Help please. Dip switches and mach 3 settings

[Radu_Andrei]

Hi Paulus.v
I also have an emergency estop which cuts power to everything, except the pc and the BoB, but I have never used it. (this being the hardware stop). I did, however used the software estop (input terminals on BoB) a few times, when I messed up gcode programing, and it worked quite well.
Your representation of the work conditions in which the cnc will function are a bit dramatic for a work shop, as I.m quite sure it is not positioned under a waterfall, but as I cannot help notice the flag situated at the left side of your user name it.s quite similar with mine, I think such a Estop described by you, should be very helpful if assigned to our prime minister, leading party and most of the political machine that is running our country. :) Best whishes, and happy national day for 01.12.2018! :)

[paulus.v]

I have read now what problems you had with the grounding and EMF. Are you not afraid to install the homing sensors in your system?
Please do not wire the limit switches as I did! Better wire them in series to a relay coil and from the relay to BoB estop and the stepper drives enable pin if they have it.

If I were in your place I would try to convert all the control circuit to 24V if possible. 24V is the industry standard as it is more reliable and resistant to noise and EMF than lower voltages.

How far is your workshop from the high voltage power lines, measured horizontally?

ps. Our government deserves more than an estop, I wish them many years in jail, and I hope those times will come.

[Radu_Andrei]

A lot of the noise problem was due to improper grounding, which was my fault, but thanks to the patience of the people on this forum, I managed to solve that and many other issues.

I was considering to run the limit swithes on 24v or at least 12v, but they seem to work fine, from the low voltage perspective. They however are very cheap lever switches and tend to have some parts wobble or come loose. I will upgrade to some profesional ones soon in the future.

My workshop is right next to the high voltage power lines. Like 3 meters away. The building existed before the high voltage tower was put in place. I asked a few guys at the City Hall about this issue, but they do not seem to have a problem or an interest in that.

I.m a bit concerned about some aspects of the cnc build, but not afraid. Crashing it, does not seem a big deal in theory, with single drive for each axis.
And it would not be the first time I mess up something in this project. Doing the math, I think I spent around 2500 euro for this project until this point. I bought the components bit by bit, during a few years, with the intent of building it someday. But from this amount, 5-600 euros was the tax for stupidity, representing materials or components, which from lack or knowledge or impatience etc, I ruined. But for the experince aquired, it worth every penny. :)

What I am somewhat afraid, is that, in order to reach a certain profitability with this kind of machine, you need a decent cutting speed, and I might not be able to get that properly. Perhaps I should have bought higher quality components, and make the cnc smaller and lighter. Who knows. I have a few components left from this build so maybe in the future I.ll build a smaller version.