Newbie from the UK need a little assistance

Hi All

I'm planning on building a plasma cutter, I've bought the control hardware and connected it up according to the destructions supplied. I get lights on the drivers, green ones to! and have LinuxCNC installed as a dedicated desktop.

The hardware I have is all UK sourced as a "kit" from Zapp Automation, who were ruoured to be "very helpful" but my last reply was a line saying "we don't use LinucCNC" which is less then great!


1 X ZP5A-INT Breakout board
3 X 4.2A DM442 Digital Microstepping Drivers
3 X 3 Nm SY60 Stepper motors
1 X PS408-5, 300W regulated power supply
1 X RS232 cable.

For anyone vaguely interested the kit is here..
www.zappautomation.co.uk/en/stepper-driv...-two-three-axis.html

Being new to this technology, there are still many terms that mean little to me and I don't know if I can ignore them or need them. I'm hoping someone here will be able to shed some light on what is needed and hopefully point me in the correct direction.

The paperwork give me this...(first attachment)
My settings in Step conf are...(second attachment)

I'm unsure of pin 1 (there is no "enabled"), pin 9 (no "spindle motor" - is this the spindle for a router? do I need it for plasma), pin 4 & 17 (no "B" option - would "B" appear if I set it for a 5 axis board?),

WRT the second table, is that for use with the "joystick" type manual control - a totally separate connector?

Any advice\pointers greatly received.
If anyone has config file for this BOB then I would be happy to try it.
I've also heard that with this board the "test this axis" button does not work. Is this true? and if it is what is the easiest way to get some movement on the steppers for testing purposes? (they are not connected to anything at the moment)

Many thanks in advance

Danny

Thanks BigJohnT!!

I'm only using 3 axis, despite the supplied board being able to handle 5.
I've been reading the destructions for Axis in the docs, so hopefully will be able to get some movement on the steppers! I think the lack of movement has been sapping my enthusiasm.
Can't wait to get back to the office now and try it!!

cheers

Danny

Hi

Have you seen the manual at
www.zappautomation.co.uk/en/attachment.php?id_attachment=91

Attached is a zip of a config which should get you started. The pins are all over the place with this board but it seems quite simple really.

Copy the folder /plasma to /home/yourname/linuxcnc/configs/

regards

Thanks ArcEye

This is the sort of help I had been hoping for.
From the files it looks like you generated these specially for me, based on the docs. That is very kind of you, I really appreciate your help.

I'm a web programmer by trade and have been using Linux on and off for about 10 years in a number of projects so the OS and application side is no issue for me.
My problem is there is a huge amount of new CNC terminology that I'm struggling to get to grips with and a massive amount of data to go with it.. I'm the sort of person who once they have the answer can reverse engineer it to understand how it was arrived at.

I have been in touch with Zapp a couple of times, who are highly recommended on MYcncUK.com, and both times the replies have been less than enthusiastic and generally unhelpful to me.
I have had much better help from the MYcncUK forum and now this one.

My last reply from Zapp was a 2 line email with the link you have supplied and "we don't use linuxCNC".
This I find amazing as they are missing out on a significant market slice having that attitude, along with putting me off buying my belts, pulleys and bearings from them. A shame really, as they are local to me and I like to spend my money and support local firms rather than big multinational concerns.

Still, thanks to you chaps I can hopefully get another step forward now. I'll let you know on my progress.

With best regards

Danny

Don't worry Danny , their is plenty of help available here should you need it .
welcome to the world of linuxcnc

Thanks ArcEye

This is the sort of help I had been hoping for.
From the files it looks like you generated these specially for me, based on the docs. That is very kind of you, I really appreciate your help.

You're welcome, getting started is the hardest bit.

Be aware that these configs do not address the spindle, that will have to be added when you come to how to set torch height or whatever using that.
They also have limits and an estop, because the terminals exist on the board.
If you physically do not have any limits at present you can comment out those bits so that it will work.

You should be able to wire everything together on a table top and get the steppers turning etc so that you are happy it all works before starting your build.

Regards Zap Automation, Gary is a very knowledgeable guy but deals with commercial installations and knows nothing about Linuxcnc.

The equipment he sells is usually good, you just have to check that Motion Control in Bournemouth where he used to work, and from whom he still sources a lot of his kit,
don't have an offer on that makes them cheaper.
He has become pretty keen price wise recently, especially on Ebay with free P&P

regards

 
Well I'm still struggling
The config file from ArcEye  has been installed and after the "gotcha" of the eStop I managed to load up Axis and "start the machine"

However, I get no movement on the steppers, I'm sure I'm missing something basic here, I'll try and explain my setup and what I'm doing. Hopefully some kind soul will see the newbie mistake and point me in the right direction.

My setup is
I've power going to my drivers via the power supply, this seems straight forward enough. The result is two green LEDs on the power supply and a green LED on the driver box
The BOB has a gender changer in use, could this be the source of my woes?
Power to the BOB is from the USB cable

In the image below I've got the X axis wired up as follows
Black wire - BOB XN to Driver box PUL+
Blue wire - BOB XD to Driver box DIR-
Green\Yellow wire - BOB XS to Driver box PUL-
Brown wire - BOB XE to Driver box ENA-
Additionally I've got PUL+, DIR+ and ENA+ wired together along with the black wire


You will note I've added jumpers to the limit switches and estop to allow things to work (do I need to jumper the limit switches to test on a bench?)

From there the pic below shows the driver to the stepper connections.
From left to right I've a brown wire in ground going to the power supply
the next is a blue wire +V also going to the power supply

Then we have the driver wires
I've a yellow\white wire joined to a red one in A+
then a red\white wire joined to a yellow one in the A-
next is a black\white wire joined to a green one in the B+
I've a green\white wire joined to a black one in B-



When I try to jog to the x axis a little LED flashes on the BOB next to the appropriate sockets and wires. This suggests to me that the BOB is fine.
I've played with the switches and it has made no difference.
I've tried swapping motors on drivers in case one is faulty and still no change.
The reason for my wiring and switch settings are from this thread..
www.mycncuk.com/forums/motor-drivers-con...ng-all-together.html


Are there any tests I can do on individual parts to see where I've messed?

Any help greatly appreciated as this is starting to get frustrating      

Thanks

Danny

unplug the ena from the stepper motor drivers ( ena+ ena- ) you can just pull the 2 pin green plug

post your ini and hal files as an attachment as they are currently

also what stepper motors are you using ( so i can check wiring colours etc)

i''m hoping that unpluging the enable will do the trick , it's usualy the most difficult to work with and realy with steppers it's not needed to start with
it just releases one of the problems associated with getting it up and running .

Hi CNCBasher

I'm currently stuck in the office so I do not have access to hardware, however, I'm using the files kindly supplied by ArcEye (in my zip files).
The Steppers are from Zapp Automation SY60STH86 - 3008BF
All the datasheets I have are also included in the zipfile too.

Thanks for your help, I'm so eager to get these motors moving and so frustrated they are not, I'm sure I'm over looking something really basic.

I'll pull the ena + & - this evening. What do (should) they do?

Many thanks

Danny

<Edit>
I don't seem to be able to attach files, not sure if it is the works firewall? anyway, I've uploaded the zip to my website link is
www.windwhistle.co.uk/cnc/plasma-files.zip