2 pin connector next to incoming power

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1

What is the 2 pin connector next to the incoming power on the controller for? I couldn’t find any label for it.

2

It’s just a 12V output you can use for adding lights or a fan. Just an optional thing.

3

Nice! Constant or soft/hard switched somehow?

-Jeff

4

Some of the board components take the incoming 24V power and switch it down to 12V

5

Ah, my apology for the ambiguity. Two people divided by a common language. :slight_smile: I was asking if the 12v power port is soft or hard switched or if it is always outputting 12V if the controller is on. Was wondering how to take advantage of it.

-Jeff

6

It’s a constant power source, providing power as long as the controller is on :+1:

7

Ok, so if you want a physical switch then add it. Adding a soft controlled switch would be a bit more complex downstream. Would there happen to be any facility in the circuit design to add a soft switch on that line in the firmware? Is the power step down/control chip able to do that on that line?

-Jeff

8

It would certainly be possible. Right now the controllable outputs are:

  • 0-5V PWM for spindle control
  • 5V On/off for spindle direction control (or whatever else you like)
  • 5V On/off for coolant control (or whatever else you like)

So you could use any of these for any other purpose, just bear in mind they’re relatively low current outputs. If you choose to use one to control the 12V output via a relay, then I think it would work.

9

Sneaky. I like it. :slight_smile: And those are all controlled from GCode so you could even add the customization to the post processor so it is always in the workflow. Sweet.

I don’t recall from his video, is the coolant control what @andy used for the laser on/off control?

-Jeff

1 Like
10

Andy was using the Spindle PWM output. It went into the laser control module to decide the lasers intensity