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C-Beam Machine XLarge

Discussion in 'CNC Mills/Routers' started by Moag, Jul 31, 2016.

  1. Adam Joseph

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    Did anyone have the y axis binding initially? When assembling the y axis actuators to the frame, and spinning the lead screws, there is a binding happening. I believe this is due to the set screw getting caught on the 8020 aluminum pieces at the front and back. Any direction here?
     
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  2. Josh B

    Josh B Well-Known
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    collar.jpg
    Adam, I experienced the same issue when I built mine. A solution that worked for me was to create a flat spot on the lead screw shaft where the locking collar attaches. Doing this will allow the collar set screw to go in further and clear the 8020. Hope this makes sense!

    Josh
     
    #452 Josh B, May 7, 2019
    Last edited: May 7, 2019
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  3. Metalguru

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    Probably your set screws are too long. You need a 5mm x 4 set screw, hard to find, but the OB store has them. Grinding the flat on the lead screw should work.

    MG
     
  4. Adam Joseph

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    So I have everything assembled now. The file idea worked great. No restrictions on my movement when doing it by hand. After downloading the software and trying to jog the machine, I found that my motors will not move. It seems like all of my axes are too tight. I followed the instructions for tightening the eccentric nuts. I can move all the lead screws by hand pretty easily. And I set up the control software as instructed from the black box documents. Any ideas what the issue could be here? I can't seem to find anything similar to this in the forum. Thanks in advance.
     

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  5. Josh B

    Josh B Well-Known
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    I don't think your motors are binding, sounds like a step issue. Increase your steps/mm, also double check all of your wiring to the steppers. Although, I have been wrong before!
     
  6. Metalguru

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    Can you post your GRBL settings here?

    MG
     
  7. Metalguru

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    Viewed the video, sounds like you have the motor wiring wrong. Either one coil is not connected properly, or the wires are mixed up.

    Make sure the coils are connected properly, and the same for all motors.

    And seriously, Romex for power wire?

    MG
     
  8. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    Agree, video sounds like swopped wires (1,3,2,4 instead of 1,2,3,4) or extremely low amperage (set current pots)
     
  9. Metalguru

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    Peter, does the black box use the Motor Enable output from GRBL? Does it reduce motor current when disabled?

    MG
     
  10. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    No reduction circuitry. Enable directly, we set $1=255 to disable the annoying "disable when not in use" in our profiles too... Keep 'em on all the time
     
  11. Metalguru

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    Does that not cause the motors to overheat? In my experience, they get hot as a firecracker when left on at 2.8A.

    MG
     
    #461 Metalguru, May 8, 2019
    Last edited by a moderator: May 10, 2019
  12. Adam Joseph

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    Here are some more pictures. The Romex was due to me not having any speaker wire on hand. It is now the recommended 18 gauge same as the open builds website power cord. The pictures show my wiring connections. It is the same for all four motors. I'm not sure I understand how these are wired wrong. I followed the instructions for the black box.
     

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  13. Metalguru

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    Check your motor wiring. I seem to remember that the High Torque motors use a different color code than the standard motors? Never go by wire color, always check. First time I wired up unfamiliar motors I blew 4 stepper drivers. Same color wires, different internal connections. Ouch!

    To check, rotate the motor by hand to get a feel for how hard it is to turn, May have to loosen the set screw on the lead screw. Now short any two wires together and try rotating the motor again. If the motor is much harder to turn, that means that the two shorted wires are the same coil. By elimination, the other two are the opposite coil. If not, try another pair of wires.

    One coil goes to A+, A- the other coil goes to B+, B-. Not sure how the black box is laid out, but the two A coil leads are next to each other on one side, the B coil wires are the other side. Don't worry about the + and -, the only thing that will change if you reverse them is the direction of rotation. You can fix that in the GRBL configuration. Wire all motors the exact same way.

    x.jpg
    MG
     
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  14. Adam Joseph

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    I will give this a shot tomorrow. Thanks for the advice.
     
  15. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    No, the "chinese board" way of adding a current reduction circuit is a falacy.
    Think of a typical job: Plunge, stay at same Z height, do some XY for a while... Current reduction would see no step on Z, and turn its current down. Then Z drops under own weight... Job ruined. Theres a reason the first fix on a chinese BlueBoard was to disable the current limiter (; back in the day.

    Also, setting current appropriately (max isnt always best) wont overheat motors. Motors run cooler while moving yes, but again, think of Z (or any other axis could have locked position for a while depending on the current work) - if you set current to not overheat while moving, those will overheat in the periods they are standing still.

