Spindle Speed Control

[m_c]

ibetalltheseeditswillbeannoyinglee

[cncJim]

Ah I see, that makes sense, thanks for explaining it m_c - I will test tonight!

I notice in mach 3 there is a field in which you enter the spindle speed you would like and another field which displays the actual speed. In my setup the actual field stays on "0" and has a yellow flashing "led" next to it. Am I right in assuming I would need some sort of sensor on the spindle to monitor the spindle speed and then display the result in mach 3? If so is this easy to setup?

Thanks,
Jim

[i2i]

remember to set the spindle pulley values.

Don't worry about a sensor, just check the speed with a chronograph when you set it up.

[cncJim]

Ok, I have just checked the voltages from the spindle 3 board to the vfd and readings increase by roughly 1 volt per 1000 rpm (set the spindle to 1000 = 1v, 2000 = 2v ..... 9000 = 9v, 10000 = 10v). Everything over 10000 the spindle board just spits out 10v, and at 10v the vfd displays a speed of roughly 22000. This explains why I thought I had no control, I never tried to take the speed lower than 10000 so the it always ran at the same speed.

So I guess the issue would be with the config in mach 3 (motor tuning?)? I have just checked the mach 3 setup manual and I'm not sure it's in English! Even if I could get my head round it will i will still be stuck as I have no information on the vfd/spindle and therefore have no idea on the correct values to enter?

Am I stuck cutting everything at 22000?

Ic2 - thanks for the pulley tip, I was wondering why mach 3 kept moaning when I tried setting lower values! As for measuring the speed I do not have any tools to do that.... I only have the display of the vfd.

Jim

[i2i]

what are the min and max values in the spindle pulleys

[cncJim]

The min was 20000 and max was 24000. I changed this to min 0 and max 22000 so could test different values.

[Kn8]

Hi Jim
If you post some pictures of your VFD it may be possible to identify it and source manual for it.

Kn8

[cncJim]

Hi Jim
If you post some pictures of your VFD it may be possible to identify it and source manual for it.

Kn8

Thanks Kn8, here are some pics of the vfd and spindle.






Edit:
Just found the front cover for the vfd in a box of bits! It doesn't have a model number but it does say "240v 1.5Kw".
I've had this thing for over a year and never spotted it, what a spanner!

[Kn8]

Jim

That looks like a Huanyang Inverter I have sent you a PM.

Kn8

[Jonathan]

This might help:
http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/router...-rs-485-a.html

Although I think you're not far off getting the current version working as it looks like just a scaling issue.

Make sure you clean the collet before putting it in the spindle. In the picture there's wood dust inside the collet. This is a quick way to damage the spindle taper and increase runout...