I purchased a Z-20 slider when the Z-16 that came with my machine cracked and would bind when moving upwards. I have a 80mm water cooled 1.5kw spindle that I have been using for years. I have everything switched over, but I can’t get the machine to home the z axis. I have found articles that say to adjust the stall-current value in the motor settings, but despite going from .5 to 2 I can’t get the machine to stall properly. It either bounces a bunch and doesn’t stop, or it hits the top of the bracket and falls down before finishing the homing sequence.
I asked support for help, and they told me to install the makita router into the 80mm spindle holder. I have never owned the makita router, nor does it fit into the spindle holder, so they’re refusing to help unless I buy the makita router and a shim insert.
I don’t really know what to do at this point, as I don’t have enough knowledge to know what messing with the other settings would do. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks!
Hey Aiph5u,
This is what I ended up doing. For $8 I got a proximity sensor and everything is working. I need to do a bit more fine tuning, but I’ll post my solution when I have it all squared away. I’m running a 24V system since I have a bunch of industrial parts laying around, so I have to use a lot of relays to get info back to the controller without frying it ( already made that mistake once).
Hey Kaladin,
I’m having the same issue and got told by support because I put a spindle on it they do not support it. I have been reading up on the proximity sensors but a little reluctant to take the leap for fear of frying something. Like a lot of folks on here I need a good diagram to go by when it comes to electronics wiring.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I had the same problem of the Z20 stall homing using a Makita. My symptom is a “buzzing” while continuing to try to stall home. Adjusting stall current/voltage is not a solution. Putting my hand on the Makita and pushing down solves it Support were very helpful but unsuccessful. This is obviously a known problem. The sensors sound interesting, may try.
My issue is it would jump up and down till the Estop caused the spindle to drop. I have tried to adjust the stall homing from min to max at .1 increments and it would home sometimes and today it never would home.
If I can get the sensor thing figured out that will be the route I take.
Thanks for your response.
I installed inductive sensors on all the axis. Z was the only one that really needed it. I already swapped out the stepper on my Z-20 for one with a brake simply because I didn’t like the fact that once the power was off the Z axis could drop. So I already had 24v for the sensor right where it was needed. I did put a relay in line to isolate the BB controller from the sensor and potentially any EMI from the spindle even though everything is shielded.
The senors I used are normally open. I wired up the relays so they have 24v going to the relay’s coil and the other side of the coil goes to the sensor. When it changes to closed the relay trips. The switch side of the relay connects the correct pin on the breakout board to ground. It’s not a hard circuit to set up.