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Tagged: SpDir limit switches
- This topic has 15 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 11 months ago by crchisholm.
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December 10, 2016 at 10:32 am #10047crchisholmMember
I have connected the XSN, YSN, ZSN AND ZSX switches and now if I trigger any of those switches, I get the flashing SpDir led and unresponsive motors. The only thing that will stop it is the reset button. All but ZSX are set to 3 (limit+homing). ZSX is set to 2 (limit)
I am on the downhill side of building my ox CNC using the tinyG and all that remained was the switches and the PWM speed control. Everything up to this point has worked as expected. Motors work fine and I can jog all over the place as long as I don’t hit a limit switch. If I do: flashing SpDir and unresponive motors.
I have seen discussions about the flashing SpDir light but they all seemed to be as soon as the board was fired up. Could that still be the same issue? I have contacted my reseller (SMW3D) and so far no response.
any help would be greatly appriciated.
Charlie
build: 440.20
FW version: 0.97
hardware version 8
Switch type 1 (NC)- This topic was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by crchisholm.
December 10, 2016 at 12:37 pm #10049cmcgrath5035ModeratorIf you have limits enabled AND you touch a limit switch, SpnDir flashes and tinyG halts. The only way to recover is a hard reset.
So based on the evidence, sounds like you wired up properly and properly configured NC/NO. If you had not set NC/NO properly, tinyG would immediately fire.
December 10, 2016 at 1:40 pm #10050crchisholmMemberSo, if I have wired it correctly as you say, then the board is not functioning correctly, righ? Where do I go from here?
December 10, 2016 at 3:02 pm #10051cmcgrath5035ModeratorHmmmm, not what I was saying.
Motors work fine and I can jog all over the place as long as I don’t hit a limit switch. If I do: flashing SpDir and unresponive motors.
What you quote is correct.
What did you expect?
Think of hitting a limit switch as a fatal, non-recoverable error.December 10, 2016 at 3:20 pm #10052ZootalawsMemberYou need to set them as homing and limit, as the wiki article states:
https://github.com/synthetos/TinyG/wiki/Homing-and-Limits-Description-and-Operation
The following switch settings are supported:
0=Disabled – Switch closures will have no effect. All unused switch pins must be set to Disabled.
1=Homing-only – Switch is active during homing but has no effect otherwise
2=Limits-only – Switch is not active in homing but will act as a kill switch during normal operation.
3=Homing-and-limits – Switch is active during homing and acts as kill switch during normal operation.
The following settings are used for switch configuration.- This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by Zootalaws.
December 10, 2016 at 3:28 pm #10054crchisholmMemberOK, then I am truly lost. I am from the world of 3D printing, and when I would home all the axis (or any of the axis), the motors stayed function. My reason for homing these was to test that the switches were working correctly and that the coordinates were z’ed out. I expected that after I did that, I could still jog the motors if I wanted to. In this case, though, the motors become unresponsive.
I admit I don’t know what I am doing.
Do you not home all the axis in preparation for starting the job, or am I jumping way ahead of my knowledge.
December 10, 2016 at 3:35 pm #10055crchisholmMemberZootalaws: Thanks for the link. I will read this and try to fill the holes. From what you all are saying, the continuously flashing SpDir led and the unresponsive motors after a limit switch is triggered is NOT an indication of a problem. If that’s the case, I am very much relieved. I would defiantly rather that the problem was my not knowing what I am doing that to think the board has a problem.
Reading now.
December 10, 2016 at 7:20 pm #10056crchisholmMemberBoy is my face red. You’all were right. The CNC was behaving as designed. I have a lot to learn, but maybe at the top of the list, now not to panic.
Thanks for your import. The document link was great and I know much more to be confused by now.
Thanks
December 10, 2016 at 7:31 pm #10057cmcgrath5035ModeratorWhen you have a chance, wander around all the Wiki items, lots of info in there. Don’t try to read for deep info, try to read for reminders where to look again when thinks go the wrong way.
December 11, 2016 at 12:12 am #10059ZootalawsMember“What you quote is correct. What did you expect? Think of hitting a limit switch as a fatal, non-recoverable error.”
While your reply was technically correct for general operation, it isn’t for homing and it wasn’t exactly the kind of help we would expect from a mod, nor was it any sort of help to a novice stuck on a problem.
I understood perfectly what his problem was and how to fix it, what you did was to confuse and be a bit pedantic.
