Lab-Volt mill conversion - (attn Marty)

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Rex
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Re: Lab-Volt mill conversion - (attn Marty)

Post by Rex »

I checked the polarity again, and It looks like both the drivers and the PS are convention color codes, red for +, black for -

My 12V PS came in for the isolated power
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Re: Lab-Volt mill conversion - (attn Marty)

Post by Marty_Escarcega »

Rex wrote:I checked the polarity again, and It looks like both the drivers and the PS are convention color codes, red for +, black for -

My 12V PS came in for the isolated power
I read the rest of the thread. As long as the C11 has opto isolated speed control and you use a separate power supply I think you will be fine. Shoot Arturo an email to be sure though. You will recall I chose to use the C6 and his basic break out board on the Lab Volt conversion.

I really like the Gecko G540, its a 4 axis stepper driver, and has built in opto isolated speed control, charge pump and break out board all rolled into one. Overkill for a lathe though.

Keep up the good work, being cautious and asking lots of questions pay dividends in the end.

Marty
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Re: Lab-Volt mill conversion - (attn Marty)

Post by Marty_Escarcega »

Rex wrote:I checked the polarity again, and It looks like both the drivers and the PS are convention color codes, red for +, black for -

My 12V PS came in for the isolated power
You should have been able to run a continuity check back up to your 5V power supply to verify....
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Re: Lab-Volt mill conversion - (attn Marty)

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I've looked at the G540, and it looks like the best choice, particularly if you have no control electronics on hand at all. But it's $300, and I already had the C11 on hand with no cost in it. And I already had good driver boards.
I'll get this one going as an educational exercise, then look for a bigger machine. Sounds like that's what you did.
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Re: Lab-Volt mill conversion - (attn Marty)

Post by Marty_Escarcega »

Rex wrote:I've looked at the G540, and it looks like the best choice, particularly if you have no control electronics on hand at all. But it's $300, and I already had the C11 on hand with no cost in it. And I already had good driver boards.
I'll get this one going as an educational exercise, then look for a bigger machine. Sounds like that's what you did.
For sure, you had the parts and this is a nice clean conversion. Have fun with it.
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Re: Lab-Volt mill conversion - (attn Marty)

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rrnut-2 wrote:Rex,

Ok, I took a good look at CNC4PC's literature, and if it was me installing this drive, I would use the isolation board from KB. CNC4PC's drawing are for a bigger AC variable drive or a more expensive DC drive. The KB may work without the board, but, you may have trouble with the setup he indicates. He says you need +12volts to the power the isolated drive output, but the KB board all ready puts out 7 volts. I hate seeing smoke. I am getting my price on the boards quoted now, as I am an OEM and usually get good pricing.

With the isolation board, the schematic from CNC4PC will hold true.
Jim B
OK, I got the isolation board. I'm trying to visualize how all this will fall into line

It takes 110VAC and also 12VDC.
I also have a 12VDC 2A Power supply

The original setup has a terminal strip right in the center that takes the 110VAC line and splits it off to fans and transformer etc. There is a similar strip down by the power swtich where the line cord connects. Any problem taking my 110VAC from either of these two points, to supply both my 12V PS and this isolator board?

Assuming that's OK, I'll be using the 12V PS for the C11 BOB. Can I also use it to power this isolator board, or does that defeat the isolation?

Also, I'd like to turn my hen-scratched notes into something neater. Seems like I once saw a freeware program that made it easy to draw simple block wiring diagrams. It was made to order for just that, and it was real intuitive. Does that ring any bells??
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Re: Lab-Volt mill conversion - (attn Marty)

Post by DICKEYBIRD »

Rex wrote:Can I also use it to power this isolator board, or does that defeat the isolation?
Yup, it has an isolation transformer & related circuitry aboard to eliminate the problem.:)
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Notes from today

Post by Rex »

Got a lot done today:

SI5 board from KB fit great and simplified connections greatly. It just snaps down over the existing spade terminals like a daughter-board - Thanks Jim!
I know the signal wire goes from the C11 analog 0-10V output to SIG and COM. What happens if these are reversed?
Also the C11 board needs 12VDC which I took from the SI5 board. Is that correct? If so, I did not need the separate 12V PS
IMG_4437red.jpg
From the axis driver boards have 4 wires. I am assuming red and black are 5v for chip power. I have this fed directly from the 5V power supply (which supplies the C11). However the C11 board has 5V output (I think). Would it be better to use that power source?

E-stop has two NC switches. One cuts line voltage to the spindle board which is how lab volt wired it. Where should I connect the other switch? The C11 docs seem to indicate use of the 5V and EN terminals which control output power to the stepper and uses the safety charge pump (if I understand it correctly). Those two terminals came jumpered together. But there are two terminals on the other side of the C11 marked 5V and 10, and shown as e-stop connections. I'm just not following that. Marty these should be the same as your c10 board. I am pretty sure I have it wired wrong right now.
IMG_4446red.jpg
After that I just have the limit switches to connect. The C11 docs are a bit vague on that, perhaps considering it obvious. It has a row of 5v terminals with one showing a limit switch connected. I have 4 limit switches - X Y Z and door. Should each have their own set of terminals or should they be connected in series?
They are NC switches

Oh. I was wiring away while leaning on the cabinet and got a nice jolt of current. The machine had not seen power for a week. And I'm pretty sure I shorted the capacitor after the last power application. I just put a screwdriver across the screw terminals on the top of the capacitor. Do I need to do something different?
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Re: Lab-Volt mill conversion - (attn Marty)

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Today I wired the limit switches all up nicely in series, then checked each for proper action. In doing so, I determined they were actually NO. So I went back and wired them in parallel. I connected these to 5V and 10 on the C11, exactly as shown on the C11 Wiring Guide. How do I tell the C11 that I have NO limit switches in Parallel?
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Re: Lab-Volt mill conversion - (attn Marty)

Post by rrnut-2 »

Rex, on the lower right hand corner of the board, you have +12, gnd and in the next box up, you have gnd & 0-10V terminals. With your meter, check that the two "gnd" terminals are tied together. If they are, then the +12 from the KB isolation board can supply the +12V from that terminal. Connect a wire from "gnd" on the C11 board to "COM" on the KB isolation board. Connect 0-10V on the C11 board to "SIG" on the KB isolation board. It's hard to read the pdf of the C11 board, so I hope I got the terminals right. And yes you are right, you didn't need the extra 12VDC supply.

Jim B
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Re: Lab-Volt mill conversion - (attn Marty)

Post by rrnut-2 »

Rex wrote:Today I wired the limit switches all up nicely in series, then checked each for proper action. In doing so, I determined they were actually NO. So I went back and wired them in parallel. I connected these to 5V and 10 on the C11, exactly as shown on the C11 Wiring Guide. How do I tell the C11 that I have NO limit switches in Parallel?
The software will not know which switch closes. It will only know that circuit closed or faulted.
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Re: Lab-Volt mill conversion - (attn Marty)

Post by Rex »

Jim, thanks for the specific reply. I'll check that before I power it up.

As for the limit switches, surely you have to change something - jumper or Mach3 setup - to differentiate between NO or NC limit switches.
Does that have anything to do with "pull-up resistors"? That is something I don't get.
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