Now Cutting! - Auckland NZ

[litemover]

Just wired up my PS. The toroidal is a 500va with 2x 30v secondaries. I've only wired up 1 secondary to get approximately 40ish volts dc. I did not tie the other secondaries together.

My caps are 2x 15000 UF 63v caps wired in parallel.

Anyone of you electronics experts care to comment if it looks like I'll burn my house down when I plug it in?

Many thanks in advance,
Chris

[KenC]

so, you decided to use only 250VA capacity of your 500VA.

[Fox]

sorry no electrical expert, so I can't help with that.
But I like your cap's mounting, what's that made of ?

[litemover]

@ken Doh, I guess connect the other secondary to itself to get the amps I need? I think yes, but didn't want 60vdc just 30vdc but I do need the 16 amps off the secondary.

The caps are just mounted on a hardware bracket with the rest of it. They came with the mounts.

CC

[KenC]

parallel connect the 2 secondary coil (side by side connected). you will still keep 30Vdc & use the full 500VA when needed.

[litemover]

Ahh, thanks Ken, do you mean connect the other secondary to itself? Or connect the secondary wires I am using to the other secondary wires?

[pblackburn]

I don't know the draw you plan off of the vdc but make sure you have adequate heat sinking for the bridge rectifier.

[litemover]

Is the bracket not good enough? I could move the rectifier to the motor driver heatsink? It should pull 16amps at full load.

[domino11]

Chris,
What size bridge do you have? I doubt you will get anywhere near the 16 amp full output of that supply. If you have a 25A bridge, looks that way, I would think you would be fine on the bracket. You could always check after cutting a bunch of stuff, how hot its getting.

[pblackburn]

Just monitor it with some type of temperature reading device when you are up and running. I did not build mine, it is from Antek. But the temperature on mine with an heat sink is still around 65°C with my average draw of 5.5A. This was constant between both my 35V and 56V power supplies. As with anything electronic, some heat is normal but excess kills.

[litemover]

The bridge size is 35amps. I could mount a small Alu heatsink to the bracket I suppose.

I rewired the PS in parallel connecting the Red with the Yellow, and the Black with the Orange before going to the bridge. Will upload pics. Going to get a fused breaker to test it out with so nothing melts or blows up.

[litemover]

Well, I managed to get the power supply right, outputting 43.5V at 500va. which is 11.5Amps. I also mounted a small heatsink to the bridge rectifier and added some thermal paste to it and the bracket. So should be good. Nearly forgot to discharge the cap before disconnecting things, but then remembered at the last minute when I still saw voltage on the meter when everything was powered down.

Everything is nearly ready to get plugged into motors and computer. Just need some 26pin to 26pin connectors for the PMDX 126 to smooth stepper, and to the PMDX 134. Also, my VFD came, can't wait to hook it up.

Finished Stop blocks, and idler bearing. Just welded on a shaft to the idler bearing laser cut piece using precision methods , then fited the bearing on the shaft tightly. Will probably tack it later.

Looking forward to powering up motors on Mon or Tues depending on where I can get the connectors.

Cheers,
Chris



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[pblackburn]

Looks as you are coming along nicely. Keep up the good work.

[litemover]

Thanks!

I'm working on the enclosure design still. Just redid the enclosure for control box. Hoping to get it cut this week. Am toying with the idea of putting the VFD in the same box, and putting the Gecko heatsink out the side of the enclosure. Anyone ever have problem with doing that? It would save enough space for me to put the VFD inside.

Here is the idea.

[pblackburn]

VFD's are noisy animals. They reek havoc on electronic devices. I have seen then inside one panel with a plc and cause now problems but cause weird actions in another. Good Luck but it would be safer to mount in its own panel.

[danilom]

I mounted two VFDs inside Pajka's enclosure and we had no problems. Mine is outside.
Don't see how it could use much space outside , with such a large machine space is everywhere

[litemover]

Thanks, I'll see what happens when I power it next to drivers. My VFD is having problems. I hooked it up to 3 phase, and I can't see any options on the control panel. I changed the battery in the control panel LCD module, but still nothing. The fan comes on, the green power up light comes on with no faults. Just can't configure anything. Anyone have any advice?
Chris

[bradm]

What voltage is the VFD specified for, and what is the supply voltage?

