Issues with setting up 3 axis mill

cadpete wrote:

So far I have tried -swapping motor positions - always Z died so not motor.
swapping controller positions - always Z dies so not contrroller.
Swapping encoder leads - always z drive died so not leads swapping MESA stepper leads - always Z died 
swapping order of mesa connections - always Z died 

The only way that is physically possible is the motor is wired wrong or dead, nothing else. You have mixed windings on Z.

cadpete wrote:

I have noticed that often on moving X or Y the Z motor will make a noise, without movement.

This is always power wiring related OR the dir pin of Z axis is wired to step pins of other axis.
Or your explanation is mixing things up.

Hey , I have the same motors, I had the same issue, and Ive seen several others on the forum who have had the same issue.

- Check encoder wires are not loose at driver end (mine was one wire came loose)
- check encoder wires are the same as other drives (other guys on forum had this issue)

- Put drive in to open loop mode and try that, if it works in open loop mode, its an encoder thing

I have noticed that often on moving X or Y the Z motor will make a noise, without movement.

I have this with all 3 axis, I assume its a driver current tuning thing, but I dont want to install the china software to adjust the settings, so Im not sure.

Thanks all for your suggestions - gives me more to check next weekend - only time I get to play

A system that runs in pncconf and not in LinuxCNC often points to a problem with the "enable" wiring. (ie, it is actually configured as a disable). With most stepper drivers it is best to just leave enable inputs unconnected (but check)

A stepper drive should not be able to damage a 7i76. But a motor can certainly damage a stepper driver. Especially if one phase goes open-circuit.

If the motor is wired 2-phase bipolar then you should see a low resistance between A+ to A- and B+ to B- and nothing between any A and any B. It's not unknown for stepper motors to be mis-wired.
It's harder to work out if the phase direction is wrong, which would reverse the motor and lead to an encoder-to-motor plausibility fault. (But you say that the motors have all run?)

Sorry folks,

My daughter and husband has just bought their first home so I am tied up with helping them for a few weeks.  Painting and decorating before moving in!
Will give results of further test once I am next able to play CNC image missing /media/kunena/emoticons/smile.png

Just letting you know I am not ignoring you all.

I am pleased to say I have progressed over the Christmas break and now have all three motors working under PNCConfig. It would appear the biggest problem was wires breaking on the DB9 plugs on the chassis - they were soldered OK but the installation into the cabinet caused some wires to break each time.

I have added strain relief by using hot glue which appears to have resolved this issue.

Thanks for all of the suggestions

Onwards and Upwards