Advice needed for controller box layout

[Bustercnc]

I would maybe swap the drives and the bob though and to try and keep the "clean" signal cables away from the "dirty" mains/drive power cables as much as possible?

I think most people would consider safety relays a step too far for smaller machines. They have features monitoring to detect if the contacts have welded shut but many don't worry about it. Really depend on your personal view of safety :)

Jim

Cheers Jim,

I am going to mark up and drill the holes tomorrw, I will orientate the drivers so the power connectors are closer to the PSU and route the stepper cables in the other direction.

Im glad you said that about the safety relays, I can see the importance of them but that will only complicate my build at this stage.

[Bustercnc]

The parts, they produce most heat should be top. On the bottom side your box is open, you should close it with a dustfilter, similiar to the parts used in aquariums. And the heat must can flow out of the box, so you need another hole on the top or upper side of your box.

Hi Uli12us,
The case comes with a blanking plate for the hole in the bottom, I was going to fit the stepper connectors and power socket into that.
Agreed, some more work does need to be done to provide ventilation

[JAZZCNC]

Really that case is little on the small side. You also need to think about heat and removing it with some fans.

Regards layout then first I wouldn't worry about trying to fit it all within in the confines of the plate because the reality is after it's wired you won't ever lift it out.

So I would put 2 drives up one side with one across top. The PSU like you have on it's side on the other side.
Then have the BOB Lower down because most of your wires connections will be coming in thru the bottom ie: Limits, E-stop, probes, etc
All Power and higher voltage wires or devices need to be kept far away from signal wires as possible and idealy run thru separate trunking crossing at a minimum. (See pic to get the idea of layout I mean)

You will need fuses for each drive and the main Psu. Regards Safety Relay then while you don't exactly need a Proper Safety relay with protected and monitored contacts you do need a Hardware driven safety system, which is what Clive S is refering too.

Relying just on Software E-stop is dangerous and shoudn't be used even on DIY router. Don't for one minute think this machine won't snap your arm like a carrot if get in the way, equaly neither will it think twice about ploughing it's cutter thru your hand just like it would a piece of Oak.!!

For this reason you need an E-stop safety system that uses a Relay to kill power to every thing that can hurt you. Then only after it's safe will it allow the system to Reset and Only with a Dedicated Momentery Reset button not just by releasing the E-stop button.

The extra cost is minimal so it's stupid to not do it.

[Bustercnc]

Wow Trev,

That is one busy looking controller box. I noticed 3 safety relays in there. Your case looks to be the same as mine only bigger.

I do have a vfd for my mill but I had (its in storage at the moment) this mounted to the wall behind the mill.

[JAZZCNC]

Im glad you said that about the safety relays, I can see the importance of them but that will only complicate my build at this stage.

Sorry but Jim is WRONG to say it's not needed it very much is and it's not complicated or expensive.!!

[JAZZCNC]

Wow Rev,

That is one busy looking controller box. I noticed 3 safety relays in there. Your case looks to be the same as mine only bigger.

I do have a vfd for my mill but I had (its in storage at the moment) this mounted to the wall behind the mill.

Nope only 1 safety relay and one Icecube relay. Yes it's same but bigger and deeper.

[Bustercnc]

Understood Jim, I thought the estop button was hard wired but now I think about it, its only configured as such in the software and can be over ridden. I will be sure to add this along with fuses.

I did consider getting the next case up from mine but just wanted to keep it compact and simple as its just for PCB work with a cutting area of 200x150

My head hurts now , think Im going to just put my feet up now and enjoy a beer and probably google the stuffing out of this.

I really appreciate all the comments so far.

Cheers Dave

[Gotty101]

Don't worry just take your time and it will come together. The estops circuit must work no matter what, it must work in a normally closed setup, so if for some reason the wiring fails on it, it will estops. Read other threads where they show schematics and you will see what they are doing, but if your not sure ask and people will help.

With mine I've made a pcb (for ease of wiring and space reasons) that handles the alarms from the drives, limits switches and controls the safety relay. The whole thing is wired very defensive, so if there is a faulty connection it estops for safety. The way to think is one day (hopefully not) you may need that estops button to work and you want to be 101% sure it's going to work when you really need it.

[cncJim]

If my previous post gave the impression that a hardware safety circuit is not needed and software is fine, then I apologise. That was not what I intended.

Trev - Your box looks great. Do you have any details of you custom PCB you made? I am interested as I am designing a fail safe circuit right now based on the sample one from the Mach3 manual and EddyCurrent's build thread (http://www.mycncuk.com/threads/6565-Ready-Steady-Eddy).

Cheers,
Jim

[Bustercnc]

If my previous post gave the impression that a hardware safety circuit is not needed and software is fine, then I apologise. That was not what I intended.

Cheers,
Jim

No worries Jim, I have a AMA25LV Mill which I converted myself a couple of years back. I am ashamed to say I neglected any such failsafe features there as well and opted for "Strategy 1". Lesson learned, I will correct this when/if I ever get it set up again.

Trev - Your box looks great. Do you have any details of you custom PCB you made? I am interested as I am designing a fail safe circuit right now based on the sample one from the Mach3 manual and EddyCurrent's build thread (http://www.mycncuk.com/threads/6565-Ready-Steady-Eddy).

Hi Trev, I would be interested in seeing the circuit diagarm for your custom PCB if possible.

Good luck with your move, sounds ilke you are in the same boat as me, although I moved out 6 months ago and still not in my new house. Yellowbox storage are charging me a fortune. Yep, I read your thread from start to finish last night.

Cheers
Dave.