[litemover]

380-460v, supply voltage is 380v.

[bradm]

Hmm. Those are used units that were pulled out of a factory, right? I think I'd start with the assumption that the control panel had been removed during it's last usage, and was added back on for sale. Look and see how it comes on and off, and that the connection behind it is secure, no bent pins, etc.

It seems from your description that the backend is fine. You may also want to ask ABB about the costs of repair or exchange of that module.

[litemover]

Thanks Brad, I checked the pins, they looked ok but.... I rang ABB today, and they told me to hook up a network cable to the controller, and then hook that one up to the drive, so I did and it worked! The drive is in good working order now with exception of the control panel connector not lining up with the control panel. Can't believe I got a 10hp ABB drive for $200, that's awesome!

Also, it does work on single phase 230v which is fantastic, even though I'll be running it on 3 phase, at least I know it will work on single.

So all good there. A Siemens on off operator with contact blocks and lamp here costs about $60 NZD, so thinking of getting on from automation direct or Ebay.

The wiring continues tomorrow... Got all 4 motors talking with the PMDX, not just need to get the smooth stepper talking to the PMDX. I was wondering, when you piggy back mount the smoothstepper, can you still pull from J19 to the motor drivers or do you connect port 3 from the Smoothstepper to the PMDX 134?

CC

[litemover]

Amazing day!
Took the ABB drive to ABB today, met with the drive expert who had a look at it. Really nice guy, fixed the broken connector for free and added a missing connection to the controller. Then I learned that I don't use the controller when I have it hooked up to Mach3 due to the Modbus adapter that goes in to the RJ45 connector, and when that happens, the controller goes away. Another revelation was that you can run it in single phase, but need a step up transformer to drive anything significant. Can also drive using 2 legs of 3 phase, but get 1/2 the power. Also, can drive any spindle under 7.5kw with it, as long as it is 3phase. Doesn't need to be 380v spindle.

Hooked up the smoothstepper to the PMDX 125, then the 125 to the 134 and 108. Will outline those details with better photos later but the PMDX will power the smooth stepper through 25pins as long as you don't use another board, so since I am using the 108, I'll need to use a 5v power supply.

But the really incredible thing that happened today which was shocking to say the least, was that I was practically given over 50 motor contactors, thermal overloads, switches, and protectors for next to nothing. Well, I won them in an auction but for cheap as! When I picked them up, the guy also gave me a box of electronics gear, 3phase switches, and ABS boxes for control too. When I brought the contactors home, many of them were new in the box and all of them are either Siemens, Telemecanique, Schnieder, AB, GE, all name brands so now I am trying to figure out the best way to use them. I catalogued them and totaled them up and it's nearly $5k NZD in contactors! Not sure what happened there, but I'm not complaining. Still wondering why the guy was giving them away, he said he was sick of looking at them every day and they were wasting space.

I think I'd like to use a 24v estop circuit now, just because I can't get 230v push buttons for cheap here like I can get them from automation direct or the US somewhere, with 24v LED illuminators. Plus I like my new Schnieder and Siemens 24v contactors better than my chinese and italian one.

Attached a photo of the contactors here if anyone has any ideas of how I can use the overloads or switches in the machine, I'd greatly appreciate the advice.

Apart from all this, the wiring is nearly finished, and all I am needing to fire up are the racks, pinions, and spindle. And echain.
Thanks!
Chris

[litemover]

Ok, worked on the control a bit more today. Gary from Smoothstepper has been in touch with great support and informed me of some interesting things regarding the ESS and how to best hook it up to the PMDX 126. Here is a pic of my control thus far and some tips outlining how to get the ESS hooked up well enough with the PMDX 126 and the PMDX 134.

1. First, be sure you order 3x 25pin female to 25pin female cables, one being a long one. I had to make mine from scratch because I ordered the wrong stuff.
2. Hook up J19 on the 126 to the 134 with the long 25pin cable.
3. Hook up 2 shorties to the ESS port 1 and 2, and plug them into the PP headers at the bottom of the PMDX 126.
4. Use at least 15mm standoffs on the ESS to piggy back it out of the way of the ribbon cable at J19 on the 126.
5. I didn't mess with any jumpers, and decided to power the ESS with dedicated 5v since I am using more boards on the 126.

That's it so far. Of course, use an ethernet cable from the computer to the ESS.

