also, I have my system wired with 2 e-stops. One is through the BOB and stops the axis and spindle. The other kills all power to the machine for that "oh crap my machines is on fire" moment we hope never happens.

 

[TomS]

If you want to stop the spindle with only the e-stop button you could do that by switching the spindle motor contactor with an e-stop switch with 2 NC contacts, 1 for the limit circuit and one for the contactor coil circuit. This would not stop the spindle on a limit trip. A switch like this with an extra NC contact block would do the trick.

To stop the spindle on an e-stop and limit trip you need to trip the contactor with a relay. Your BOB has a low volt relay that could control an SSR that would then control the contactor coil. At that point you are controlling the spindle with mach3.

Before I did the VFD conversion I had my spindle wired to run from mach3 or manualy using a 3 position switch. In position 1, mach3 would turn on a SSR to energize the contactor. Position 2 was all off. Position 3 would bypass the SSR and energize the contactor directly. I found this useful for doing manual work or using edge finders.

Having used the mill for over a year I am now comfortable using mach3 to do what I used to do manually.

Jay

Also, I have my system wired with 2 e-stops. One is through the BOB and stops the axis and spindle. The other kills all power to the machine for that "oh crap my machines is on fire" moment we hope never happens.

Thanks for the info. I'm going to wire the existing e-stop into the limit switch circuit so I can reset Mach 3 and move on to setting my limit stops. In the mean time I'll order a 2 contact e-stop.

Tom S

 

[TomS]

I wired the e-stop into the limit switch circuit. Started Mach 3 and everything was normal. I was able to move all three axis in both directions. I manually tripped one of the limit switches and as expected I got a limit tripped message in the status window. I clicked reset and immediately got the UC100 did not respond error message. Double checked my input pin settings and confirmed as follows:

XX++, XX--, Y++, Y--, Z++ and Z-- are enabled, pin 12 in each of the pin number boxes, and active low checked for each. Also tried it with the active low boxes not checked.

Restarted Mach 3 and clicked reset. Limit switch tripped error did not clear. Shut down and restarted Mach 3. Now I'm getting an e-stop tripped message in the status box and it won't clear when I press reset. I'm at a loss as to why it worked when I started up the first time but now it's not allowing me to reset. For info I opened the UC100 monitor window and #12 pin light is not lit.

Tom S

 

[jbolt]

Any time you get a fault with the UC100 you need to restart Mach3 to reset the plug-in.

Try removing and re-installing the UC100 plug-in.

What computer are you using?

Jay

 

[TomS]

Any time you get a fault with the UC100 you need to restart Mach3 to reset the plug-in.

Try removing and re-installing the UC100 plug-in.

What computer are you using?

Jay

I do restart Mach 3 everytime I get the UC100 error message. I did reload the application but did not manually remove the initial installation. I'll try removing it and reload and see what happens.

My computer is an HP laptop running Windows 7 64 bit. From what I've read Mach 3, D2NC (CAM software) and UC100 should run.

Tom S

 

[bvd1940]

I do restart Mach 3 everytime I get the UC100 error message. I did reload the application but did not manually remove the initial installation. I'll try removing it and reload and see what happens.

My computer is an HP laptop running Windows 7 64 bit. From what I've read Mach 3, D2NC (CAM software) and UC100 should run.

Tom S

I am not sure Tom but I have saw a lot of posts that say it will not run on Win 7 64 bit. I think it has to be 32 bit to run Mach 3, I might be wrong but what do I know
Bill

 

[TomS]

I am not sure Tom but I have saw a lot of posts that say it will not run on Win 7 64 bit. I think it has to be 32 bit to run Mach 3, I might be wrong but what do I know
Bill

Bill - Thanks for your input. I've read the same thing but have also read where Mach 3 and UC100 are 64 bit compatible. At this point I'm not sure what's causing the problems. I'm thinking I should reinstall Mach 3 and UC100.

Tom S

 

[jbolt]

Bill - Thanks for your input. I've read the same thing but have also read where Mach 3 and UC100 are 64 bit compatible. At this point I'm not sure what's causing the problems. I'm thinking I should reinstall Mach 3 and UC100.

Tom S

I was not able to make them work on a desktop with win7-64. I went back to XP.

Jay

 

[TomS]

I was not able to make them work on a desktop with win7-64. I went back to XP.

Jay

I took the limit switches and e-stop out of the equation by assigning them to port #0. Still getting the UC100 error message. I'm going to reinstall the UC100 driver in the morning and see if that helps.

I may end up going to XP or Windows 7 32 bit. Who knows where this will take me.

Tom S