Tool Enable - M15 - IOT Relay - & Breakout board (auto turn off/on router)

Machines (Original/PRO) Controller (Buildbotics) Discussion
97

Hey Bob,

additionally to ‘tool-enable’ (pin 15) which is controlled with M3/M4/M5, the ‘load-1’ (pin 2) and ‘load-2’ (pin 1) outputs on Buildbotics & Onefinity Controllers are for workpiece coolant which is switched on and off with the commands M7, M8, and M9 (“M7 = mist coolant on” and “M8 = flood coolant on”). Workpiece coolant is primarily used for milling metals.

Here the detailed documentation of I/O ports:

“Load-1” and “load-2” pull-down menus are associated with the L1 and L2 outputs on the back panel of the Buildbotics controller. The L1 and L2 outputs can be software controlled through GCode commands. “load-1” becomes active when an M7 GCode command is executed, and becomes inactive when a M7.1 or a M9 GCode command is executed. “load-2” becomes active when an M8 GCode command is executed, and becomes inactive when a M8.1 or a M9 GCode command is executed.

Alternatively, the “load-1” and “load-2” pins can be inputs and control the Load 1 and Load 2 outputs. To do this, set the input to “disabled”. Apply 3.3 Volts to the pin to turn the load output on and Ground to the pin to turn the load output off.

The state and pin numbers on the DB25 connector for “load-1”, “load-2”, and “fault” are displayed to the right of the respective fields. A legend for the states is provided in the “Indicators” tab on the “Control” page.

You might be interested in the information given in the following posts:

Note that if you use a water-cooled spindle, this water pump is usually not controlled by the CNC Controller but by the VFD which has output terminals for relays used for this. The VFD can also ensure that water cooling continues for a certain time after spindle was shut down.

As for dust extraction, as this is usually expected to be on when milling motor runs, you can let it be switched on and off with M3/M4/M5 also, which would be switched by a relay on ‘tool-enable’ (pin 15) when using a router, or by an output terminal of VFD when using a spindle. The VFD receives these M-code and the other commands via the ModBus serial connection.

1 Like