I made some more progress today, I hacked out the back panel and ran the 24v wiring. I also redid the stepper driver connectors as I wasn't happy with them. Lastly I did some of the mains wiring but couldn't finish it because I don't have the right crimp tool for the piggy back spades. I'll try and post some pictures tomorrow.

I decided to run a quick systems check to test out the new wiring and power supply. All 3 axes worked without a hitch, so far so good. Next I hooked up my IO board to test out the spindle relay. As soon as I turned on the power, the spindle buzzer and relay went off. Everything worked fine once Mach3 was up and running, but we can't have the spindle turning on during start up can we. I was planning to add the charge pump circuit anyway, but now it's a must. I just need to decide the best way to implement it.

The easiest and most obvious way, is to simply have the charge pump turn on the 24v supply. It does have a remote control feature, which allows it to be turned on or off via 2 pins in the CN100 connector. Without its 24v supply, my IO board will switch off, de-energizing the relay which will turn off the spindle. The only niggle with this setup, is the 24v LED strips I have for lighting up the work area, wont come on until I fire up Mach3 and the charge pump.

I suppose the best option is to get the charge pump to switch a relay, which will power the motors and IO board, this would still have the same level of safety control, but would allow me to use the LED lights all the time.