Where is the fountain of knowledge for learning about CNC setups / understanding them

[JAZZCNC]

Ok I do believe I've messed up the settings on the vfd control box... #sigh
is there a way to reset the settings on the box or do I just go through each setting again and try and put it back to default?
Also I believe I have found someone who has the same box as me and took photos of the innards so I copied the images for you guys to check out and see what I am dealing with, this person also had a UC100 so there thread did not help me.
I am attempting to set up Mach 3 to be able to control the spindle/VFD but am I right in thinking that I cannot do this via a parallel port and instead require a UC100 and Controller card?
I am very tempted to ask if there is anyone that lives near me for a 1 to 1 visit and assistance

Suggest you take step back from messing and changing settings etc until you know 100% what you have. Just because the box looks the same doesn't mean whats inside is the same. These chinese things are like box of chocolates.? Never know what your going to get.!!

Also, work thru the issues one at a time. Get the machine moving correctly first then move onto VFD etc. With a systematic approach, you'll have it working in no time.

To setup the Motor tuning correctly in mach3 you'll need to know several things.

#1 Ballscrew pitch: To determine this measure how far each axis moves for one revolution of the ball screw. Do this for each axis because very common for Z axis to be different to X & Y.

#2 What micro steps are set on the drives. Most drives have DIP switches that are set in a order depending on what MS you desire. Often the MS setting range is printed on the drives or board. The available choices will be something like 1x 2x 4x 8x or 200,400,800,1600.
If unsure post pictures of your actually board/drives not some one else whcih are the same.

#3 Power supply Voltage and Motor size/Step angle. Two of these are technicly not required but they do give a good indicator for setting Velocity/Acceleration.

To explain the Micro steps ie: 1x 2x 4x 8x: This relates to the Step angle of the motors. So if motors are 1.8deg then this equals 200Steps per Revolution. (360Deg/1.8=200). So 1x 200= 200Ms per rev, 2 x 200=400Ms etc etc.
Now if 200,400,800,1600 etc this says exactly how many Microsteps per rev so easy to workout.

So to calculate the steps Per setting in Mach3 take the MS setting and divide by the ballscrew pitch. IE 800MS / 5mm=160 step per

Now Velocity and acceleration are some what trial and error and dependant on many factors. Motor size, voltage, Friction etc and no two machine will be exactly the same, even if built exactly the same. This is why people just tweak the settings.

However Voltage plays big part in speed/torque that can get from stepper motor so if you only have low voltage PSU Ie: 24V then you'll need to tune Velocity/acceleration much lower than someone with say 48V supply.
This is why knowing the voltage drives use is good indicator regards tuning. 24-36v will struggle much above 2500mm/min so start low and work up.
Also note you cannot have high Velocity and High acceleration, it's one or the other.
So start with both low say 1000 @ 300 then Change one at time and run machine before changing next. Suggest Start with Velocity try it and if motors don't stall then increase acceleration.
Do this several times until find point where changing either one will stall motors. Then back both off 20-25% to give safety margin.

The reason your E-stop isn't working is probably because you have accidentally changed the Input Pin # or Active state.
If your sure E-stop button is working then go to Inputs settings find E-stop setting. First check there is Pin number assigned, if not then thats your problem.
If yes then next toggle the Active Lo setting. Ie If ticked then un-tick vise versa. If mach resets then push the E-stop to make sure it working.

Get this working then we'll look at VFD.