Tonsen 4 Axis Controller/Bob

I pulled apart my controller just to check a few things ahead of my modifications and have made a schematic for it, it may be useful for people with the same board.

This is the board...
Attachment 11034

It is simply marked Tonsen 4 Aixs Con (They probably mean Axis :cocksure: )

This is the schematic...
Attachment 11039

A few things to note...

• The Q817 Opto-isolators, RN2 and Input header are not actually fitted as you can see from the board picture.(Top right)
• The power input is marked as 24v AC but it is DC.
• The caps are marked on the PCB 1000/35 for C1, 470/25 for C2 & 220/16 for C3 but the values in the schematic are fitted.
• The moto(spindle) header is on the board but it doesn't connect back to the spindle controller.

In summary pins 2,3,4,5,6,7,16,17 are buffered through the HC244. Pins 1,8,9,14 are connected directly to the parallel port. Pins 10,11,12,13 & 15 could easily be converted to opto-isolated inputs with some extra components.

The one thing that puzzles me is the Enable pins, in the manual is says to turn on Enable 1 & 2 and set them to pins 8 & 9. These control the Y & Z axis, but pin 14 which is connected to X & A is not mentioned, and I don't currently have this turned on in Mach3.

Anyway use this information at your own risk, I am NOT an expert, always double check your board and pin outs.

Regards,

Les

Do you think that the board will accept AC or DC as there appears to be some half wave rectification at the front end. ..Clive

I don't know to be honest, but it wouldn't surprise me if it were just a mistake. After all the port on the back of my controller is marked 'Parakkel Port', and they did spell Axis wrong!

Regards,

Les

It says AC beside the socket and as Clive says the diode would indicate this is true.
Pin 1 gets used for all sorts, on my bob it is the charge pump. on others it is marked 'strobe' or 'spindle enable' or operates a relay for 'spindle forward'.

Updated schematic in first post as I made a small mistake with RN1.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by EddyCurrent

It says AC beside the socket and as Clive says the diode would indicate this is true.

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I am sure it's DC going in, my Multimeter showed 0 for AC and 24v for DC. It's also coming from the same PSU that drives the stepper motors, wouldn't that be DC?

Regards,

Les

Either would do but in this case 24v ac 1/2 wave would barely provide enough input for the voltage regulator so as you say Les it must be 24v dc

Quote:

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Originally Posted by EddyCurrent

Either would do but in this case 24v ac 1/2 wave would barely provide enough input for the voltage regulator so as you say Les it must be 24v dc

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Well spotted:thumsup: ..Clive

Quote:

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Originally Posted by EddyCurrent

It says AC beside the socket and as Clive says the diode would indicate this is true.
Pin 1 gets used for all sorts, on my bob it is the charge pump. on others it is marked 'strobe' or 'spindle enable' or operates a relay for 'spindle forward'.

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the diode is purely for reverse polarity protection. Too many mistakes would give me quality concerns...

Irving, that is correct I forgot about that, many years ago some car radios used to have the same.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by irving2008

the diode is purely for reverse polarity protection.

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I assumed that's what it was for but as stated I am no expert.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by irving2008

Too many mistakes would give me quality concerns...

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Spelling mistakes are fairly normal for cheap Chinese stuff (you should try and read the manual), but they do not make me worry about the quality.(Touch wood, so far, the electronics have been good)

Regards,

Les

I have this BOB in a machine i purchased a couple of months back, so far ive had no problems with it. Although im not doing anythign greatly extravagant with it. I would like to add home switches to it though and maybe a touch off plate but so far ive not found where to connect the wires.

Any help would be appreciated

Sean

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jester

I have this BOB in a machine i purchased a couple of months back, so far ive had no problems with it. Although im not doing anythign greatly extravagant with it. I would like to add home switches to it though and maybe a touch off plate but so far ive not found where to connect the wires.

Any help would be appreciated

Sean

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Here's a a pic with the parallel pin locations...

