Or change the polarity on the direction pin, if your software allows.

Have you tried the various online machining services - emachineshop and the like? I haven't used them, but if you can't find a local shop, maybe one of those services will do.

For some reason my post submission didn't go through the other day.

I ended up swapping wiring, you can only reverse the slaved axis in software.

I tried online, came back at 250 not including some finishing touches I couldn't figure out in 3d. I ordered them from my first quote.

Mean time, still figuring out the spindle RPM issue. it will spin up to whatever parameter I have set in PD-011 "frequency lower limit" .

Once I get those plates in, I should have a working Z and hopefully make a first cut.
Till then, need to cut & thread some stand-offs and pulleys for gearboxes.

Thanks for your quick replies guys.

I think I would hang a meter across the analog speed input of your VFD to see what the measurement is, and if it varies in response to changing the software setting.

Based on what you've described I'd expect you'll find it's a low voltage and doesn't vary, causing minimum speed to be invoked.

Would you care to tell us:

1- Are you using 0-5v, 0-10v or ratiometric according to the PMDX manual wiring options?
2- Did you do the speed calibration shown in the PMDX-107 manual? Is the trim pot all the way counter clockwise at the moment?
3- What the PMDX-107 dip switch settings are?

Wow:)

Ok, Reading from VI to ACM terminals is 0 and VI to DCM is .80
VI connected to Aout @ pmdx
DCM to COM " "
ACM to Agnd " "
I'm using 0-10v.
I didn't bother with calibration yet, trim pot is all the way counter clockwise.
All switches are set to the off position.

another confusing thing on the VFD is the dual terminal rails where there is an ACM and DCM on each rail. I tried using both with no difference.

That all seems correct. The redundant commons (ACM and DCM) are pretty er, commonly found for convenience when wiring multiple harnesses to the VFD.

I suspect that the trim point all the way down means you are never outputting any voltage, and you need to do the calibration as the next step, at which point you will get both voltage measurements, and speed control.

ok. more confusion. I made sure trim pot is all the way CC before starting system, started test mode and played with pot but nothing would happen. started system with pot turned fully clockwise and then tried adjusting and it would increase spindle RPM in the CC direction. spindle max RPM was almost fully CC, and then pressed test button once and it sped up to 375Hz then pressed button once more and exited test mode.
In mach3 I entered 1000 RPM and spindle went to almost its max RPM @ 398hz, and then when i tried increasing RPM even more by pressing the "+arrow", it dropped RPM and went to 320hz, then turned off spindle at which point it increased RPM again and then shut down.
And Parameters PD-072 & PD-073: Lower & Higher Analog frequency are set to 100 & 400.

What does a meter with black on ACM and red on VI show during the test? Any chance you have aout and agnd reversed?

I notice you have a yellow/green wire connected to VI, does that go to aout as it should?

Again, thank you for the quick replies.

ACM to VI is still 0
DCM to VI is .6

Yes, VI is connected to Aout

Any idea why trim pot is functioning backwards?

So not getting a reading from ACM to VI is weird, and so is getting a reading from DCM to VI. It makes me continue to be suspicious of a wiring error. I assume the reading at VI must have moved during the test or you wouldn't have seen frequency variation. Are you able to set up the meter so that you can watch it during the test?

Theories on trim pot backwards:

It's acting as if you're moving against a 10v reference instead of ground; when it's all the way up 10v-10v = 0v = no motion. As you decrease you get 10v - 7v = 3v, 10v - 5v = 5v, ... 10v - 0v = 10v.

Or, as if you have PD071 - PD076 set up for a reverse curve.

Hmm. What's the voltage between ACM and DCM? Should be either an open circuit, or 0v.

Thanks Brad, sorry for the delay.
I'm suspicious of my volt meter, its an old digital one but when I went to test ACM to VI again before I starting it in test mode, it showed voltage ramping up to around 2.5, but then every other time I checked it it showed nothing.
I looked at wiring again and it is as listed in post #204.

Havent had time to get back on it but I Wil recheck PD-071-76.
ACM to DCM is open.
Trtimg,to get my hands on a newer multimeter.

Well, for measuring simple DC voltage, Harbor Freight will sell you a disposable piece of junk for 6 bucks or so. I must own five of them, scattered around so that I don't have to go fetch the one good meter most of the time.

Ok, sorry for the long delay, I'm finally back at it.

In the mean time all I got done was the Z reduction box, which now works fine.
Also bought a used Fluke 87v...

