Hello,

My name is Thomas and I just started playing with steppers and Mach3. It seems that I can't get anything to work right now... help would be very much appreciated
... I have no experience at all using Mach3. Datasheet for the stepper and the references for the board/drivers is attached.

In Mach3 (R3.042.040, running with XP on an up to date computer ... I installed it, rebooted, ran the driver test: freq. is 25kHz, it says "System Excellent")
-I have setup the correct address (0xccc8) for the port after checking it in my device manager

-I have modified the Estop to "active low" in Ports and Pins/Input signals
-I have modified the Step pin# and Dir Pin# in Ports and Pins/Motor Output using the breakout board specifications

- I have wired my  FL86STH80-4208A (8 wires, 4.2A) in bipolar (parallel) connection... I also tried bipolar series and half coil connections - same result
-when I try to run the simplest G-code possible (X100) I get irregular, small steps. I can get the motor to step the other way by running X-100, but the steps are also small, and irregular...

As far as I know the connections between the breakout board and the driver are fine (checked 3 times).
If I look at Mach3/Diagnostics "Port 1 Pin current State" Pins 4,5,6,7,8 are green

I tried to install Mach3Version3.043.022 instead, doing everything the same way as before, and in this case I don't get any steps at all... and all pins are black in If I look at Mach3/Diagnostics

Is there anything obvious I am missing?

many thanks for your help

Thomas


the power supply should supply enough power (36V 10A), the driver is set up at 4.2 A (I guess it should be higher given the bipolar parallel connection) - I will change that later


data:
I use Version R3.042.040
my stepper is a FL86STH80-4208A (8 wires, 4.2A)


I have setup my 8-wire stepper in bipolar (parallel) connection


the breakout board and drivers are here:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&isIU=1&item=180826693743

Can you attach your xml please.
Hood

Hood -

thanks for reading. Here is the xml, renamed OTB.xml

Do you have any documentation on which pin should be assigned for each axis step.direction? I dont see it in the attached pdf's but may be overlooking things.
Hood

yes -
X StepPin 2 DirPin 14
Y StepPin 3 DirPin 16
Z StepPin 7 DirPin 8
A StepPin 6 DirPin 5
B StepPin 4 DirPin 17

Or please have a look at the attached pdf - Figure 5 and Figure 6

Looks ok with the exception of Y axis ins being the opposite way round, well depends which part of the document you look at

It sounds as if the pin assignments may be wrong when you are saying you are getting irregular steps. What I would do is disable all axis and try one at a time with different combinations of pins.
Hood

Hi Hood,

Sorry I don't understand this:
>Looks ok with the exception of Y axis ins being the opposite way round, well depends which part of the document you look at

Anyway at the moment I am only using the X axis. Shall I disable all of them except X, then for X try again 2 and 14, then 3 and 16, then 7 and 8?
Is this correct?

many thanks

Thomas

Just tried this:

I disabled all axis except X, then for X tried again changing pins from 2 and 14 to 3 and 16, then 7 and 8 - in this case nothing worked at all

Sorry bit of a typo there : What I am meaning is the start of the manual says Y Step is 16 and Y Dir is 3 and the screen print on the board seems to suggest that is right however further on in the manual it shows 3 as Step and 16 as Dir.

What I would do is disable all axis in Mach except X then try pin 2 and 3, 2 and 3, 2 and 5 etc etc. Unfortunately there are a lot of different combinations for you to try.
You should be able to test by jogging with the keyboard keys  rather than trying to command moves.

A few other things you can try, you need to set the steps per unit correctly, for that you will need to know what microstepping you have the drives set to and if there is any gearing between motor and screw and also what pitch the screws are. Also try with 10 set for step and dir pulse boxes in Motor tuning.
Another thing, do you have the Breakout board powered?
Hood

Will try that!

The breakout board is powered via USB (signal through DB25), so yes, it should be powered.

I have my stepper set at 400 pulse per rev (angle 0.9). There are no screws or anything on the stepper yet

many thanks

Thomas