Upgrade? Chinese CNC Machine

Hi All,

Total noob to the world of CNC, but not thick* - I'm sorta leaning toward thickendum at the moment though. I bought a Chinese CNC machine (yes I know now) and the controller a YooCNC is naff and couldn't cut a straight line if its life depended on it and it does so it's now one for the bin.

'Er indoors is getting a tad peeved shall we say at the fact that a) I bought a naff machine (eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d) and b) I gotta spend more money to fix it so with that said how do I go about sorting the controller, remembering the budget is getting slimmer coz I so wanna buy a Korg Oasys to pad out my ever growing synth collection :yahoo:

I've been looking at various controllers but this is where I get confused with amps watts and volts. The pictures attached are of the current controller internals showing Primary 220v Secondary 0-18v and 0-36v.
Can I just buy for example one of these
CNC 4 Axis TB6560 Stepper Driver Board Controller +CD | eBay
and mate it to my existing PSU/controller box or would I be better off buying something like this New CNC Standard 4Axis TB6560 Stepper Driver Full Kit & Motor/PSU/Keypad/Display | eBay
and just using my existing frame work which from what I can see is pretty damn solid.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Attachment 8599
Attachment 8600
Old naff controller box

Cheers
Carl

Yaki Da carl

Before you go wasting more money on controllers similar to what you already have. Tell us more about your machine. Straight lines could be down to that and not the electronics. You could probably do with some settings changing if your loosing steps etc. pics are good

I doubt if it's the electronics if it's cutting but not a straight line, that could be a number of things as has been said including the operator setting wrong speed & feed rates. Pictures would help as has been said. A video of it cutting would be even better.

Don't bother with those boards, they are the same as what you already have

Two choices.
Either try to get it running better and from experience these boards do not like micro stepping, they loose steps. perhaps start here ?

Second choice is the box has a decent power supply so scrap the board and fit 3 decent drivers and a breakout board.
see
CNC Micro-Stepping Stepper Motor Driver 2M542 Bi-polar 2phase 4.2A Switch | eBay and
Upgraded 5 Axis CNC Breakout Board Stepper Motor Driver + 5V USB Cable + Mach3 | eBay

BTW does anyone recognise the power supply board in that box ? A quick look on ebay doesn't get me anything.

Might not even need to get a new PSU to use with the m542 drivers. The transformer says 36V on one of the secondaries, which is ideal since when rectified that will give just under 50V. It depends what rating that winding is on the transformer, but you might as well try it if you do decide to get the drivers that John S (and I) recommend. Do you have a part number / datasheet for the stepper motors this machine uses?

Yes spotted that as well, even included it in the post that disappeared when I clicked on the picture again to check.
I reckon the tranny will kick enough out given that these motors only take a bit of power and volts on these things is far more important than amps.

When you have had your fingers in a switch on electric toaster you get a feel for these sort of things. :highly_amused:

Still interested in that board that rectifies the current from the tranny.
I reckon they must be commercially available boards if they are in that box.

Hard bit is know what to search for on Ebay.

The motors look fairly small, so I tend to agree. However I've just noticed that the 36Vac output will be for the spindle, since that requires up to 50V and 230W according to the eBay listing. Unless that spindle is replaced another transformer would almost certainly be needed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John S

Still interested in that board that rectifies the current from the tranny.
I reckon they must be commercially available boards if they are in that box.

Hard bit is know what to search for on Ebay.

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Er why, surely you don't want one? It looks like it does a bit more than just rectifying though - I think it does the PWM drive for the spindle.

Well spotted and that also answers the question of the pot on the front so scrap that query.

The reason I wanted one is that is often quicker, faster, cheaper in the long run to buy off the shelf components than build.
You then also have the facility to just ship a component out in the event of a fry up.

However in this case it's not what I was looking for.

You want something like this then?

10000uF 50V X4 Rectifier filter power supply board kit s-8 | eBay

Just search on eBay for 'power supply rectifier' and you'll find plenty, although they are a bit expensive.

Edit: If you're happy to solder it then..
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/63V-2200UF...item4abe9b8dad
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/63V-2200UF...item33673235b2

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Straight lines

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God knows where that came from?

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Originally Posted by Swarfing

Yaki Da carl

Before you go wasting more money on controllers similar to what you already have. Tell us more about your machine. Straight lines could be down to that and not the electronics. You could probably do with some settings changing if your loosing steps etc. pics are good

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Sorry, I was bein' a sarcy clever dick re the straight line reference :devilish: I've attached another pic as to what it does. I thought if it can't engrave something, surely it should be able to cut out a 52mm diam hole a 39mm diam hole and a rectangle around the pair so I could make a vacuum hose mount - boy was that a total failure. My son-in-law's da used to work in the tool industry and knows his way around g-code so I showed him the g-code to make sure I didn't have any errors and to the best of his knowledge it should do just what it's written for which is making me lean toward the controller not doing what it's bloody well told which is probably Karma comin back for me for bein' the same as a kid :friendly_wink:

The blue line in the image is where the rectangle is SUPPOSED to be, as for the holes well they're just plain outta shape. Oh and that was a scrap piece of MDF so try and ignore all the other lines at the bottom of the image and the upside down letter in the top right etc and you will see what happened to the rectangle :wink:

Cheers
Carl

Attachment 8607

Hi,

Unfortunately, all that came with the machine was a teeny disk with a manual on that when printed tells you nothing in regards to tech specs, essentially it's just an overbloated example of how to find the power button.

