Michael, it sure wasn’t me but @Gwiki Grant is the one to get all the credit hoping it works.
Bill
First Many Thanks to @Gwiki, if not for Grant I would still be stumped. After turning the pot up for the X Axis stepper motor voltage just to match all the others it is carving fine as I type. I intend to monitor the temperature of the X Axis motor. Also curious if other have machines that play harmonics especially when it jogging diagonal during a carve?
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NOT FIXED going to order the board.
Failed on the top row and started carving over letters. At least it was better, X motor is getting warmer than others.
When my machine cuts circles it goes “doh ray me fa so la to doh to la so fa me ray doh” and I like it!
Sorry to hear that adjusting the potentiometer did not fix it for you. At least you are on the right track now, fingers crossed. I have never opened my control box and I was surprised to see that the stepper drivers are built into the board. Granted, my only other experience is with a 3D printer where they were removable. I’m sure that Sienci has there reasons but it kind of stinks to have to buy the whole board IMHO. If I may ask, how long have you had your LongMill? Just curious, not that a sample of one will tell me if/when mine may break.
Hi michael, i have had my longmill since mid 2020.
I’m not sure where to go from here.
Bill
Yeah, it stinks to have to buy a new controller shortly after they announce that they are working on a better one as stated here in the looking forward section.
Not sure if you are interested in adding a rotary but if you are maybe now is the time to look into upgrading the board? Not that I know what the options are there beyond what I’ve read here on the forum. I like the setup that @AndyCXL has here and would like to do similar on my LongMill if it’s ever in my budget.
The controller itself needn’t be that expensive - depending on what sort of stepper driver you want to use. Basing your machine on ‘Pololu’ style drivers (look them up, also known as Step-Sticks) means you can have a 4 or 5 channel controller complete with all drivers for under $50 (Atmel/Arduino style processor, like the original GRBL always has been). My choice was to move to the new GRBL/HAL software because it supports 6 axes natively, and can run on faster processors - I chose the Teensy4.1 controller and it plugs into a ‘break-out board’ so-called to give the wiring and isolation features needed. This configuration doesn’t have the stepper drivers pre-installed, but does provide the control signals to drive external ‘mini-brick’ drivers which offer more voltage/power/torque depending on wants or budget. All in my new controller was circa $30 for the Teensy, $40 for the break-out board, and $30 each for the stepper driver bricks (5 in total). Made an enclosure, added fans for forced-air cooling and then wired it all up to my machine.
Very happy with the outcome, plus it gave the inbuilt and natural ability to drive my Rotary axis and offer neat features like rotary axis limit/homing, outputs to control coolant, vacuum, lights etc.
I can snap my controller setup, and give an item list if that is wanted - might take a few days
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Teensy 4.1 module is $20 -Amazon or similar
Break out board it sits in (from Phil Barrett, a GRBL guru). This board does not support Step-Stick style Stepper drivers, only external. Around $40 -Direct from PB
Driver ‘bricks’ is a wide choice and will depend on how much torque you want/expect
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Pololu/Step-Stick modules, I favour TCM2209 or TCM2208 ‘silent, Trinamic’. These only plug in to Break Out boards designed for them, most 3D printer boards and lower-end boards with Atmel 8-bit or 32-bit processors -$9/ea various sources
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‘Mini Brick’ external drivers, I favour the digital control models and picked DM3230. Your break-out board has to support external drivers to be able to use these -$18/ea various sources
If you choose to avoid GRBL 1.1 on ‘standard’ Atmel processors/combi boards, you will have to be familiar with how to configure and how to upload/install the GRBL-HAL firmware onto it. If that’s your thing it isn’t too difficult, but if it’s not your thing it might be an insurmountable barrier
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Hi Andy,
I actually had been looking on Amazon for alternatives, it is to bad the drivers are hard mounted to the board so no individual replacement. Guess it makes sense from the manufacturing/production perspective.
Thanks for the info.
Bill
@Bill Yes, whether it is Sienci or Carbide3D or Black Box, they all hit two conundrums in their machine design when it comes to the Controller PCB: Firstly is cost, and placing the driver chip of choice directly onto their own board could well be the cheapest (unsure of the exact economics here, but it sounds plausible as a reason), and secondly: support complexity to avoid ‘I changed the step-stick module for one of these and now it doesn’t work’ issues. All entirely understandable for a product at the lower end of the cost spectrum.
