Dead z Axis and a workaround

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minimad30
CNC Apprentice
CNC Apprentice
Posts: 37
Joined: Mon 05 Aug , 2013 12:28 pm

Dead z Axis and a workaround

Post by minimad30 » Wed 09 Dec , 2015 12:12 pm

Hi,

I have recently purchased a pair of Denford microrouters, a microrouter and a microrouter compact.
No issues with the larger machine but I bought the second one knowing it would need repair. The main issue was what happened to the machine when the previous owner had it. The z axis cables became frayed at the motor and shorted out, he told me that the motor died and the on-board driver bit the dust as well.
The previous owner has discussed this with Bradders but I can’t see anything online regarding the tests that were performed on the machine. There appears to be voltage getting to the z axis pins on the board but I dare not connect it to a motor In case something happens to the remaining drivers.
I am now in the situation where I am one axis short. I have temporarily installed a 24v PSU and borrowed a stepper driver from my stash to see if I could get the Z working using the secondary step direction pins on the board. Thank you DENFORD for those!
I now have movement on the Z but I have no idea what settings I should be using for the stepper driver. When I disabled micro stepping off on my 5045 driver it just wouldn’t move. Set it to 8 steps and it moves nicely. Would it be acceptable to just leave it on 8 micro steps?
The main question is what amperage does the standard Baldor system put out to the motors? If I can just install a small low current driver it would be better than sacrificing one of my 4.5A Drivers.
Also does anyone know what the aux z inputs are for?
Thanks,
Chris

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