My biggest problem is when it comes to electronics I have the IQ of a door knob, if the thing was powered by a Meriden twin I'd have it torn down, rebuilt and running as sweet as nut but it's not so it's back to being as bright as a blown bulb for me :wink: How many of those m542 drivers would I need, three - one for each axis or is my thickendum sowing again?

Cheers
Carl

Ignore the last question John S pointed out I'd need three *slaps forehead*

Looked at the pic and the steps are out on the setup.
You probably don't know what that means which proves you are thick but no sweat for a Welshman living in OZ we all feel sorry for you.

OK we need a DECENT picture of the stepper board in the controller box from vertically down, hell take 3 or 4.
then we need a screen shot of the setup page in Mach.

That's Config > Motor Tuning

Next double check it does have ball screws and the pitch is 4mm

If you get stuck, shout up we need a good laugh.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John S

Looked at the pic and the steps are out on the setup.
You probably don't know what that means which proves you are thick but no sweat for a Welshman living in OZ we all feel sorry for you.

OK we need a DECENT picture of the stepper board in the controller box from vertically down, hell take 3 or 4.
then we need a screen shot of the setup page in Mach.

That's Config > Motor Tuning

Next double check it does have ball screws and the pitch is 4mm

If you get stuck, shout up we need a good laugh.

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Last things first, short of tearing the machine down to measure the screw I got no idea if it's 4mm or not but going off appearance it's def a ball screw. The Config > Motor Tuning is set to machine manufacturer specs as shown in the manual that came with the machine.

As for images and screen caps here goes...

Attachment 8620Attachment 8621Attachment 8622Attachment 8623

Attachment 8625Attachment 8626Attachment 8627Attachment 8628Attachment 8629Attachment 8630Attachment 8631

Mach setup looks OK

Pics don't really show anything.

010.jpg is the best shot, I'm looking for dip switches that set microstepping. X and Y should be the same if the screws are the same and the motors are both direct drive.

On the picture of the circles, is the wide diameter X or Y ?

If it's X change the steps per on Y from 400 to 200
If it's Y then change X from 400 to 200 and run the file again.

Remember to click save settings, then OK and reboot.

Off to bed now, it's half past dark here, can you play quietly with yourself until morning ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John S

Mach setup looks OK

Pics don't really show anything.

010.jpg is the best shot, I'm looking for dip switches that set microstepping. X and Y should be the same if the screws are the same and the motors are both direct drive.

On the picture of the circles, is the wide diameter X or Y ?

If it's X change the steps per on Y from 400 to 200
If it's Y then change X from 400 to 200 and run the file again.

Remember to click save settings, then OK and reboot.

Off to bed now, it's half past dark here, can you play quietly with yourself until morning ?

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Def no dip switches anywhere, I'll have a muck about with changing the steps and see what happens and post results - and I never play quietly, the volume is always set to 11

If it were powered by a meridian twin it wouldn't have come from China would it lol,

Hi there, try and slow things down a bit 200 steps per and velocity 200 accel 100 and see if you get different results, also what are you using to Generate your G-Code. Also have you run the driver test for mach to see if it is running as should be. Is the machine dedicated to CNC or are you running other stuff in the background..

Rick

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Originally Posted by martin54

If it were powered by a meridian twin it wouldn't have come from China would it lol,

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Good point :bi_polo: although the Hinkleys are made in Thailand :stupid:

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Originally Posted by Ricardoco

Hi there, try and slow things down a bit 200 steps per and velocity 200 accel 100 and see if you get different results, also what are you using to Generate your G-Code. Also have you run the driver test for mach to see if it is running as should be. Is the machine dedicated to CNC or are you running other stuff in the background..

Rick

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Rick,

Been toying with the steps and velo etc - getting close but still get it ovalling (if that's a word) on the Y instead of a circle, that is my vernier is showing me right dimensions for a 52mm circle on the X but narrower on the Y - might knock it down some more and see what that does.
As for Driver Test, yep ran that and it's fine, the machine is a not so old PC that was fresh installed with XP SP2 and Mach3 - nothing else on there - not even a virus checker seeing as it's not net connected it's not needed.

