Please help troubleshoot problems on PM-45M CNC

qualitymachinetools said:
I HIGHLY recommend replacing that board with a Centroid Acorn or a Masso or something like that. Things have come a long way in the years since that 45-CNC mill was made, your life will be a lot easier if you upgrade and these boards are not that expensive.
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This machine was made in 2016. Have the boards come that far in +-5 years?
 
B2 said:
If you have not done so look up the Delta VFD manual to find out the meaning of the code PTC1. This is probably important as it may mean there is a missing code parameter that the VFD may want to have.

Anyway, in "a" Delta manual I found on line I searched one PTC1 and found a code corresponding to "34: Motor PTC overheat protection", which appears to be a code not an error..... not that it means your machine is over heated. There is also a resistor called the Rptc1 which, at first glance, appears to be used to measure the temperature of the VFD or the motor to provide some protection? Maybe the VFD needs be programed with the specific value?

If you have not found the model number for the Delta VFD you have I suggest you look at the side of it. Mine was hard to see as it was installed tight against the case and so not easily visible. I finally got it by using my phone camera. It fit where my head would not!!! Once, you have the vfd model you can download the manual and search on the code.

Anyway, Where did you get this machine? I do not see a PM 45 CNC on the PM web site? Do you have a full view of the machine so that one can see it?

I have a PM940M CNC that I purchased from PM before they stopped offering CNC machines. It also has a Delta VFD in it and I have it running on Mach3. So it all sounds very similar. However, since I do not know if it is the same model as yours we cannot count on everything being exactly the same. So I helped another person (@Sal_the_man and @chocadile) who had a Pm940M CNC get his machine running and in doing so I posted a bunch of pictures of the Mach3 settings. You can search on their user names. I provided a lot of pictures of how Mach3 is set up as well as the Mach3 setup profile that came with my machine. So rather than my wading into all of your pictures maybe you could just look at the ones I and others posted for them. It is a long thread, but the info is in there. https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/pm-940m-cnc-pre-assembled.49011/page-14#post-646267

Since you have the soft pendant (software "MPG" mode) working it means that the UBS communication is working. I can sort of see, in one of your photos, that your hard ware pendant maybe the same as my own. If it works to move the xyz steppers and the xyz values in the Mach3 display are changing at the same time then it is communicating back to Mach3. It is connected to the Nmotion and telling the Nmotion how to run the steppers and at the same time telling Mach3 what has happened. It does this so that the tool position does not get lost.

If you found reasonable documentation for the nmotion controller please share it. I have the nmotion controller, but the doumentation I have is very poor and a lot of it is in Chinese. Maybe yours is better than mine!? Thanks

Dave
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THANK YOU!! That is perfect.

The electric box in his machine looks EXACTLY like mine! HUGE Jumpstart! I'll go through that and update this thread once I figure out the next steps.
 
rmantoo said:
This machine was made in 2016. Have the boards come that far in +-5 years?
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Probably yes. I was just telling one of the users at work to replace their 2016 computer.

I also helped with a Centroid upgrade on one of the CNC machines there. Good stuff.

If you can make what you have work that’s great but since you’re just getting going with it you may be miles ahead to upgrade. The advice did come from the manufacturer after all.

If you want the definitive word just ask @JimDawson

John
 
So, I purchased/took delivery of my PM940M CNC in late 2017. It came with the Nmotion controller and a recommendation for using the Mach3. In the posting I gave you the link to was a file containing the original setup profile that came on a USB drive with my mill. It maybe similar for yours if you want to try it. You'll find the software attachment at: See post 138 of https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/pm-940m-cnc-pre-assembled.49011/page-14#post-646267
B2 said:
Hi Hi Sal_the_man,

Great set of pictures of the wiring. Thanks. My 940M is very similar, but as I noted the layout of the nMotion is different. Your nMotion mount with the Pendant cable connector firmly screwed to the cabinet is an improvement over mine. It is not clear how your USB cable enters the cabinet, but I assume that there is a mechanical holder for it as well. Of course I had punch and drill some new holes in my cabinet for the reoriented wires and to move all of my wire feeds around when I mounted the box on the right side of my vertical post. With the cabinet rotation the doors now face toward the front and I can push the mill closer to the back wall. I also mounted my light on the left side of the post. The doors now have a clearance problem with the big vertical limit switches, but this is something I can fix with time.

I will attach the .XML file and the .dll file that came with my Mill from the factory on a USB jump drive. However, the forum will not allow me to attach a file with a .xlm or .dll extension. So I will change the extensions to .doc and you can change it back after you down load it. Of course if you try to open the .dll file with Word or a text editior does not work as it is a bin file. This is the first time I have tried to upload any file other than an image so well will see.

There was also a minor set of instructions for their installation.
"
Pls copy file "nMotion.dll" to "Mach3\PlugIns" after mach3 software installed.
And the "mach3mill.xml" is the configuration file of mach3 sofeware you can copy it to "mach3\" (the mach3 install directory).
"
As you work on your machine please see if your mechanical E-Stop is wired Normally Open (NO) or Normally Closed (NC). The mine is, and PZ's (Phazertwo) was wired NO. Hence throwing the E-stop switch takes the input, Pin 16 to to ground to activate the stop. This is not good (not safe) since the wires from the switch to the ground or the sense wire to pin 16 could come loose or break and E-stop would not function. The proper way to do this would be that that the nMotion require the swich be NC for the machine to run. That way a wire break would shut the machine down. Anyway, in the Mach3 settings there is a place where one can choose E-stop logic active low so maybe unchecking this box will call for an active high signal. What not clear is if the nMotion would work with this reversal setting!
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Lots of folks use Mach3 in lots of machines ... and still do so. This is probably because it works but mostly because it is inexpensive. I have watched several other post where people were converting to Acorn. Some without even giving the Mach3 a try.

