I am brand new to this CNC stuff, so pardon any ignorance.
I have finally got my Low-Rider V3 connected together. I am using the Rambo v1.4 board with the Marlin firmware from V1 engineering. I bought the Rambo a while ago so the firmware may be out of date.
The Y axis is still not connected to a table. But the X and Z are all connected. I used the Reptier-Host and I can move the router carriage along the X-axis and Z-axis. I can also see the Y-axis motors move in the correct direction. Once I build a table and connect up the belts I am confident the carriage will move correctly.
Right now I am bit confused with the end-stop connections. The X-axis makes sense because there is only one. But each of the Y-axis and Z-axis have two end stop, one on each side. But on the diagrams I have seen there is just one place to plug an end stop for each axis. So, I am a bit confused about that. Maybe I am looking at the wrong info.
Do I connect them in series so which ever side gets triggered first stops the cariage?
Suggestions or pointers to the correct instructions appreciated.
The link above does show the Estop connection to the Rambo. Just be sure to connect to ONLY the S and - pins as connecting to the + is likely to damage your controller board.
Note also that the pins on the two rows are oriented in reverse.
I looked at the page you referenced and it claims:
First off. You should realize that there are hundreds of Low Riders wired with the series wiring. In many ways, series wiring is simpler. Endstops aren’t needed at all, really.
Indeed I have the two Z-axis in series and the two Y-axis in series and I am just going to be doing two-dimensional CNC. Just cutting shapes in plywood.
We need to get Jeffe involved as to whether you can do what you want with series on a LR. I know it can be done on thee MPCNC, but the lowrider may need the endstops and the independent steppers.
Notice only three motors connected, since Y and Z axis have 2 motors connected in serial. No end stops connected. Since the Y and Z have two motors connected serially you can not move the second Y independent of the first Y motor. Same for Z.
That is tight I guess, but then the board is not really useable for the LR3 because the endstops for Z are nearly mandatory. You could get around the others maybe.
You are correct that the V1 page shows only three motors, but that is for the MPCNC machine. There ISN’T a picture on that page for the LR3.
But is you use the table I included above, with the Reprap page I also included you can see where the motors and endstops plug into a Rambo 1.4 to use it with a LR3.
OK I have been looking at the wrong page. Thanks for letting me know.
When I ordered the LR3 I only got 3 of the ribbon cable extensions. This led me to believe I needed to connect Y and Z motors in series. So I would end up with three connections to the Rambo board for the 5 motors.
It sounds like I need to get 2 more ribbon extension cables. Each extension cable has wires for 1 motor and an end stop. So each motor can be connected individually to the Rambo board and then each end stop can be connected also.
It really depends on the location of your control board. I only needed the ribbon extensions for my Y2, Z2, and X steppers. The steppers located on the same side as my control board could reach without the extensions (which is why I believe the hardware kit only includes 3)
You can use the LR3 without endstops. The trick is that it settles at a different Z height on the rail. To compensate, you need some hard stops that keep both ends at the same height before engaging the motors.
We argued for a long time about whether or not dual endstops and autosquaring were necessary. But the cost isn’t that significant and it is a nice feature to have.
I will support you if you want to do it with 3 drivers. It is still possible. We know the workarounds.
