Schaublin 125-CNC retrofit.

So this is how far I got so far...


Cheers,
Mark

Ahhh, don't you just LOVE software solutions?
Nothing like 'fixing' a difficult hardware problem with your mouse and keyboard.

YAY!  Quick N' Dirty for the win!
 

that is odd, are any of the wires laying parallel where they could induce conductance ????

this is strange for sure. when contractors break circuit they can cause forms of rfi, if ye has a old am radio around, maybe try turning it on and holding it near the contactor and along the various parts of the circuit while actuating the contactor, see if it makes enough rfi for the radio to pickup.


this is strange

Are solid state contactors better?
I used one for my machine. But the main reason was space. They are much smaller especially the reversing contactors, mine also got motor protection included.

anfänger wrote:

Are solid state contactors better?

 

For noise?  Yes.

My reluctance to using SSR's is that they tend to fail closed - equivalent of welded contacts on a mechanical contactor.

But I don't do equipment electrical design for a living and name-brand SSR's may be significantly more reliable than my limited experience suggests.

@Anfanger:

Mulling it over... despite my last post, I think your suggestions of an SSR (contactor) is a really good idea.

Scamazon has some no-name 3-phase "40A" (snort) SSR's for about $40US.  And Mouser/Newark have Sensata/Crydom 3P contactors for about $70-$100 each.

As long as we're all spending Mark's money and telling him what to do, one of Sensata's reversing contactors would be the bee's knees.  Reduce component count by one and eliminate any noise from mechanical contacts breaking.  And the reversing safety lock-out logic is internal to the relay.

I'd much rather spend $200 than have to re-do a bunch of wiring to add shields and so forth.

[Mark - didn't want to keep hijacking Andy's lathe macro thread with unrelated jabbering]

I get it: time is tight.

Can I suggest throwing a bit of money at the control panel problem and saving some time?

You mentioned a while ago you wanted to repurpose the Maho's control panel.  That's going to take quite a bit of work to chop that thing up, weld it, and then do all the finishing.  Maybe a long and messy enough job you've been procrastinating... I know that much mess in a small shop would put me off.

I've built two operator stations in the past year and they've both gone quickly and pretty painlessly.  The basic construction uses aluminum t-slot extrusions as a frame, and then skinned with thin sheet metal (in my case I used some 0.040" ALU borrowed from some race car body off-cuts).

The frame members are connected without expensive brackets, and the skin is screwed to the t-slot frame - no welding.  All the extrusions were purchased pre-cut, I just tapped the ends with a cordless drill.  Ordering pre-cut was the way to go; $20 upcharge and all the ends are square and lengths are extremely precise.

Since the t-slot rails have 4 sides, this construction arrangement provides very easy internal mounting of DIN rails, monitor, PC, switch panels, Mesa cards, etc.  Also makes it easy to bolt to an arm or stand from the sides, top or bottom.

Buttons/switches are installed on 3D printed sub-panels that snap in to the skin.  That way an error in button placement is easily corrected - just adjust and reprint.

Monitor is based on one of the 15.6" 1920x1080 touchscreens available on Amazon.  Standard size, not expensive, runs on 12V so you can use a decent power supply and not the dumb wall-wart.  Monitor opening is trimmed with wide, cheapo Amazon rubber edge trim so no need to have a precision hole lasered out.

I know you can get t-slot extrusions... not sure about cutting services inside the EU, but I'm sure you can find a supplier.

Not trying to be Mr. Clever here, but if I can save myself a weekend or two of work for a hundred or two bucks I'm all over it. Maybe that sounds appealing to you, too.

If it sounds interesting, I'd be happy to model something up for you to use.  Tell me extrusions available to you (prolly 20mm or 30mm in your neck of the woods), and I'll send you a .stp or .f3d file with a control panel:

• Suitable for Gmoccapy (buttons along bottom & sides)
• 15.6 monitor
• Hinged mount for keyboard w/trackpad
• Control cut-outs for
  • Gmoccapy controls
  • 4x8 matrix pushbuttons for 7i73
    • Easy to use tactile buttons on pre-drilled proto board. 30 minutes to solder everything and attached to a 3D printed snap-in mount
    • If you're low on inputs, the Gmoccapy buttons can be part of the 7i73 matrix electrically even if they're not physically adjacent to the other ones.
  • Built-in MPG (or not), plus encoders for FRO, SRO, and JRO
• Whatever else you want

90% of the modeling work is already done - I'd just have to adjust some dimensions and add the Gmoccapy button inserts.

How about something like this, except painted that vulgar green you like?  Seriously... you say go, and I'll send you the shopping list.