First time setup - 5i25/7i76

This is my first time setting up a mesa card and I have a couple of questions with probably a few more to come over the coming days. Any help is appreciated for this noob.

My setup - Bridgeport BOSS knee mill with stock steppers, spindle control to Hitachi VFD

I guess I should check for any firmware updates to my 5i25 first, huh? I'm also wondering about the preconfig pullup jumper. What exactly does that do and should i be concerned? The manual states 2 default configs(typo I think).

Normally the only jumper options that might need to be changed are the jumpers that select the 7I76's 5V power source.
Most 7I76 installations can use cable 5V power. This is selected by setting these jumper options on the 5I25 and 7I76:

5I25 W2 UP ( 5I25 supplies 5V power on P3)

7I76 W2 LEFT (7I76 uses cable supplied 5V power)

Unless you bought the 5I25 and 7I76 separately, the 5I25 should already have
the proper firmware installed. You can verify this by looking at the label on the back
of the 5I25 card.

Ok cool. That's what I thought I just wanted to make sure. I did purchase them together but I will double check anyway.

On another note what's the smallest wire size I could use for wiring the 7i76? I have a bunch of 16 gauge but it's a little too big and the next smallest I have is like 24 gauge...or something really small. Was hoping to use what I had on hand since I have a ton leftover from removing everything but I would rather do it right the first time.

Real quick tonight I tried using pncconf wizard to setup my 5i25/7i76. I didn't get very far. It wasn't recognized in the wizard so I couldn't select the 5i25. Can anyone poijnt me in the right direction? Gonna do some digging tomorrow. Hoping to get this machine moving before the weekend ends!

Have you looked here...

www.linuxcnc.org/index.php/english/forum...ml-files-for-pncconf

Rick G

Thanks for that. I went through oncconf but now I'm having problems getting my axis to move. I know the drives are hooked up right but its like there is no communication going from the computer thru the mesas to the drive. Does oncconf automatically recognize my 5i25 or do I need to tell it the address?

Ok I found the 5i25 using the lspci in terminal. Do I need to do anything with that info in the config?

Also wondering where I should have put my stepgens...I did it in IOTab3. I only have the x and y axis hooked up currently. And each one only has the step +/- wires and dir +/- wires connected to the drive. I'm assuming I did that right.

Ok here's where I am at. Been trying to research as best as I can but I have a wicked headache. I didn't realize the 7i76 needs a separate power supply for the field I/O. Could this be what is causing my motors not to work? I still want to power the 5v logic with the card but I have 24v I can hookup for that.

Also what are the 5vp and gnd on every axis on the 7i76? Does each one of these need power from somewhere to correspond with that axis?

Sorry for all the questions. I don't know why I'm having such a hard time with this stuff. Appreciate any help.

Ok here's where I am at. Been trying to research as best as I can but I have a wicked headache. I didn't realize the 7i76 needs a separate power supply for the field I/O. Could this be what is causing my motors not to work? I still want to power the 5v logic with the card but I have 24v I can hookup for that.

No. the step/dir outputs only require 5V (from the 5I25 or pins 21,22 of TB3 )
Field I/O power is only required when you need to use the field inputs and outputs

Also what are the 5vp and gnd on every axis on the 7i76? Does each one of these need power from somewhere to correspond with that axis?

Drives with single ended step/dir inputs need a common GND or +5V common pin routed to each drive
5VP on these pins comes from the 5I25 or TB3 source (P means its protected against shorts)

If you cannot get your drives to step (and you have a step/dir hal file that loads and runs with linuxcnc)
I would check step motor wiring and step timing.

What kind of drives to you have and do they really have differential inputs?
(I ask because I have seen people ground the7I76 -outputs or tie the 7I76 +outputs high)

Sorry for all the questions. I don't know why I'm having such a hard time with this stuff. Appreciate any help.

D

PCW wrote:

What kind of drives to you have and do they really have differential inputs?
(I ask because I have seen people ground the7I76 -outputs or tie the 7I76 +outputs high)

I have Leadshine DM1182's. It says in the manual they support differential inputs as well as single ended inputs. The wiring is ok. Double checked that before. The drives have an auto config and when I do that I hear them move for a second. The 7i76 appears to be working because I can see the voltage drop on a volt meter when I do a test run in config.

The drives also have an enable +/- for turning the drive on and off and a fault +/- for outputting fault signals. Attached is from a different version of the manual I downloaded (don't know why they have 2). I think it shows what you are talking about saying it accepts these type of single ended inputs. Maybe I will try one of them tomorrow.