Advice on upgrading smartstep/3 controller
Posted: Wed 04 Jul , 2012 10:08 am
Hi All,
Further to my post in the machine section,
I have an early model (97) Novamill / Smartstep3 Controlled that I'm having some issues with,
The machine was working fine then suddenly developed a fault on the X- and Z- axis's which is causing an error message *Control Communications* to be displayed,
I'm not having any luck trying to resolve this issue so I'm now considering upgrading to usb / ethernet (mach3) and wondering what I would need to carry out such a conversion, I would like to use as much of the original electronics as possible and I'm hoping I can simply remove the control board from the smartstep/3 driver board and replace it with something like the smartstepper board, (I say smartstepper only because a local CNC retailer has these boards in stock) this of coarse is assuming that the driver board is not at fault in the first place...
A brief description of the problem and what I've tried so far,
If I attempt to Jog continuous I noticed that the axis readout only appears to be working in the + direction now and will only display *-------* whilst trying to jog continuous in the - direction on either of the X or Z axis's, Y axis is still reading / working normally in both directions, Jog Step works fine on all axis the problem only accures if using jog continuous - or I attempt to run a code,
The machine still boots up and homes fine, the control board reads *H* whilst it's homing followed by an *8* as it normally does,
Just to mention repeated resetting of the error eventually makes the machine work normally again but it only works for a few minutes before it reverts back to the error message,
I suspected it was most likely going to be a connection / wiring issue so I carried out a continuity test on the rs232 cable pins, I also tried a direct cable link between control board and pc port just to prove to myself and double confirm it wasn't the issue, I've tried using a different pc, however this was xp based and i had to install an additional serial port card, running from a dos screen in xp fanucmd.exe found mint and connected first time (i was surprised) but it made no difference and the axis problem remained the same, I've removed the control board and used a hot air gun to re-heat all the solder as it was looking a little oxidised, this has made no difference either so starting to think it maybe a fault on the board itself...
Not being that clued up on the electronic side of things I'm hoping someone can help with suggestions on the best way forward with this?
Further to my post in the machine section,
I have an early model (97) Novamill / Smartstep3 Controlled that I'm having some issues with,
The machine was working fine then suddenly developed a fault on the X- and Z- axis's which is causing an error message *Control Communications* to be displayed,
I'm not having any luck trying to resolve this issue so I'm now considering upgrading to usb / ethernet (mach3) and wondering what I would need to carry out such a conversion, I would like to use as much of the original electronics as possible and I'm hoping I can simply remove the control board from the smartstep/3 driver board and replace it with something like the smartstepper board, (I say smartstepper only because a local CNC retailer has these boards in stock) this of coarse is assuming that the driver board is not at fault in the first place...
A brief description of the problem and what I've tried so far,
If I attempt to Jog continuous I noticed that the axis readout only appears to be working in the + direction now and will only display *-------* whilst trying to jog continuous in the - direction on either of the X or Z axis's, Y axis is still reading / working normally in both directions, Jog Step works fine on all axis the problem only accures if using jog continuous - or I attempt to run a code,
The machine still boots up and homes fine, the control board reads *H* whilst it's homing followed by an *8* as it normally does,
Just to mention repeated resetting of the error eventually makes the machine work normally again but it only works for a few minutes before it reverts back to the error message,
I suspected it was most likely going to be a connection / wiring issue so I carried out a continuity test on the rs232 cable pins, I also tried a direct cable link between control board and pc port just to prove to myself and double confirm it wasn't the issue, I've tried using a different pc, however this was xp based and i had to install an additional serial port card, running from a dos screen in xp fanucmd.exe found mint and connected first time (i was surprised) but it made no difference and the axis problem remained the same, I've removed the control board and used a hot air gun to re-heat all the solder as it was looking a little oxidised, this has made no difference either so starting to think it maybe a fault on the board itself...
Not being that clued up on the electronic side of things I'm hoping someone can help with suggestions on the best way forward with this?