Denford Software & Machines

Got my V3 Microrouter fully upgraded down in Halifax in March of this year. As I have been a bit busy since and also waiting for a T slot table to be made in Germany, I haven't switched it on since. Boots up ok but its not working. The router doesn't home properly and when I click on home (VR5 milling) the Z axis keeps on increasing on the panel but the router itself doesn't actually move. I know it was working when I left Denford as Martin had it running ok, but I cant work out whats wrong now. I have since upgraded the VR5 Milling software by downloading it from the Denford website and wonder if I have just failed to get the correct boxes all ticked off. I actually want to run it on an older laptop running Win XP 32 bit as opposed to the newer Win 7 laptop I took down to Yorkshire. Both laptops have been upgraded to the latest version of VR5 and neither of them will get the router working properly. Is there maybe a lead or socket possibly come loose on the way home in the back of the van or something similar.

Mike

Hi Mike

Can you home any of the axis??

Can you check if it has a ribbon cable with the step & direction coming fron the control card to the drives. If it does try re seating the IDC plug on the control card.

Hi Main
The router doesn't move on any of the axis physically, on on VR Milling 5. The movement on there keeps going up till there is a timeout message appearing.
I cant see any ribbon cable and I am not sure what an IDC plug is. I have checked every plug visible to me to sure it is secure and I didn't find any not attached/inserted loosely. I took some photos of the inside to let you see what I have. Thanks for your help.

Mike

Check the fuses as shown.

Just checked the fuses. The fuse on the top board is blown! Hopefully replacing it will cure all the problems ok.

Thanks

Mike

Hi Martin
The fuse in the top photo is the one that has blown. The technician in the workshop door has checked everything and reckons the two bridge rectifiers on either side of it could be on their way out. He is away till Friday and has asked if I can take the board out in order for him to replace them. Does this sound right to you or could there be something else wrong instead?

Mike

Hi,

It would be very unlikely for the rectifiers to be the problem.

Most likely one of the stepper driver chips.

Have you done anything with the machine itself? To damage a chip it would take a short circuit from one of the motor wires to ground.

Check the 3 L297 and L298 chips for damage. These drive each axis. If any axis is shorting to ground then these chips will be damaged. You could test by measuring from each motor wire to earth to see if there is a problem.

This is the first time I have tried to use it since it got upgraded in the end of March. I will ask the next door technician to check it out as it is getting a bit complicated for me. If it doesn't look like a bit of wood it is beyond my pay grade generally!

Mike

We have checked the boards and the bottom L298 is knackered as can be seen on the photo. We havent had the board out to check if anything else is blown or whether this has caused the fuse to blow. Dont know if one component can stop all the steppers from working.
What would be the best way forward. Can a replacement board be purchased from Denford or elsewhere.

Mike

Well its been a we while but at last my machine is up and running. The fault turned out to be several components and some blown tracks. As my technician has never worked on the machine before, no circuit diagrams available, living 20 miles away and being very busy all contributed to the delay.
Needless to say I am very happy and looking forward to playing with it next week when I have a bit more time.
Thanks everyone for your help.

Mike