Attachment 11182

Don't forget that none of these are opto-isolated. I will be posting on my blog in the near future on how to make an opto-isolated addon board for this controller.

Regards,

Les

Ok this is going to sound dumb but what does optoisolation do? lol sorry but im very new to this. I will probably be connecting microswitches as home switches, although i have some prox sensors i think in the garage which need 8v according to the packing .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jester

Ok this is going to sound dumb but what does optoisolation do? lol sorry but im very new to this. I will probably be connecting microswitches as home switches, although i have some prox sensors i think in the garage which need 8v according to the packing .

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An opto-isolator use light to transfers electrical signals between two circuits, preventing high voltage from affecting the system receiving the signal.

.Me

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lee Roberts

An opto-isolator use light to transfers electrical signals between two circuits, preventing high voltage from affecting the system receiving the signal.

.Me

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It's called Galvanic Isolation

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jester

Ok this is going to sound dumb but what does optoisolation do? lol sorry but im very new to this. I will probably be connecting microswitches as home switches, although i have some prox sensors i think in the garage which need 8v according to the packing .

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Just think of it like this...

If you have a major malfunction and 240v gets sent to your parallel port, it will probably fry the port and motherboard. Opto-isolation helps to prevent that.

Having said that, I have been running my home/limit switches without isolation on the Tonsen BOB for the last 6 months without issues. I have however just built the opto-isolated addon board to hook up to the Tonsen BOB, I just haven't had time to test it properly. Now that the Christmas malarkey is out of the way, perhaps I can get to test it.

Regards,

Les

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pointy

Having said that, I have been running my home/limit switches without isolation on the Tonsen BOB for the last 6 months without issues. I have however just built the opto-isolated addon board to hook up to the Tonsen BOB, I just haven't had time to test it properly. Now that the Christmas malarkey is out of the way, perhaps I can get to test it.

Regards,

Les

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Ive been looking for add on boards for this bob did you design this yourself or are there shcems on the net for it .

Cheers Sean

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jester

Ive been looking for add on boards for this bob did you design this yourself or are there shcems on the net for it .

Cheers Sean

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It's something I am designing myself, but be warned that I am no expert and this is just a hobby for me. I started a thread here to discuss the board, but the schematic shown there is the 1st attempt and contains errors. Once the board is tested I will post the final schematic.

Regards,

Les

I have a 3040T CNC Chinese and also I want to connect limit switches to Tonsen ....
how the fuck ..... I can not man ..... : (

Hi all, I also have one of these Chinese Wonders (It's a Wonder that it works!) with the Chinglish Manual and misspelled PCB designates. For my efforts I decided to fit Home/Limits to the X, Y, & Z planes which went quite smoothly until I inspected the I/O Board.

So I set about to bring this into line with half decent components. I upgraded both the 5v and 15v Regulators. Changed the polarity protection diodes for 3A shottkies which have a much lower forward voltage drop than the !N4007’s.
I also changed all the electrolytic’s for 108° low ESR, replacing the 407µF with a 1,000µF The PCB has all the locations needed to fit 5 Opti-Couples and the pull-up resistor network needed for the home/limit switches.
I thought I was doing ever so great and about to do a bit of ‘Yankee Back Patting’ as I connected everything up and switched on..
This time the Spindle Motor didn’t Rev it’s nuts of as usual and the System Fan did not work.... Yep, you guessed right I miss-connected the Fan and Spindle Motor Controller. No big deal as I didn’t see any ‘Smoke Escape’ ¹ However, putting 15V directly across the Anode and Cathode of the Motor Controller Opti-couple ensured its demise.
Whilst I was investigating the possibilities of any further damage I rung out to continuity the return line from the connector to the Parallel Port Pin 1.
The Drawing Les, (Pointy) has painstakingly provided is a great help apart from the Motor Line from Pin 1 is connected to the 5v Line via one of the 330R pull-ups, and the second connection to ground. This is incorrect. Pin 1 from the parallel port connects directly to the Opti-Couple on the Motor Controller Sub Board. Be very careful when tackling any problems with the Motor Controller Board It is connected directly across the Mains with enough current to blow your hat off !! :distrust:

Scoping the Signal, DC Lines, and I/O lines shows that my efforts in upgrading the components has paid off with reduced electrical noise.

