- Posts: 7
- Thank you received: 0
Need Help Setting up: Sherline Mill + XS-3525/8S-4 + Mystery Stepper
I got a second-hand Sherline 5400 mill with a Xylotex XS-3525/8S-4 controller and unmarked stepper motors. The calibration is off by about 50% [test travel for 1" only goes .5"]. The setup in Stepconf is using 200 Steps/Revolution, and 2 microsteps on each axis. I verified the lead screw thread pitch on the Sherline at 20 tpi with a direct 1:1 connection.
When I try testing the motor at 400 Steps/Rev and 2-Microsteps the Z-Axis works but X-stalls and generally complains. It seems like it's not going a full 1" but that may be an error in my observation while the axis is in motion- I'll do a more accurate measurement tomorrow.
I'm using the "Other" settings for the controller type and have set the timing to 1000, 1000, 200, 200 for Step Time, Step Space Direction Hold and Direction Setup, respectively. That seems to match the data on this site and the datasheet.
A few questions to the community:
Should the number of micro steps change the number of radians/degrees traversed if the steps per revolution is constant [e.g. 200 steps/rev set with (2, 4, or 8 micro steps) should be the same degrees traversed]? - I think not since micro steps should be incremental between a full step -- again, i 'm a bit of a noob wrt Steppers in general so please forgive my ignorance.
Also, how do you jog in single-step increments to test movement in absolute steps? -- I set the TPI on the Z-Axis to one and used the "Test this axis" GUI to "Run" with a "Test Area" of +-1" thinking that should traverse one full revolution if the calibration is correct. It seems close to one full rev when i set SPI to 400.
Any recommendations for setting up accurately given this setup with an unknown motor?
Thanks,
Dave
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
200 x 8 micro steps velocity .2 IPS acceleration 5 ip s2. Much more than .2 and the motors howl .. stalling. but I'm getting different behavior for the X versus Z -- Z axis seems a bit more tolerant at .4 ips. I'm still not getting why the micro steps are changing how may degrees of travel the motor is turning.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- tommylight
-
- Away
- Moderator
-
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
Here are the files. I've got the IPS set at .2 and this seems to be smooth.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- tommylight
-
- Away
- Moderator
-
Regards,
Tom
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
tommylight wrote: At a glance it all looks good. What drives? Xylotex or something else? Check the motor current on the drives, if they are nema 17 up to 1Amp should be ok, some can do more. Check if the motors get warm after 5 to 10 minutes of work or siting idle but locked, they should just start to get warm in that time frame. Can you turn the motors or screws by hand? Try that with motors off to check for binding, and with motors on to see how much torque they have at stand stil.
Regards,
Tom
Thanks Tom!. Things seem to be well behaved now. Last night, I was able to home the thing and dry run the Linux Logo program.
I had to reverse the Y and Z direction pins to the so the tool path directions aligned to the displayed coordinate system. At .2IPS everything seems to be working. I'm not sure what the steppers are.
-D
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.