-ve on ACM to +ve on VI when starting test mode, goes from 15mV ac drops quick to 5mV and keeps dropping slower to 2.0mV and holds there.
between VI and ACM when nothing running is .6V
and between ACM and DCM is .6v as well.
not sure whats up with it being millivolts.
PD-075 - 76 are set to 0

I went over wiring one last time:
Aout to VI
Agnd to ACM
COM to DCM
fwd to for
rev to rev
dip switches are all set to off.
I tried switch 6 in 5v mode and 10v mode with the exact same results.

That control voltage should be DC. If you're measuring it in AC, then you're basically measuring the noise and power supply ripple, not the signal value.

If the meter really was in Volts AC, can you try again in Volts DC?

lol, Thanks Brad. your time is much appreciated.
DC voltage reads better, VI to ACM jumps to 5.5vdc on test start, pressed once more and RPM ramps up and voltage drops to 1.6vdc.

Okay, so those sound like reasonable voltage readings. Now let's confirm polarity.

You've got the (-) side of the meter on ACM, and the (+) side on VI, and the reading is positive voltage? If not, something is backwards somewhere.

If so, then we're looking for issues with the VFD setup.

Thank you Brad, voltage read positive.
I pretty sure base parameters are set correctly, but not sure about the rest of them and how they impact operation.
PD-000=0
1=0
2=1
3=400
4=400
5=400
6=2.5
7=20
8=220
9=15
10=8
11=120
14=12
15=12
141=220
142=10
143=3
144=3000
70=0
Using 4kw,spindle and a HY04D023B VFD http://www.probotix.com/wiki/images/...ies_Manual.pdf

I believe this is the same manual i have. had a hard time finding same link

I don't think that PDF is correct. The model name scheme doesn't match. Using this one.

With PD01 = 0 you're manually setting the VFD in run mode, I assume.

PD11 = 120 says never slower than 24000 / 400 * 120 = 7200 RPM. That's wise for air cooled; for water cooled you could allow slower.

PD14 and PD15 may be limiting your speed ramps to no faster that 12 seconds to come to speed.

I think you need PD72 set to 400, not the default of 50. I suspect this might be your issue.

I think PD143 should be either 2 or 4, and likely 4. How many poles are indicated on the nameplate of your spindle?

This blog post might be helpful as confirmation.

I could never find my model # HY04D023B in any manual, its always skipped. but the one you linked is what I've been using.
PD-001 is set to 1, was a typo.

Thank you very much for that blog post, clarified a couple things.
I set PD11 to 50 for a min. of 3k rpm
I kept PD14-15 at 12 because I wasn't sure of a healthy ramp up time.
set PD72 to 400
PD143 to 4, but I couldn't verify what I actually have. model# is a GDZ-19 which comes back as a 1.5kw spindle but the other specs say that its a 4kw spindle and it has the 100x300mm body of a 4kw spindle.
I did reset the VFD to default before I started and used the settings in your link except for PD11 I kept at 50 for 3k RPM minimum, PD70 @ 0, because dip-switch 6 on pmdx-107 is off so its 0-10v & PD73 @ 50Hz. and now it's giving me E.OC.A error = Error. Over Current. At Acceleration. So i set PD11 & 73 back 120Hz and same error appeared. Then set PD3 & 4 to 400Hz and it worked. Not sure how accurate RPM is through mach3, 3000 RPM does sound slow, but spindle speed is adjustable now through mach3 using the green bar but stops working after played with 3 or 4 times.
while PD11 & 73 were set @ 50Hz and mach3 spindle RPM set to 24k RPM, VFD would max out @ 245Hz. Then set PD11 & 73 back to 120 and max @24k RPM in mach reaches 276Hz @ VFD :confused:

edit: I just noticed status in Mach says "Too fast for pulley..using Max" so is spindle calibration needed again?

So, nothing should be set to 50hz - all of those are defaulting to the lowest of the three common motor frequencies ( 50, 60, 400 ). You have a spindle, not a pump motor, so PD4,5,72 should all be 400.

I would expect PD73 to be 0, meaning that when the analog input is at 0 volts, you run the spindle at 0 hz; PD72 is at 400, meaning that when the analog input is at full ( 10v if PD70 is 0), you run the spindle at 400hz; this sets the control range. In that blog post, he's setting it up so that the manual speed nob goes from 120 to 400hz, which makes sense for intuitive manual operation, but in the computer controlled case, we want the 0 to 10v to linearly span from 0 to 400Hz, not from 120 to 400Hz.

