After issue where hitting the E stop did not kill the spindle I stopped trusting this signal wire bs.
I realize its functionally baked into the firmware so necessary but calling it a e-stop is a liability and not a thoroughly thought out design.
I my case i need to kill steppers and 220v spindle, and steppers, I donât feel like dealing with the wiring of just killing the steppers load side (Sienci, is this addressable?) so the whole slb has to go.
So now to go hunt a estop with at least 3 legs to kill both slb+spindle.
I do this mainly with a light switch in my office. It kills all power to the controller and router, leaving the pc at the machine working. I once wished I had better safety in place because the machine went into bezerk mode and I did no longer feel like approuching it to engage the e-button that would only kill the movement, not the router. After that incident I only did laser jobs untill I had rewired the complete machine on itâs own switchable power supply with multiple switches in any direction I would like to dive away from the machine.
I call them the way out switches.
So yeah, you are absolutely right, a beast like the altmill (or any mill tossing around a metal bit at xk rpm) needs a failsafe, foolproof way to be instantly stopped in itâs tracks and that will kill no matter what.
I think the way you have it is the best way. We should all probably ask ourselves âHow would I stop my mill if I was afraid to go near it and how long would it take?â.
Why sienci calls the setup an estop is hard to fathom the only resemblance to an estop is it is red. I looked at this a couple or three years ago on my longmil and ended up wiring in an allen bradley estop on the power in side similar to spamming Eddie. Though not a perfect solution it does kill everything. It is an area that sienci should really address if only for the liability issue they leave themselves open to.
I ended up due to startup sequencing requirements using two switches. (VFD before SLB) This also isolates my VFD 220V and the SLB-EXT 120V from each other. Used the hole in the leg just next to where I currently have the E-Stop switch located on the front of the machine. Not quite as fast as a single E-Stop switch but so far it works well for power up and total shutting down of the machine.
I like that two power switch setup. Very nice. Iâve been reaching around the SLB and using that little toggle switch. Itâs a pain.
I was thinking about using only the 220v circuit to power the SLB and the spindle. Like how an oven has 110v circuits and 220v circuits. Then an estop could be put on the 220v supply.
I really like the idea of having a true e-stop. I hope this is addressed in the future. I do use something some people might cringe at but it makes me feel better on having some remote control over my shop. I installed a few remote 120v 15amp switches controlled by my Iphone on every plug. I can start/stop everything from the vacuums to my chargers. It helps when I have a thunderstorm and I am not at my shop. I can disconnect the loads preventing brownouts hurting my equipment. I also have some TAPO cameras from Amazon in my shop so I can monitor everything. Here is where @Chucky_ott is going to slap my hand and say âDonât ever walk away from your machine!â and he would be right. =)
I hate to burst your bubble but any power surge due to a lightening strike that is capable of damaging equipment will kill both the smart plug and anything that is plugged into said smart plug.
Turning off the smart plug is nothing like physically pulling the power plug if you are worried about surges on the power line.
Yes true, I was referring to brownouts. But for surges I have everything on surge protectors also. I live in the lighting capital of the worldâŠFlorida =)
Oh yeah, and hurricanes. But it is true, nothing is better than just plain unplugging.
The face plate, and the box I designed and 3D printed in my shop. The metal plate on the back I milled out the slot for light switch with a hole saw because I was not able to find a dual cover that would support 110V and 220V outlets side by side. The switches I sourced out of Lowes and ended up removing their neon lights and bias resistors because they were not rated for 220V but the contacts were. Go figure! I removed the 110Volt switchâs light as well so the look would be the same between the two switches and didnât have that flickering effect that neon lamps have. The rest of the hardware are standard screws and two cord strain reliefs.
I like your switch setup as well. I thought that maybe it was 3D printed but I wasnât sure because of the textured look. Is the textured look because of the build plate or is it the top side with a special pattern or fuzzy skin?
I just finished a power control switch panel for my 4x4 2.2kw AltMill. The input chord is a 20amp 4 conductor twist-lock that breaks out into one-240v outlet for the spindle VFD and three-120v outlets for the SLB, Computer, and future laser (Power load is balanced across 240v legs). Lighted rocker switches control each circuit. I built this using a NEMA 8x8x4 enclosure. The cutouts and screw holes were milled on my AltMill using 1/8" end mill designed for cutting steel (Amana #51674). The engraving used a 60deg V-Bit.
Its a texture on the switch insert side. The obverse side was on the build plate. There is a small step on the back side and on the front of the electrical box so it would sit flush and not rotate in the legs hole.
Looks like a great setup and control. I like the fact that your leads are long enough that you could easily put common and differential chokes on some of your high noise producing loads!