¹As the Mach3 Manual says, ’Contrary to belief Electronic Components work with Smoke. There is no documented evidence that and device has ever worked once the smoke has escaped’

Hi all, I also have one of these Chinese Wonders (It's a Wonder that it works!) with the Chinglish Manual and misspelled PCB designates. For my efforts I decided to fit Home/Limits to the X, Y, & Z planes which went quite smoothly until I inspected the I/O Board.

So I set to to bring this into line with half decent components. I upgraded both the 5v and 15v Regulators. Changed the polarity protection diodes for 3A shottkies which have a much lower forward voltage drop than the !N4007’s.
I also changed all the electrolytic’s for 108° low ESR, replacing the 407µF with a 1,000µF The PCB has all the locations needed to fit 5 Opti-Couples and the pull-up resistor network needed for the home/limit switches.
I thought I was doing ever so great and about to do a bit of ‘Yankee Back Patting’ as I connected everything up and switched on..

This time the Spindle Motor didn’t Rev it’s nuts of as usual and the System Fan did not work.... Yep, you guessed right I miss-connected the Fan and Spindle Motor Controller. No big deal as I didn’t see any ‘Smoke Escape’ ¹ However, putting 15V directly across the Anode and Cathode of the Motor Controller Opti-couple ensured its demise.
Whilst I was investigating the possibilities of any further damage I rung out to continuity the return line from the connector to the Parallel Port Pin 1.

The Drawing Les, (Pointy) has painstakingly provided is a great help apart from where the Motor Line from Pin 1 is connected to the 5v Line via one of the 330R pull-ups, and the second connection to ground. This is incorrect.

Pin 1 from the parallel port connects directly to the Opti-Couple on the Motor Controller Sub Board. Be very careful when tackling any problems with the Motor Controller Board It is connected directly across the Mains with enough current to blow your hat off!

The modifications and upgrages have done the trick, Scoping the Signal, I/O and supply rails show reduced electrical noise overall.


¹As the Mach3 Manual says, ’Contrary to belief Electronic Components work with Smoke. There is no documented evidence that any device has ever worked once the smoke has escaped’

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pointy

Here's a a pic with the parallel pin locations...

http://www.mycncuk.com/attachment.ph...id=11182&stc=1

Don't forget that none of these are opto-isolated. I will be posting on my blog in the near future on how to make an opto-isolated addon board for this controller.

Regards,

Les

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Did you get time to do this mate?? Have you a link to your blog??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by buggalugs

Pin 1 from the parallel port connects directly to the Opti-Couple on the Motor Controller Sub Board. Be very careful when tackling any problems with the Motor Controller Board It is connected directly across the Mains with enough current to blow your hat off !!

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Do I read this right ? Mains is connected to the Motor control board????

Yes, as it comes the Spindle Motor Speed Controller is at mains AC potential, however there is an optic-coupler between the Mains device from the pulse circuitry. I have since stripped it out and fitted a 48v Spindle Motor and a new PWM speed controller.

I have also fitted optocouplers, SIL Network Resistors to the Parallel Port PCB, beefed up the complete board with High Temp Electrolytic's to take the full X, Y, & Z limits including a couple of E-Stops.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by buggalugs

Hi all, I also have one of these Chinese Wonders (It's a Wonder that it works!) with the Chinglish Manual and misspelled PCB designates. For my efforts I decided to fit Home/Limits to the X, Y, & Z planes which went quite smoothly until I inspected the I/O Board.