I use Aspire 3 on a different machine to create what I want

Addon bit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAvjainGpEM

As you can see, it's not a circle??? oh and I started videoin' as an afterthought

If you have been playing about with the steps does in now move the correct distance in each direction? Have you tried just moving an inch or two in a straight line in each direction doing each axis separately? Did you remember to hit save on the motor set up after you had changed the steps on each axis, simple thing but easy to forget to do when things aren't going as planned lol.

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Originally Posted by Carlb1058

Rick,

Been toying with the steps and velo etc - getting close but still get it ovalling (if that's a word) on the Y instead of a circle, that is my vernier is showing me right dimensions for a 52mm circle on the X but narrower on the Y - might knock it down some more and see what that does.
As for Driver Test, yep ran that and it's fine, the machine is a not so old PC that was fresh installed with XP SP2 and Mach3 - nothing else on there - not even a virus checker seeing as it's not net connected it's not needed.

I use Aspire 3 on a different machine to create what I want

Addon bit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAvjainGpEM

As you can see, it's not a circle??? oh and I started videoin' as an afterthought

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Ok thats better than you had before, so that means we are in the right track, i wonder if both the ballscrew are the same. could you do me a favour and cut a strait line 100mm long on the X and 100mm long on the Y and then measure them and let us know what you get.. Just Like Martin suggested.


Rick

100mm on the Y I get 52mm
100mm on the X I get 42mm

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Carlb1058

100mm on the Y I get 52mm
100mm on the X I get 42mm

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now we are talking.. thats why it dosnt do a circle

What have you set your X to in motor tuning,
and
What have you set your Y to in motor tuning,

Rick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ricardoco

now we are talking.. thats why it dosnt do a circle

What have you set your X to in motor tuning,
and
What have you set your Y to in motor tuning,

Rick

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Slowed them down to as per your previous suggestion - one thing I did notice when it was doing it was the X was smooth in movement, the Y however seemed to jerk, as if going for example 10mm stages, a barely but still noticeable pause then continuing on?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Carlb1058

Slowed them down to as per your previous suggestion - one thing I did notice when it was doing it was the X was smooth in movement, the Y however seemed to jerk, as if going for example 10mm stages, a barely but still noticeable pause then continuing on?

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Well lets see if i can get the math sorted to get them cutting the correct amount first.

Rick

Change X from 200 to 384.6
Change Y from 200 to 476.2

Steps per that is

Then try running 100 mm in X and Y

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Carlb1058

Slowed them down to as per your previous suggestion - one thing I did notice when it was doing it was the X was smooth in movement, the Y however seemed to jerk, as if going for example 10mm stages, a barely but still noticeable pause then continuing on?

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LOL my brain has been doing loops here.. What size cutter are you using..

Rick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John S

Change X from 200 to 384.6
Change Y from 200 to 476.2

Steps per that is

Then try running 100 mm in X and Y

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Thats what i was comming up with john but dosnt the cutter size have a bearing on it...LOL (where's that human calculator when you need him LOL)

Rick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ricardoco

LOL my brain has been doing loops here.. What size cutter are you using..

Rick

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20 deg - 0.5F - 3.175 diameter coz that's what was in it when I wandered out to the shed this morning :)

Onwards and upwards to try these new figures - digits x'ed

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Originally Posted by Carlb1058

20 deg - 0.5F - 3.175 diameter coz that's what was in it when I wandered out to the shed this morning :)

Onwards and upwards to try these new figures - digits x'ed

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97 on the X 86 on the Y or so my vernier says :numbness:

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Originally Posted by Carlb1058

97 on the X 86 on the Y or so my vernier says :numbness:

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so your cutter is a 3mm cutter?

ok Try this

X 408.1
Y 512.8

with the same cutter of course

Rick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ricardoco

ok Try this

X 408.1
Y 512.8

with the same cutter of course

Rick

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100 on the Y 105 on the X - I know this'll all go way over my head but how do work it out?

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so your cutter is a 3mm cutter?

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Surely that is an 1/8" cutter?

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Originally Posted by Carlb1058

100 on the Y 105 on the X - I know this'll all go way over my head but how do work it out?

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Ok divide 200 ~ (the 'steps-per' that is set on the axis in motor tuning) by the cut measurement minus the cutter measurement(Dia 3mm as the software is running in metric mode 0r 1/8" if you require brain drain ), and then multiply by the measurement you told it to cut which was 100mm..

Rick

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Originally Posted by Swarfing

Surely that is an 1/8" cutter?

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It may well be.

Are we actually sure these are metric screws? did they kick you a machine built for our American cousins and give you one with imperial screws?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Swarfing

Are we actually sure these are metric screws? did they kick you a machine built for our American cousins and give you one with imperial screws?

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Im not sure what they are but something is not right but then when its cutting a circle we can get him to look a bit deeper into it.. I do however suspect you may be correct at least in some part..

Rick