Switches are switches and can be used both as limit and homing switches, depending on mode of operation. If you’re not aware of that, you might want to reconsider your role as an expert. It was bloody clear from his post what he was trying to do, yet you talked down to him and actually pointed him in the least helpful direction you could.
Many questions are asked on here that I don’t respond to, feeling there are more experienced members able to better answer them, working on the premise that if I can’t give an informed answer that helps, wait and see if someone else can.
Maybe you should think about what value you are adding before you post?
- This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by Zootalaws.
December 11, 2016 at 12:17 am #10060ZootalawsMember“Boy is my face red. You’all were right. The CNC was behaving as designed. I have a lot to learn, but maybe at the top of the list, now not to panic.”
No reasons to be embarrassed, there’s a shed load of documentation, but it’s not necessarily organised in an easily-accessible way.
Like a lot of the controllers in the 3D printing world, this one is extremely configurable and the developers have put a lot of thought into functionality, but you need to dig it out 🙂
Don’t hesitate to ask, there’s plenty of people willing to lend a hand and we’ve all been through the same sort of problems.
December 11, 2016 at 6:39 am #10063cmcgrath5035Moderatorcrchisholm – When your are ready to tackle Spindle Speed control, give this doc a look
This presumes you have a PWM based controller.
If you have a voltage based controller, they are not directly supported but several workarounds have been implemented by users.December 11, 2016 at 4:52 pm #10065crchisholmMemberSpeaking of the spindle, I just got the PWM contron hooked up and working. The spindle starts up automatically when I power up the tinyG (hopefully I will be able have it not do that when I know more). I put a couple mill bits (6mm and 3mm) in with their respective collets..I’m using the 400W spindle and noticed a slight wobble. On a 3mm bit, the wobble was probably not more than a couple tenths of a mm. Not really very visible, but if I place the a piece of thin metal against the a smooth part of the shaft, it is evident by the noise. I bought the bits and collets on Amazon and admittedly, I took the best deal. My questions are…
1) Am I being idealistic to think there should be absolutely no wobble on this type of machine?
2) Is a wobble like this even usable?
3) If my problem is that I got too cheap on the tool, where is a good place to buy bits and collets?. One person recommended ToolsToday.com. Are they pretty good?if this is not cool to expand the original question to another topic, let me know and I will post a new message.
December 11, 2016 at 9:35 pm #10066ZootalawsMemberYou can check runout off the machine – it may be that your ‘wobble’ is coming from any or all of a number of places: the bearings in the spindle, a cheap collet or a less-than-straight bit. Wobble isn’t really an artefact of the router gantry, unless the gantry is loose or the spindle mount is loose.
If the spindle isn’t straight in its mount, or if the gantry isn’t square, there won’t necessarily be any wobble, but the cut won’t be 100% perpendicular. My first build didn’t exhibit unacceptable runout at the tip of the bit, but it was clear that the cut wasn’t 100% perpendicular – easy enough to check, just plunge some holes using a small bit and the hole, viewed from above, will be slightly oval.
With runout, the hole will be larger than the bit, as the runout will be likely to be equal throughout 360deg. Easily checked by pushing the bit through the hole by hand – it should be a friction fit.
If the runout is more to one side, that’s more indicative of a problem with accuracy of the mount.
Does that make sense?
You don’t mention what spindle you are using.
I’ve used a few, from a cheap Chinese air-cooled to a more expensive Chinese water-cooled with Japanese bearings to a German air-cooled. They all exhibit ‘some’ runout, but the water-cooled and German spindles were negligible for my application, which was cutting ply and mdf – I got more tear-out from the bit than I got inaccuracy from the runout.
I make audio devices and have been contracting out the cutting of my faceplates (by laser), but with more practice cutting alloy (to get the rate and feed right), I would be confident that my German spindle, with the right bit, would give me an acceptable result.
But, I would be wary of cutting precision-fit components down to small fractions of a mm. Within half a mm is well within spec of what I need.
If your runout is less than the accuracy you need, it’s acceptable.
- This reply was modified 7 years, 11 months ago by Zootalaws.
December 12, 2016 at 7:12 am #10072cmcgrath5035Moderatorcrchisholm-
Zootalaws has runout well coveredYou spindle likely starts
spindle starts up automatically when I power up the tinyG (hopefully I will be able have it not do that when I know more)
because $p1pof = 0.1, the default value. Set that parameter to $p1pof = 0.0, then spindle should follow M3 and M5 commands and be OFF on boot up.
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