Motors Will Not Turn - Step & Direction wires crossed by mistake
 

I have the panel wired and have ran into a snag. I have 4 PK299 F4.5V They are wired to the Gecko drive G203V A+,A-,B+ B- The BOB is PHDX-122. Powered by 12V. The Step, Drive and Direction are wired to the G203V. The Power supply is wired to the Gecko Drive. On the BOB the jumpers are as follows, JP1 pin 2-9 COM and GRD. JP2 Is pin 2-9 inabled and OK, Pin JP3 is Output enabled and CP ok & not e-stop fault, JP4 is pin 17 out and OK, JP5 is out andd Dir, JP6 is E stop mode & Normal. Mach 3 is set up in ports and pins are configured as "x" 2 & 3, "y" is 4 & 5, "Z" is 6 & 7, "A" is 8 & 9.
When I turn on the power, all motors lock down, I have a green light on step and direction. The problem is that Mach 3 will not jog the motors, I checked voltage on step and direction and I have 5.2 volts, but it doesn't change when I try to move the motors. Mach 3 changes as though the motors are moving, but nothing happens.
Your guidance will be greatly appreciated. I have read a lot, but can't find any answers.

did you enabled the charge pump output (pin 17) in mach3?

Toad, based on your description, you have a lot of things working right.

The fact that the step and direction signals aren't changing suggests that you have either an electrical or a software configuration problem on your parallel port connection to the Bob.

First thing to check is that you have the correct address for the parallel port. It may be that Mach3 is sending signals to the wrong port. 0x378, and 0x278 are the classic addresses for parallel ports.

Second is to check in the BIOS of the machine (at boot up), and make sure that the parallel port is configured for a bidirectional mode (SPP or EPP work well; "compatibility mode" won't).

Third (or maybe first) is to confirm that the cable you are using is actually seated and works.

If you can access it, hang a meter on pin 2 or 3 of the incoming parallel connection of the PMDX-122, and then jog the x-axis back and forth. You should see the meter reading change if the port is configured correctly and the cable is okay. If you do, you're looking for an issue with the BOB. If you don't see the above three possibilities.

Hi Pablo,

Where in Mach 3 do you enable the charge pump on pin 17, the only place I see to enable it is in the general config settings?

Toad

config > port and pins >output signals > scroll down till you find Charge pump, enable it, port 1, pin 17 and try again moving the motors

Check your E-Stop Setup. PMDX you can by pass this with a jumper. This is just for testing of course.

Toad,

Most of us have gone through an initial problem getting the MM up and running because of some comfiguration problem (Ports and Pins) or some Jumper problem, it is normal.

This should have been in the troubleshooting thread.....the answers are mostly there already.

The G203v requires a minimum voltage of 15VDC to work. If I read your post correctly, you are powering the drives with 12VDC. You'll need more voltage. I would use at least 24VDC with the PK299-F4.5 drives. They will handle up to 50VDC. Normally, I run mine with a 35VDC power supply.

Please list the motor wire colors that are connected to A+, A-, B+ and B-. I'll check it against mine.

Have you gone through these threads?:
Motors do not turn - Ports & Pins setting for charge pump
Stepper motor refuses to turn - Wiring & jumper errors
Motors won't turn after the setting up - PMDX-122 jumpers incorrect
Cannot get motor to turn - Mach Ports & Pins setup

The answers are found in the threads that Gerald referenced. It will take some effort, but effort means that the knowledge will "stick".

Let's review some of the common problems.

1. PMDX-122 jumpered wrong. The Geckodrive G203v uses GROUND as the Step/Direction signal COMMON. Set JP1 on the PMDX-122 to connect the GND pin with the center pin.

2. Mach 3 configured incorrectly. The Geckodrive G203v requires Active High signals.

3. The stepper motor is wired incorrectly. The PK299-F4.5 has eight wires which means that it has two A coils and two B coils. Study the data sheet that came with the motor, or look at the diagram on www.orientalmotor.com There are three ways to wire the motor, half-coil, bipolar parallel and bipolar series. I recommend half-coil.

Half-Coil: Wire the Black lead to A. Wire the Yellow lead to /A. Wire the Red lead to B. Wire the White lead to /B. Wrap EACH of the other four leads with electrical tape or a wire nut. DO NOT connect ANY of the other leads to anything, including each other.

Bipolar-Parallel: Wire the Black lead AND the Orange lead to A. Wire the Yellow lead AND the Green lead to /A. Wire the Red lead AND the Brown lead to B. Wire the White lead AND the Blue lead to /B.

Bipolar Series: Wire the Black lead to A. Wire the Yellow lead to the Orange lead. Wire the Green lead to /A. Wire the Red lead to B. Wire the White lead to the Brown lead. Wire the Blue lead to /B.

4. Wrong current limiting resistor. Use a 40K (or lower) current limiting resistor if you use bipolar series. Use an 85K (or lower) current limiting resistor if you use half-coil. Use a 425K (or lower) current limiting resistor if you use bipolar parallel.

5. Wrong power supply voltage. Use 50VDC (or lower, but at least 15VDC) if you wire the motor half-coil or bipolar parallel. Use 80VDC (or lower, but at least 15VDC) if you wire the motor bipolar series.

Edited: Remember that this information assumes that you're using G203v stepper drivers and PK299-F4.5 stepper motors.

Hi all, thanks for your help so far,
I did find I had the charge pump incorrect, I am closer, but not there yet. I have looked at all of the tutorials as was suggested. You are correct, I did post in the incorrect spot. Thanks for moving it.
I have looked through all of the trouble shooting section, a couple of times, but found nothing that got me going. as far as remembering it better, at my age, not as easy as it used to be.
Now when I power on, I have green LED's on power alt in, out post enhansed,step and direction. I checked the wiring a couple of times, and it is wired Bipolar parallel. I have a 100K resister on the geckhos. When I try to jog the motor will bump, and the step LED will go out, when I try the other direction, it will come back on, The dir. stays on. I have 36V going to the Geckos from the power supply. Gecko's have green led's, JP1 is set to gnd. Ports are set 378 and 278. I am missing something simple, but I am overlooking it. I will keep reading. Thanks for your patience and help.

Toad

Toad
Just a shot in the dark but this sounds like a problem I had when I was first trying to get my motors to move. I had to swap the step and direction wires between the G203V and the PMDX-122. Hope this helps.

Toad, you just described having the step and direction signals reversed!

Either change your wiring, or change your pins in mach3 and test again.

Usually, a bump in mach3 or emc emits a bunch of step pulses, faster than you can see. If it's an even number, the step LED ends up in the same state at the end of the move

I think that you will get your motors turning within 5 minutes of reading the last two posts! ;) Good luck!

I just want to say thank you all for your assistance. That worked, now they turn. I can sleep well tonight.
Again, Thank you.

Toad

Toad,

As I mentioned before, almost every one has had the same problems and thought the same things. But fortunately, it doesn't take much to get the motors running once all the parts are put together.

Good work. Now when they stop working, you will know what to do to find why they are not working.

There are so many CNC owners that do not have a clue how to fix their machines.

After looking at this thread and reviewing the documentation I used when wiring my control box it seems to me that Toad's problem and possibily others is that the PMDX-122 manual, and mechmate threads, do not show the connections correctly. The step and direction connections are shown reversed from the orentation needed for the motors to operate correctly. I'd like someone else to take a look at this and see if they agree. Thanks.