Help requested - installing end stop sensors onto my chinese 3018 Pro

[Kitwn]

I've never used UGS seriously (though I have tried loading it on my laptop) but there will be something somewhere that specifically instructs the software to use the same switches for homing and limits. All you have to do is find it!

Good luck

Kit

[JBaz]

Favouritesky

I'm installing limit switches on my recently purchased Banggood 3018 router and your control board looks very similar to mine, other than the fact that the limit switch connectors are at 90degrees to mine

My main issue is that I have installed 5 limit switches and there are only 3 connectors on the board.

How did you resolve that?

[ZASto]

If you are using NC (Normally Closed) switches, connect the axis switches in series and to the relevant connector.
If, on contrary, you use NO (Normally Open) switches, the axis switches in parallel.

[JBaz]

ZASto

Thanks for responding.

I am OK with connecting them in series or parallel depending on the switch.

The switches I have can be both NC or NO (3 wires connected but I assume only 2 are in use at any one time) and at the moment I don't know whether the 3 I have connected (1 each to the available connectors ) are working as NC or NO, but they are working.

My issue is that the labels on the board mark the limit switch connector pins as X+ve, common and X-ve.


This suggests to me that one pin is for the limit switch at the positive end of travel and the other for the negative end.

Against that I have now got one switch connected for each axis and they all work fine.

Before I start cutting wires and experimenting (and possibly frying the board!) I was asking if anybody had solved the issues.

[JAZZCNC]

Because you have a Gnd then (+) / (-) I would be confident it's (+) limit and (-) limit. But it's easy to check, just connect Gnd and either + or - wire to one switch and flick the switch and it should show on the screen (-) Limit triggered or (+) Limit.

What control software is are you using.?

What switch type is it.?

[JBaz]

Thanks for the response.

I'm using gbrlControl and the switches are unbranded Banggood jobs that have the same 3 wire connectors as the control board.


I'll try your suggestion and post how it goes.

[Doddy]

JBaz, all the advice offered above is sound in general terms. However, that image that you show worries me slightly (there's an indication of an LED in there, and I wouldn't expect to need 3-wire just to a simple micro-switch. There appears to be a general adaptation of limit-switches in the generic Chinese engraver market that do present both a +5V, GND and sense on the connector (either 3-pin, or 4-pin), and generally shorting pins might be a "bad idea". If you can get a good photo of the limit switch - taken from both sides of the board (ideally showing the traces and the components on the board), we might be able to offer specific advice.

Edit:

https://uk.banggood.com/15-Set-Mecha...r_warehouse=CN

As an example - has +5/0V supply with a sense line. The controller card that you have is, I think, marked poorly to help understand the wiring required. Did you not receive a PDF for wiring up the board?

[JBaz]

Doddy

Here are some pics of the switches I have plus I found the actual switch component from Hiaihua online.



The switch complete does have an LED which lights up when the switch activates.

I have plugged in 3 switches - one for each axis - with the 3 wire connectors/cables supplied with switches and they work fine. I just don't know how to connect the remaining 2 switches at the other end of the axes.

[Doddy]

The Banggood images confuse the hell out of me - they've mirrored one side of the board. Never mind.

JBaz, have you access to a multimeter, and if asked to measure resistance across the pins of the limit switch board do you know what to do?

(What I'd ask is to measure the resistance from white-to-red, and white-to-black, for the switch in the not-pressed state, and in the pressed state... 4 readings in all).

(My confusion is with the BG images apparently showing the NC contact to sense, and the NO to ground - that's... peculiar... at least with a Sunday brain). Ultimately what others have said is correct, and all we're looking to do is wire switches either in parallel or series, but I'm being (too?) cautious trying to make sure there's no risk of shorting anything out with different switch positions.

Also, I have to ask - have you access to basic electrical tools (soldering irons, etc)?

[JBaz]

JazzCNC - I'm not ready to cut any wires yet, so please bear with me.

Doddy - using the multi-meter, when the switch is in the not-pressed state the white to red reading is zero and the white to black is 4.75v. With the switch connected and in the alarm position (led on) both readings are 2.25v.

HOWEVER (!) triggering the switch is no longer causing the status in gbrlControl to go to Alarm, although the console is still showing ALARM: Hard limit etc and I have to go through the reset process.

A quick question. Once the alarm has been triggered the only way I can get the stepper motor to turn and release the switch is to set $21=0, jog the motor, press unlock and then reset $21=1. Is that what I should be doing?

I do have a soldering iron etc, but I have also installed a connector block on the chassis, if I have to start rewiring connections.