However, for all that, a keen maker/hobbyist/tinkerer can change the Controller PCB and add the features or spec they want and not fundamentally break the machine. So all in all I think these desktop machine makers have actually hit the sweet spot between supporting both the user and the tinkerer equally.
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Hi Andy,
First thanks for the education, some of your original post went right over my head. What it did do was prompt me to learn, been on YouTube and google since you responded.
I was confident I could change things out but decided to just buy a new board from Sienci due to a couple of factors. Cost, yes the boards and drivers are not costly, but by the time I replace the power supply, all the connectors, plus such a change would cancel Sienci support which has been good in the past but really let me down this time. I am very concerned with reliability and consistency., so if I could benifet from your suggestions I may still be forced to give it a go.
Bill
@Bill Bill, you will have to ask yourself three questions before you embark on a ‘controller transplant’ such as I have described;
- Do you feel comfortable with re-making connections, changing connectors, swapping out power bricks (or re-terminating them) etc
- Do you have any experience in using the Arduino.cc software, which you will need to open, set configuration settings (eg: how many axes, etc), compiling and then uploading the resulting code into the microcontroller. The GRBL-HAL software is ‘moderately complex’, but you only have to open and edit one or two files out of the 40-50 in total - there are instructions of a sort, but intuition and reading the notes in the Config files is necessary, plus some ‘I need to be 100% sure what that means’ research on the internet/forums
- Once up and running, you might find that one axis runs backwards, or the distance calibration is out (you ask for 10" travel but get say 8" actual), and the remedy requires a bit of logical thinking followed by amending the $$ settings in the controller by typing in new values through the console tab of gSender. This can be a somewhat iterative process, but it is very logical
If the answer to these is no, then this may be a very testing and frustrating transplant and you should think long and hard before abandoning the LongBoard controller
Andy,
I build tube amps as a hobby, I am a retired Senior Systems engineer from Raytheon, ran the training department for the Patriot Missile system for 21 years.
Bullet 1: Yes
Bullet 2: No
Bullet 3: Probably
How I plan to Transition is a step at a time, Like I said I did order a new controller, once that machine is back to carving, my wife is stacking up projects, I will begin purchasing the components required for the changeover. My plan includes replacing all the wiring and relocating the new components, during the process my hope is to be able to change it back and forth.
I just want a system that is more reliable and less gremlins to haunt me.
Thanks again Andy for your time,
Bill
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@Bill Of the 3 bullet points, the easiest two are 1 and 3. Overcoming the lack of familiarity with Microcontrollers is going to be a challenge - you might find a (state-side) help who could program a unit for you, but I am across the Atlantic in EU and unlikely to be able to help…
But the desire to overcome obstacles is what makes an Engineer. If you want to overcome them, I am sure you will be able to - same story here, I learned Microcontrollers with a few Arduino projects and tuned in to what they are all about, how to code them etc - and this learning translated directly to the Teensy4.1 programming.
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Thanks for the direction, at this time of life I will probably go the route of less resistance. Thank you for your help. I
My end goal is a more reliable machine.
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My hat’s off to you for even considering it. I’m not intimidated by much, but you’re willing to dive into a pretty murky pool there. I know enough to know that I don’t have it in me! I reckon it makes a difference that it’s at least in your loose area of education. My BS is bio based and my post grad is administrative. My practical experience is all mechanical so I have no basis to work from. I really envy those of you that can dig into the electronic piece!
@CncJim , I guess I like to tinker, When the new board arrives I do need to adjust the pots properly. If all works well I may choose to carve
New board came in, sienci is prompt on shipping. Uploaded the right firmware, did a test carve and success.
Maybe the answer.
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Another carve
Things I’ve learned, it’s not always you. I learned a ton of information from you all.
Things do fail, no idea why. I was always of the mindset in electronics either are go or no go but apparantly there is an element in between.
If you ever need to install the firmware know you may need to adjust/change direction of the different Axis. I had to do this on Z Axis & X Axis and it’s nothing more than slider switchesto do what you want.
It’s all about learning !
Don’t know how to thank all that helped me through this dilemma.
I will just use this setup until I start moving towards a more discrette setup to include replaceable stepper drivers.
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As this issue appears to have been resolved by the installation of a new controller, and as the OP has started a new thread to continue to conversation, I am closing this thread.
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