Novamill - using Spindle Controller with Mach 3

[ManxAnts]

I am in the process of converting a Novamill to Mach 3. I have the machine and the electronics, and am trying to preserve as much as possible. I have removed the Denstep board from the Baldor F391 board. I have bought a System1v2 board (DIYCNC) for the Stepper control, using the 96 way connector on the Baldor board, and now (after using an independent PSU) have control of the X, Y and Z axis - great.

I have the System4 Spindle control board (update from v3 board) that fits into the System1v2 board, which gives me a 0 - 10v output, and as it is optically isolated, can deal with the real voltages (or so I believe). I have disconnected the red and blue (10v & 0v) connections on the Baldor board, and connected these to the System4 spindle controller. These connect to the Sprint 400 Controller on connections 2 and 3 (Min & I/P). However, I get nothing on the spindle.

I am not sure whether there is a lock on the Sprint 400 board (having poured over the electrical diagrams from the site for the Sprint 400 spindle control board that comes with the Novamill), it appears that there may be a RUN enable on the board, - wire 78 (J7 - 2 on the Baldor board), which connects to the SGR and then to the Run (connector 5 on the Sprint), and what to do with the Comm (connector 4 on the Sprint) which runs through the Guard Relay (GR), then through the SGR back to 24v. I don't know whether I can just ignore this, whether I need to set it to GND or to 24v.

I also am unsure whether I should be using Step / Dir from the control board on Mach3 for the Spindle control, or if PWM I have no idea of the settings. Advice from DIYCNC is that I use Step / Dir, but I am seeing other info on the site which suggests I will need PWM.

I don't really want to introduce another controller for the Spindle if I can get the Sprint working.

Any input or advice would be most welcome.

Thanks

After further checking on the various posts, I came across Peter Healey's most helpful info on his conversion to Mach3. It gave additional pinouts for the 96way connector onto the Baldor Board. After some checking, I was able to get the spindle working, by using his info, and making various setup changes in the MACH3 setup. I now have a working spindle with variable speed, and x, y and z axis movement.

[Denford Admin]

Glad you got it all working!
Here is Peter's post, in case anyone else is searching...
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=3184