You should validate that you really have 10v across ACM and VI when Mach3 is set for 24k. That will confirm whether there are still VFD setup questions or Mach3/ PMDX setup questions. The fact that shifting the control range higher ( from 50 - 400 to 120 - 400 ) results in a higher speed makes me suspect that there isn't a full 10v there:

400 - 50 = 350hz range across 0-10v. 245hz - 50base = 195hz. 195 / 350 * 10 = 5.5V

400 - 120 = 280hz range across 0-10v. 276hz - 120base = 156hz 156 / 280 * 10 = 5.5V

400 - 0 = 400hz range across 0-10v. 220 - 0base = 220hz. 220 / 400 * 10 = 5.5V ( Prediction for PD73 = 0 )

Above, you mention that 5.5V as what happened when you were in test mode on the pmdx. Those numbers match that exactly.

Re-reading the PMDX-107 manual, it does look to me like you need to complete the calibration in section 2.6 again - in particular step 6, now that you've got the VFD settings correct. If you keep a meter on during this process, I bet you'll find you have 5.5V output because the trim pot on the PMDX is all the way down, and that as you increase it, you both have the the spindle speed go up, and voltage, with the vfd hitting 400hz right about the same time the voltage hits 10v.

I can't help with the Mach3 side - I've never used it.

Thank you Sir!

Trim pot works correctly in clockwise direction now that VFD settings are correct. It was turned all the way down from my last attempt. Re-calibrated and now 9.8v = 400Hz.
In Mach when you punch in the RPM it works fine, but when you adjust with side bar it goes to max RPM... No biggie, not worried about it if it stays like that, I'll try mach3 spindle calibration again, might fix it.

The baby steps are much appreciated, and at the same time I apologize.
I did keep PD11 set to 50 so lowest RPM is 3k. I don't think its effecting anything other then minimum RPM.

Awesome, glad it's under control! Yeah, the PD11, PD14/PD15 stuff is really more about what you decide is right for your equipment.

Happy routing!

Hello all,

Finally, I've done my first cut of the roadrunner.

I wanted to ask how most of you normally set up your machines as far as home and X0,Y0.
Is "Home" the location the spindle is supposed to go back to when done cutting the job?
When facing front end of machine, I set home to the back right corner and then bring it forth to do my work piece offsets. which means X+ is when the gantry comes towards you and Y+ is to the left.
I always felt that X0,Y0 on your work piece should be on your bottom left corner. I'm having a hard time figuring out what controls that, cad/cam or the way I have mach3/machine setup?

And in the mean time,
I've redrawn Petes reduction box plates again and playing with Dolphin Cam, and now Fusion 360 Cam which is so intuitive and free for business's making under 100k and students. cloud based.
once loaded into mach, the machine wants to take off to lala land. I tried putting work piece very close to X0Y0 in both Cad and CAM... not sure what I'm doing yet.

Hope to be cutting some aluminum plates out soon!

A link to first cut.
https://youtu.be/UwB066g8FvE

Updated a few more pics.
https://goo.gl/photos/b2YK7z6tCxumeoKT8

Looing really good. Thanks for the link to all the photos. I see a "blue" machine and it's cutting. Slap some logo's on it and get a Serial Number.

Congrats Bilal! I remember how exited I was when I first cut 'the roadrunner', feeling awesome feeling.

Thanks guys,
forgot about the serial number, you'll see the logo on the next video, hope to be cutting aluminum.

Looking forward to the logo's, Bilal.

I'm also considering cutting aluminum. Please keep us in mind when sharing your experiences. Speeds and feeds, cutters, hold down challenges, lubricants ( if any ), chip removal, etc.

Will do John,
I've been having an issue with mach, every time I zero a piece and start cutting, the z is always offset too high by 1.3" .... Its nothing can find in cam software, I'm fairly sure there is somthing in mach that keeps offsetting. While loading gcode, I can see the Z DRO jump up by 1.3" then back to where is was.

Any ideas?

G43 Tool length offset. Check your tooltable for a tool length of 1.3

Thank you Sir.... That's what it was... I thought I didnt have anything set in it.

I am only going to say two words about your build. "Totally-AWESOME!" I am going to strive for my next build to be as awesome as yours.

thank you for the complement!
I have a few updates I got done, I'll be posting soon.

Your Google photo bucket images and videos are my go to resource right now for my build. I'm definitely a visual learner. Thank you.

Paul, I'm happy to see people take benefit.
I've been meaning to post here for quite some time, professional procrastination at its best.
Many members here have been very generous with there knowledge and time, and are much appreciated.

Machine has been up and running for quite some time now as well, haven't done much with it as of yet but definitely plan to now.
I'll update my photos, get a video posted soon and snatch me a serial #!