Looking for help with a Zenbot machine

[HankMcSpank]

I'm quite familiar with that particular mechatronics board (it was my main board until recently)

A couple of obvious questions....

1. The DC plug needs 24V ....you do have a 24V PSU don't you?

2. Also, do you have a 25 way ribbon cable & a PC with a parallel port to connect it to?


If so, then this will be surely mach3 config that's the problem.

[JAZZCNC]

I'm quite familiar with that particular mechatronics board (it was my main board until recently)

If so, then this will be surely mach3 config that's the problem.

Ermmm. . with all the troubles you had with these allegro chips I'm surprised at you saying that Hank. . Lol

That said one of the beauty's of this board is the important bits that blow are easy replaced.

Valeria,
First you need to confirm the board is alive so plug it in and see what happens.? Watch for lights and listen carefully if motors make any noises or if they go stiff or twitch.

I don't see any other wires or sockets for external connections going to the Boards inputs so thinking there must not be any E-stop buttons or Limit switches etc on the machine.
This could actually be the cause because if the Control Software(Mach3) is set to watch a certain pin on the board then it won't allow Mach to restart.
So provided the board is still alive, which would imagine it will have some Led or light to show(Hank should know where to look) So Does Mach3 Restart.?
If yes to Board working and Mach3 restarting then like Hank says chances are it's a Setup problem if no movement.
So if you have no idea how to set Mach3 Motor inputs etc then best option would be for you to post Mach 3 file you use and we can check it out for you.

To find this file go to the Mach3 folder and look for file ending XML and with the Same name has the Profile you click on when starting Mach3 IE Mach3Mill.XML

Then you may need to ZIP it up to post. With this we can see how it's set and make any changes and post back for you.

Provided the boards not fried then we should have you moving easy enough.

[HankMcSpank]

Ermmm. . with all the troubles you had with these allegro chips I'm surprised at you saying that Hank. . Lol

Lol, well during the time I owned it..I never has all three ICs blow at once (they blew in staggered formation - to cause the most inconvenience!). To be fair 50% of the IC blow outs were my fault (ignorance/sloppiness) ....but that particular board is not a great design because the IC holder contacts get dirty over time, leading to poor pin contact (result = no workeee as you'd want)

That said one of the beauty's of this board is the important bits that blow are easy replaced.

which is a blessing but also a curse because like I say, I don't think the IC holders are up to it. So it's sort of circular problem ...i.e. the board doesn't work well because of the design, but you can change the ICs out easily because of the board design!

I still think (assuming 24V is plugged in to the board & a 25w ribbon connecting the control box back to the PC is in place) that if *none* of the axises are working, then it's likely to be a Mach 3 config problem (cos from recollection it wasn't that simple to configure the mechatronics board as a n00b in MAch 3)

[EddyCurrent]

Anyone electrically trained would start at the power supply, it may be a good idea therefore to enlist a local electrician who could follow the advice from members of this forum to eliminate that side of the hardware.

[HankMcSpank]

Anyone electrically trained would start at the power supply, it may be a good idea therefore to enlist a local electrician who could follow the advice from members of this forum to eliminate that side of the hardware.

You raise a valid point, so for the removal of all doubt, I'll change my earlier post from...

1. The DC plug needs 24V ....you do have a 24V PSU don't you?

to...

1. The DC plug needs 24V ....you do have a known working 24V PSU don't you?

!!!!

[Valeria]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the advice. I have been busy at work with other things so I couldn't read you posts since now.

Unfortunately I don't understand anything about what you said. I have never used the machine and I have been asked by my manager to fix it.

I think that the easiest way to deal with this would probably be to find someone that can come and have a look at it. Unfortunately I have no idea about who this person might be. Do I have to look for an electrician? A mechanic? Somebody that deals with these machine already?

Many Thanks for your help,

Valeria

[JAZZCNC]

I think that the easiest way to deal with this would probably be to find someone that can come and have a look at it. Unfortunately I have no idea about who this person might be. Do I have to look for an electrician? A mechanic? Somebody that deals with these machine already?

Think you'll struggle to find a business or trade person who'll be interested has the cost alone just to fault find let alone repair or replace parts would be more than machines worth.
Your best bet is to hopefully find someone knowledgeable from the forum who lives close by who could give it a look over.!!

If you can't find anyone and are prepared to fund having it shipped up and down to me then I'll be more than happy to look at it for you.!

[JAZZCNC]

Anyone electrically trained would start at the power supply, it may be a good idea therefore to enlist a local electrician who could follow the advice from members of this forum to eliminate that side of the hardware.

You raise a valid point, so for the removal of all doubt, I'll change my earlier post from...

Valeria,
First you need to confirm the board is alive so plug it in and see what happens.?

First you need to confirm the board is alive so plug it in to Known Working 24V PSU and see what happens.?

[EddyCurrent]

Valeria,
First you need to confirm the board is alive so plug it in and see what happens.? Watch for lights and listen carefully if motors make any noises or if they go stiff or twitch.

I don't think that equates to what I said and reading the replies I'm not convinced Valeria is confident to carry out electrical checks which is why I suggested a local electrician. Rather than "plug it in and see what happens" they would test for juice at logical points in the circuit.

[JAZZCNC]

I don't think that equates to what I said and reading the replies I'm not convinced Valeria is confident to carry out electrical checks which is why I suggested a local electrician. Rather than "plug it in and see what happens" they would test for juice at logical points in the circuit.

Lighten up Eddy was having a Joke hence the and besides it's 24Vdc so very little danger there.

If it's dead then electrical checks on PSU etc can be done and yes that will require competent person to do that. Plugging in and seeing what does or doesn't happen won't hurt anything or anyone but does start the initial process of elimination checks without costing money.!