So I set about to bring this into line with half decent components. I upgraded both the 5v and 15v Regulators. Changed the polarity protection diodes for 3A shottkies which have a much lower forward voltage drop than the !N4007’s.
I also changed all the electrolytic’s for 108° low ESR, replacing the 407µF with a 1,000µF The PCB has all the locations needed to fit 5 Opti-Couples and the pull-up resistor network needed for the home/limit switches.
I thought I was doing ever so great and about to do a bit of ‘Yankee Back Patting’ as I connected everything up and switched on..
This time the Spindle Motor didn’t Rev it’s nuts of as usual and the System Fan did not work.... Yep, you guessed right I miss-connected the Fan and Spindle Motor Controller. No big deal as I didn’t see any ‘Smoke Escape’ ¹ However, putting 15V directly across the Anode and Cathode of the Motor Controller Opti-couple ensured its demise.
Whilst I was investigating the possibilities of any further damage I rung out to continuity the return line from the connector to the Parallel Port Pin 1.
The Drawing Les, (Pointy) has painstakingly provided is a great help apart from the Motor Line from Pin 1 is connected to the 5v Line via one of the 330R pull-ups, and the second connection to ground. This is incorrect. Pin 1 from the parallel port connects directly to the Opti-Couple on the Motor Controller Sub Board. Be very careful when tackling any problems with the Motor Controller Board It is connected directly across the Mains with enough current to blow your hat off !! :distrust:

Scoping the Signal, DC Lines, and I/O lines shows that my efforts in upgrading the components has paid off with reduced electrical noise.

¹As the Mach3 Manual says, ’Contrary to belief Electronic Components work with Smoke. There is no documented evidence that and device has ever worked once the smoke has escaped’

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Buggalugs, any chance that you saved the before and after scope screens? If so, can you post them?

can the spindle be connected to moto pinouts, and can a probe tool be install to any of the 10-15 pins?

wesk18,
The MOTO plug requires an external Optoisolator to control the Spindle Motor On/Off state.
The +5V source for Pin 1 (Anode) of the external Opto is provided from Pin 4 (Actual Pin) of the 330R RN (Pull-Up Resistor) on the Tonsen 4 "AIXS" Board.

A probe tool / digitizer can be connected to Pin 10, 11, 12, 13 or 15 (Input Pins).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mr_Manville

wesk18,
The MOTO plug requires an external Optoisolator to control the Spindle Motor On/Off state.
The +5V source for Pin 1 (Anode) of the external Opto is provided from Pin 4 (Actual Pin) of the 330R RN (Pull-Up Resistor) on the Tonsen 4 "AIXS" Board.

A probe tool / digitizer can be connected to Pin 10, 11, 12, 13 or 15 (Input Pins).

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so pin 1 from the external opto goes to pin 4 on the board, how about the other 2 pins from the external opto where does it go? and what do i plug to the moto pins, the red and black coming from the spindle?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by buggalugs

Yes, as it comes the Spindle Motor Speed Controller is at mains AC potential, however there is an optic-coupler between the Mains device from the pulse circuitry. I have since stripped it out and fitted a 48v Spindle Motor and a new PWM speed controller.

I have also fitted optocouplers, SIL Network Resistors to the Parallel Port PCB, beefed up the complete board with High Temp Electrolytic's to take the full X, Y, & Z limits including a couple of E-Stops.

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please share a pic

I'm a complete novice at this. I have this bob on my 3040t and want to add Home and limit switches. Can I just put the switches between +5V and one of the input pins, 10-13 , 15?

on some boards the opto-isolators and input connector are not fitted

a photo showing what components are fitted to your breakout board
will make it possible to give you details of how to connect home & limit switches

depending on what you have
you need to connect the switches between the BOB ground and either the connections to the printer port pins 11, 12,13 & 15
or the opto-isolator LED cathode

a while ago I found a circuit diagram of the Tonsen-4-Axis BOB
as it does not look like it's 100% correct I have added a few notes on this

Attachment 24553

John