I'm looking to replace an xPro V3 with a BB, and have a wiring question. On the xPro, I was using the 5V out from the coolant pin to drive a 500ma spotting laser and was taggling with M8/9.
The obvious replacement on the BB would be to use the 5V relay, but I wanted to use that to drive one of the new IoT relay switches. Looking at the new coolant output, it is marked now as 24V, so I don't think it will work for my 5V laser, but I don't see anything in the docs on it.
Suggestions?

 

I have set the jumper on my BlackBox to use 24v limit switches (proximity).
Does this mean the controller will now accept a 24v trigger signal? Or do I need to add a resistor to drop that down?

Thanks

 

Excellent!

The only other connections I need to resolve are to my VFD.
From the Toolhead output, the GRD goes to COM, 0-10v to VL1. I gather DIR toggles reverse. However I am a little unsure what the PWM does exactly.

Any pointers?

 

I’ll let you know how I get on.
Thanks

 

I don’t even know where it is!!

 

any ideas why the relay isn't working?

I am trying to use it as the spindle on/off trigger for my VFD. It just needs to close two wires which I have tested manually on the VFD side so I know it should work. I have set the jumper to respond to M3/M4 codes, but nothing.

 

thanks Peter,

I'll check those points. I must say I am having trouble troubleshooting this as the USB connection to the Blackbox seems to time out. From then on, the only USB port to connect to are the /dev/cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port.

Only a restart of my machine restores it.

[macOS 10.13.6, GRBL v1.0.158]

 

I finally got my BlackBox today and it looks good in the special edition case. My old cnc xPRO v3 started to not go up in the z axis every so often so it ruined a few end mills and material. I am excited to finally get this up and running.

 

Ok, so I finally got imy VFD/Spindle setup sorted. The picture attached says it all I think, but here are some words to go along with it...

Some disclaimers first. I am based in the UK, which has 220V 50hz, single phase. I am using a 400hz 2.2kw 3phase spindle. To drive it I am using a 3hp VFD [model YL620-A].

The spindle I purchased did not have a Protected Earth installed. However it did come with a 4 pin plug. So I used the unallocated pin as PE. I opened the top of the spindle to reveal the internal wires, soldered a short wire to the pin of the female connector, and a ring connector to the other end of the wire. The ring connector needs to fit a M3 bolt. To connect it to the spindle body, I swapped one of the M3 bolts connecting the female socket with a longer one. This gave me extra thread to screw a nut down onto the ring connector. Then closed up the spindle top.
[See picture below]

Power cable in the UK has 3 wires: neutral [blue], live [brown], earth [yellow/green]

Naturally, I connected neutral to N, live to L on the VFD. Earth, I connected to PE.

Of the 4 spindle wires, the new ground wire I added, goes to PE also. The other 3 wires go to U, V, & W in any order. Swap any two of the 3 wires if the spindles turns the wrong way.

I have noticed many are using shielded spindle cable. If so, the shielding should also be earthed.

On my VFD, the control terminals [FWD & REV] need a switch between themselves and the XGND terminal. I used the Blackbox’s Relay output as a switch to FWD & XGND. To switch REV & XGND, used a separate 12v relay, using the DIR output from the Blackbox as a trigger.

The settings programmed on the VFD are:

Start/Stop Control Source
P00.01 = 1
[external controller, with panel STOP button still effective.

Start/Stop Control Mode
P00.16 = 1
[start/stop control M3/M5. FWD terminal to XGND, open = OFF, closed = ON]
[spindle soon direction M3. REV terminal to XGND, open = Forward, closed = Reverse] see diagram below.

Frequency Source
P07.08 = 3
[anolog input - ie. 0-10V from Blackbox]


The Blackbox settings are:
Set Relay Jumper to use M3/M5 commands.

Essentially, sending an M3 command along with an Sxxx command, will start the spindle. If you then wish to reverse the direction of the spindle, an M4 command will do that. Sending an M5 command will stop it. The STOP button on the front panel will also work in this setup.

 

Go for it!

 

Ordered at 1:03 PM PST, shipped at 1:45 PM! Looking forward to getting mine!

 

How do I set the BB to auto-halt on stepper failure? I remember reading you could set it to stop, pause, or continue, and I don't see that in the docs anywhere now.

 

Hey all.... Got mine put together and hooked up to the 24v power source and the fan isn't on like in the video. Should the fan be on all the time? The fan on my power source isn't running either.

Edit, after looking through things and videos I'm realizing that the power light on the 24v source is on but when I plug in the lead wire to the blackbox the red LED doesn't come on like in the build video.