    Do the right thing and setup current properly :) here in ZA we have 45degC summer days (; no datasheet value is going to survive that for example. Adapt to your environment
     
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  16. Craig & Silas

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    Thank you for posting, this was very helpful in the assembly of the mechanical portion of my build. I purchased the C-Bean XL Bundle with Smoothieboard 5xC, DQ542MA Drivers and motors and the 24V/14.6A power supply. I plan on adding limit switches and the spindle LED light ring. I expect to start out using the OpenBuilds Control software. When searching the forums I see lots of detail but I am missing the Big Picture for the electronics portion of the build.

    My questions:
    1. Is there a wiring diagram that shows how to wire this configuration?
    2. Any problems with longer wires running to an enclosed electronic cabinet in order to keep electronics clean and safe?
    3. I saw a design with 2 power supplies, why do some include a second power supply?
    4. I also something about adding capacitors to the limit switches, is this necessary?

    Thank You
     
  17. Wikicheedia

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  18. Metalguru

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  19. David the swarfer

    David the swarfer OpenBuilds Team
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    you need to watch the construction videos
    the longer the wires the more you will need EMI protection
    because someone bought the wrong power supply and had too little power (-:
    always (-:
    Get these Xtension Limit Switch Kit
    I don't know what the smoothie has in terms of filtering but more does no harm, generally.
    oh, according to Smoothieware/Smoothieboard there are pull ups and capacitors on all switch inputs.
    Run power and signal wires far apart from each other.
    Use shielded cable.
    Use star grounding.
     
  20. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    Smoothieware is not supported under CONTROL, for the Smoothieboard you can run CNCJS, or BCNC.

    If you want to use control, grab a BlackBox and keep the Smoothie for another project like a 3D printer you know you want to build someday. See https://docs.openbuilds.com/blackbox
     
  21. bagelmaker

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    Does anybody know of any OB projects that upgraded a CBeam XL to one of the newer moving gantry-style designs? I would like to find/generate an upgrade BOM to turn my CBeam XL into a gantry-style (Lead, Workbee, or Sphinx? I've been away a while). I also need to upgrade my electronics from the TinyG I used. I guess I can go analyze the BOM for the new bundles and do the diff to generate a parts list, but wondering if anybody has already done the work (and maybe even documented the upgrade!).
     
  22. Metalguru

    Metalguru Veteran
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    Not possible to convert a C-beam XL to moving gantry.

    I would recommend an Arduino/stepper driver combo to upgrade your electronics. Easy and cheap, and eminently repairable.

    MG
     
  23. Rick 2.0

    Rick 2.0 OpenBuilds Team
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    MG, I have to disagree. It’s fully possible as the C-Beam XL already has the dual Y-axis actuators. The only question is whether to upgrade the length of those actuators to 1000mm. Overall the conversion is fairly simple. Just study the table framing of the Lead machine (or any of the other systems) and that’ll pretty much take you where you want to go.
     
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  24. Metalguru

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    A moving gantry machine is a completely different beast than a moving table. I don't see how it would be possible to convert this to a moving gantry without a complete redesign. It would be simpler to sell it and buy a Workbee.

    MG
     
  25. Rick 2.0

    Rick 2.0 OpenBuilds Team
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    Here is one of the previous examples of the conversion. C-Beam XXLarge "Tank" It was based on starting with the 1000mm C-Beam XXL. Overall it's as simple as moving the Y rails to the outside, rolling them up, attaching the X-axis uprights to the gantry plates and adding the table framing members. (I'm not sure I'm down with the asymmetry but that's just a character flaw on my part.) If my main computer weren't packed away right (as I'm in the process of moving) I'd throw in a sketchup model.
     
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  26. bagelmaker

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    Thanks for the responses; I'll give the Tank project a look. I hadn't thought much about selling and starting over, but I'll think about that as well.
     
  27. Robert Wallace

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    Is there any documentation to convert the CBeam XL Into a LEAD CNC 1010 besides comparing the part lists to see what I'd need to do the conversion
     
  28. Metalguru

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  29. Wikicheedia

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    Sorry, I didn't get the notification for this at the time. Most of the images on the webpage have gone missing. I'm running chrome, no adblockers or any other content blockers and it shows up like this. Also the same on tablet and phone.
    openbuilds cbeam xl webpage.jpg
     
  30. Metalguru

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    Sorry, I have no idea what you are talking about. What web page?

    MG
     

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