I do not seem to have problems with my Mach3 so have never tried the Acorn controller, software, nor the drives that they suggest. My feeling is that once you get it working it is fine. By the way they had Mach4 even when I purchased Mach3 and it probably is much better written than Mach3. https://www.machsupport.com/software/mach4/ So while Mach3 is still being sold it is not clear to me that there is anything fundamentally wrong with it. It is my understanding that Mach4 was a rewrite from the ground up using a different compiler. More features probably with Mach4. One of them is the documentation of variables and variable parameter locations. If you have not tried to use these then it is not a problem for you anyway.

Anyway, it could very well be that the VFD code that is showing is the real problem as to why the Mach3 is not sending signals to the machine. Guess that the VFD says to the Nmotion controller, "I am not ready!". Then the Nmotion controller does not want to get the signals from Mach3 so says "I will reject the incoming signals". They talk back and forth and if the VFD is not set up correctly then the Mach3 may not choose to send the all of the signals or they may be just bouncing back. Who knows for sure....software....

By the way, I posted a picture of my PM940M CNC after I got it into my shop. I made some changes. I put it on casters so I could move it around. However, while I run it I use blocks. I moved the BIG electronics cabinet to the right hand side of the column. It sort of hangs out there, but does not seem to be a problem. This way I could push the machine back against the wall and still have access to the cabinet, but now from the front. See post #7 of /https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/pm-940m-cnc-z-axis-bearings.59538/#post-608202

Dave
 
Just a minor although to me, it feels like a major, eureka moment: I got the spindle to spin!

It is going backwards at the moment… But at least I know that the VFD is working and the spindle will work so I definitely have two-way communication between the PC and the controller.

B2, Thank you so much! It was looking through the posts in the thread that you link to that I basically copied all those parameters in the config and it worked.

I also ran a short line of Goode just x and y movement and the table is moving too!!
 
And NOW I have positive, correct rotation, control of the spindle, AND the table... looks like I'm in BUSINESS (well, business as defined as my mill is working using Mach 3 controls).

THANK YOU!!

I'll post a video of first chips when it happens, hopefully today.
 
@rmantoo

Glad I could be of help and glad to hear that all appears to be working. Did you ever make any sense out of the PCT1 VFD code?

Don't forget to "pay the favor forward."

Dave L.
 
B2 said:
@rmantoo

Glad I could be of help and glad to hear that all appears to be working. Did you ever make any sense out of the PCT1 VFD code?

Don't forget to "pay the favor forward."

Dave L.
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I reset the vfd to factory defaults, then changed those settings to the specs my brother and I figured out… the code hasn’t reappeared… but I’m obviously lacking something, because the spindle speed appears to static, regardless of what I set it to in Mach 3. Whether I do it by the control panel, or gcode, the spindle speed doesn't change...

I'm going to go through the VFD parameter book late tonight. I didn't get to do anything more with the mill after I got it all moving, so hopefully tomorrow I"ll have some time to dive into it.

I will definitely try to pay it forward. This forum is a huge help!
 
Sure sounds like everything is working. Just getting the settings right is always an issue. It does not matter what control system you have.

On my setup the VFD speed is controlled via the nmotion by applying a DC voltage ranging from 0 to 10 volts to the VFD speed control input. I suspect that yours is the same. In the VFD parameters there will be a choice of how to control the speed. i.e. voltage source, current source, etc. The Nmotion has a digital to voltage converter in it which takes the digital info from Mach3 and puts out a voltage. So 0 volts would represent 0 speed. 10 volts would be maximum speed. If you connect a power supply to these VFD inputs rather than the Nmotion inputs you should be able to see if the VFD is responsive. If you do not have a DC power supply, or perhaps you want to be safe, just use a 9 volt battery as the Power supply. Then use a 1.5 volt battery (AAA) and see if you get two different speeds out of the VFD. With a battery having a ground issue will not be a problem. Don't for get to remove the Nmotion wires from the VFD before using the battery.
 
B2 said:
Sure sounds like everything is working. Just getting the settings right is always an issue. It does not matter what control system you have.

On my setup the VFD speed is controlled via the nmotion by applying a DC voltage ranging from 0 to 10 volts to the VFD speed control input. I suspect that yours is the same. In the VFD parameters there will be a choice of how to control the speed. i.e. voltage source, current source, etc. The Nmotion has a digital to voltage converter in it which takes the digital info from Mach3 and puts out a voltage. So 0 volts would represent 0 speed. 10 volts would be maximum speed. If you connect a power supply to these VFD inputs rather than the Nmotion inputs you should be able to see if the VFD is responsive. If you do not have a DC power supply, or perhaps you want to be safe, just use a 9 volt battery as the Power supply. Then use a 1.5 volt battery (AAA) and see if you get two different speeds out of the VFD. With a battery having a ground issue will not be a problem. Don't for get to remove the Nmotion wires from the VFD before using the battery.
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Thanks for that; I set the vfd parameter to take info as avi, not voltage. Pretty sure that’s my problem. When I get home in the morning I should have time to adjust it.
 
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