Today I raided my box of contactors for the 2 best 24v coiled specimens which were 2x 32amp Schnieder 3polers with 2 aux NO and NC contacts. One of them is a BD version which has a non-reversing diode coil whatever that does.?? I noticed it switches extremely fast. I also found a heap of Siemens and Telemecanique contact blocks which proved useful. They were in the second grab box that I received gratis, as a parting gift from the auction. I found several Aux contact blocks, relays, and goodies in there along with about 10x name brand 3phase disconnects ranging from 16amp to 32 amp. Bout another $1k in gear. Guess I don't need to buy one now for the 3 phase installation at the venue. ANyways I wired the contactors up to 24v and the switch blocks and all worked well.

Today I received my Chinese Prox sensors and they look perfect, hope they perform as well as they look. Will wire them up soon. They cost me $2.50USD ea. Going to order a chinese made on off button with LED light. It's $7USD compared to $60 for the Siemens one bought here in Auckland. The Chinese are really starting to make progress on quality goods. I received my Chinese collets in about a week and they look smashing! Well, they are shiny at least.

Called RS components today RE my bad door handle, they are sending me out one that fits, with a shaft for the switch, GRATIS, for all the inconvenience with my order.

SO that's about it, my wiring is basically kitchen table at this point but it's working, don't pay attention to its cleanliness - this is just for the ESS reference. My missing terminal blocks are on the way still so it will get better when they are finally here.

Proxima Vez.
Chris






small screenshot utility

[litemover]

Hi folks,

Just ordering cable chains and have found a good deal on 25*57*75R chain. I can get the smaller 25*38 but only in radius 125 so was thinking of using the larger 75R chain everywhere incl Y axis. Is that ok? Will it catch on anything or be too heavy?

Thanks
Chris

[litemover]

A wee update,

I just ordered my spindle, a 4kw air cooled Chinese spindle off ebay from qiandingzhensatisfaction. I heard he was ok on CNCzone. Here is a link to the spindle I ordered. http://www.ebay.com/itm/260756220939...84.m1439.l2649

I'm going to probably order a backup spindle as soon as I receive this one. May run them both on the same table with different tools in them. poor mans ATC. I've contemplated ordering a bearing puller and replacing the bearing with ceramics FAG bearings. Then get the software and putty to rebalance the spindle.

Here is a photo of my control box so far. Received all my leds, estops, and onn off switch. zstill waiting for buttons. I burned up one of my 32amp Schneider contractors by hooking up the VFD to test it in the system in single phase so replaced it with a Siemens. All from the lot of $28 contactors I was given so no biggie, still have many more. I've really started leaning up the design, making all the cable either black for high voltage, or blue for low. Ran out of Ferrules, so need to order more. Getting a few more bits in, 8 channel relay board, and 5v+24v PS to replace the apple. As you can see, I really love the beta duct, keeps things clean.

Have been getting back good prices on a lot of gear rack and pinion from China. Still wading through them to find quality C45 rack. It's a crapshoot it seems.

Ok that's just about it. slowly but surely I press onward...

Chris






greenshot download

[litemover]

Just a quick question regarding pinions if anyone can answer. I've got basically a choice of M1 30 tooth and M1 40 tooth pinions here. No M1 36 tooth for my Pk296 a2b SG7.2 motors within easy reach. If I go with 40 tooth will that be too high?

Many thanks for the advice,
Chris

[Gerald D]

I would go for the 30 tooth

[litemover]

Great thanks Gerald. I just got my rack, it's Taiwanese c45 High precision, high quality rack and I'm happy with it. I didn't get the pinions yet, they are coming though, 30 tooth.

Have been having a hell of time trying to get Mach3 setup with the 126 and ESS. Finally got the ESS talking to mach3, and can see the step light on the PMDX126 blinking when I jog, but no motor activity. What am I doing wrong? The 126 is talking to the motors, I checked in test mode fine but step and dir pins are reversed in test. The outputs enabled light is not on when I go into standard mode.

Here are my pin settings. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? Estop is still linked to ground. I know it is something stupid.

Would appreciate some advice. Thanks - Chris


photo uploading






photo sharing software

[danilom]

rack looks nice , but isn't it too thin or its cause of the photo angle?

[litemover]

just angle. 15mm x 15mm x 2 meter