Spindle Speed Control

[cncJim]

Hi,

I bought my cnc router on ebay and it was in a bit of a state and had no information with it.

I have the machine up and running but I cant seem to control the spindle speed.

The spindle and vfd look to be chinese types and both have no markings on them at all so I have no idea on their ratings!

The spindle always runs at about 22k rpm (as shown on the display of the vfd - it does fluctuate alot between 20k and 23k) and in mach 3 I have no feedback as to the current speed and no matter what I try to set it at it always runs at the same speed.

I have read a number of posts regarding the setup of vfds/spindles/mach 3 but I must confess I dont really get it...:hopelessness:

Here is a pic of the current general wiring...

9037

Thanks,

Jim

[m_c]

ibetalltheseeditswillbeannoyinglee

[cncJim]

Ah I see, that makes sense, thanks for explaining it m_c - I will test tonight! :star:

I notice in mach 3 there is a field in which you enter the spindle speed you would like and another field which displays the actual speed. In my setup the actual field stays on "0" and has a yellow flashing "led" next to it. Am I right in assuming I would need some sort of sensor on the spindle to monitor the spindle speed and then display the result in mach 3? If so is this easy to setup?

Thanks,
Jim

[i2i]

remember to set the spindle pulley values.

Don't worry about a sensor, just check the speed with a chronograph when you set it up.

[cncJim]

Ok, I have just checked the voltages from the spindle 3 board to the vfd and readings increase by roughly 1 volt per 1000 rpm (set the spindle to 1000 = 1v, 2000 = 2v ..... 9000 = 9v, 10000 = 10v). Everything over 10000 the spindle board just spits out 10v, and at 10v the vfd displays a speed of roughly 22000. This explains why I thought I had no control, I never tried to take the speed lower than 10000 so the it always ran at the same speed.

So I guess the issue would be with the config in mach 3 (motor tuning?)? I have just checked the mach 3 setup manual and I'm not sure it's in English! Even if I could get my head round it will i will still be stuck as I have no information on the vfd/spindle and therefore have no idea on the correct values to enter?

Am I stuck cutting everything at 22000?

Ic2 - thanks for the pulley tip, I was wondering why mach 3 kept moaning when I tried setting lower values! As for measuring the speed I do not have any tools to do that.... I only have the display of the vfd.

Jim

[i2i]

what are the min and max values in the spindle pulleys

[Kn8]

Hi Jim
If you post some pictures of your VFD it may be possible to identify it and source manual for it.

Kn8

[cncJim]

The min was 20000 and max was 24000. I changed this to min 0 and max 22000 so could test different values.

[cncJim]

Hi Jim
If you post some pictures of your VFD it may be possible to identify it and source manual for it.

Kn8

Thanks Kn8, here are some pics of the vfd and spindle.

9042
9043
9044
9045

Edit:
Just found the front cover for the vfd in a box of bits! It doesn't have a model number but it does say "240v 1.5Kw".
I've had this thing for over a year and never spotted it, what a spanner!:witless:

[Kn8]

Jim

That looks like a Huanyang Inverter I have sent you a PM.

Kn8

[cncJim]

So with the manual supplied from Kn8 (thanks again!) it looks like I have a HUANGYANG HY01D523B 1.5 Kw VFD :thumsup:

Next step is to sus out how the vfd has been configured and see how that matches up in mach 3...

I guess it's possible to have a potentiometer supplying 0-10v to the vfd for complete manual control? Has anyone done this?

Jim

[Jonathan]

This might help:
http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/routers-spindles-controllers/5925-huanyang-vfd-control-plugin-mach3-usb-rs-485-a.html

Although I think you're not far off getting the current version working as it looks like just a scaling issue.



9043

Make sure you clean the collet before putting it in the spindle. In the picture there's wood dust inside the collet. This is a quick way to damage the spindle taper and increase runout...

[m_c]

morepointlesssettingchanges

[cncJim]

Jonathan - Wow I like the amount of control/feedback you get with the plugin - This may be a future upgrade! Thanks for the collet tip :thumsup:

m_c - Thanks for the step by step info - the motor tuning page of mach 3 scared the crap out of me to begin with but its starting to make sense now - I will give this a try when I get the spindle fixed......I somehow managed to snap off the gx16 connector off the top of the spindle. Luckily I had planned to replace the 3 pin gx16 with a 4 pin one to earth the spindle and have the parts ready to install :)

Jim

[cncJim]

Just an update...

Spindle now fixed and earthed (with shielded 4 core cable and 4 pin gx16 connector).

Also I have tried configuring the spindle as per m_c's instructions and I now has full control over the speed. Needs a little bit more of a tweak but I'm on the right track.

Thanks to everyone who helped in this thread. :smile:
Jim

[m_c]

ladedahsoh