Chinese 1212 router conversion A11 to Masso

[stevefrisby]

I am converting my Chinese 1212 router to Masso as my a11 controller started to have power on issues, unfortunately the virus has shut down China and factories are shut down so getting a replacement/repair is impossible. I decided on using a Masso controller after having bad experiences getting mach systems to work mainly due to them being pc based software and hardware from another supplier which caused driver issues and incompatibility with software versions for instance.. I found that the Masso being hardware and software combined would be a reliable solution and an upgrade from the A11 (Rich Auto) as it has all the features of a pc based system but the reliability of a fully integrated system. I am also removing the control box supplied and installing the electronics into two drawers in the empty space under the CNC as I bought the 1200x1200 router because i wanted it to fit into my garage space.

One thing I did when I first got the CNC was to write down every parameter or setting that was stored in the A11 controller this is a life saver as I have all the settings I need to setup the Masso

I am currently running the CNC as 3 axis but have a rotary axis I haven't used yet I will probably get this going last

Here are some photos of the machine before I start the conversion

 

[stevefrisby]

I have stripped out the control box and removed panels from the CNC and started to re route the wiring

The equipment that will need to interface to the Masso is pretty simple stuff

x,y,z home sensors are danke ble17-5f-n1/e npn hall effect sensors (I have already connected a spare to the board and Black to input, brown to +v, blue to 0v. set to invert give correct signal to Masso)

The stepper drivers are LeadShine dma860h they are currently set for 1600 steps per revolution and 4.45A and half current when stopped they are supplied with 70v ac from a 1600VA transformer I was able to get 20m per minute on x and y axis

The vfd is a fuling inverter dzb 300 series 3.7kw it was set for 3 pin switched control but i will re configure it for 0-10v control and test using method shown on tutorial video before connecting to the Masso

The tool setter is just isolated button so that connection shouldn't be an issue

I have saved old parameters from A11 controller

x and y axis are 69.569 pulse per mm, z is 160 pulse per mm. Acceleration is set to 800 (I am pretty sure that this is the same format as Masso but will check the A11 manual)

table size is x 1245mm, y 1275mm and z 175mm

The CNC was never grounded which seems pretty illegal to me, also all the wiring to steppers and vfd is shielded but they have never connected the shield to ground so I will make all the correct grounding connections my only concern is that the Masso will need to have its GND connected to mains ground otherwise in order to gnd the tool setter I will end up with a massive earth loop between the CNC mains GND and the Masso GND at the spindle (I have checked and it is not isolated from the CNC mains GND) after going through some of the threads on this forum it seems possible and the 24v power supply data sheet also shows no problem doing this

I have already installed a carcass for two drawers in the front of the machine a re routed all the wiring to that position one drawer will have mains equipment installed and the other will have control equipment installed

 

[stevefrisby]

I have managed to get a lot done with this conversion, would it be a good idea to post some of the manuals for the equipment I am using as I did see a post from someone having problems with the same model inverter as the on I am using.

I have built the drawers and installed most of the equipment I should be ready to turn on tomorrow and hopefully have machine back in action again I will post pictures over a few posts

I really did not expect this mission to be so complicated but hopefully it will be a good reliable machine for a while, I have left everything as it was set for the rich auto controller but I do want to increase the steps per revolution to 3200 from 1600 and am going to investigate whether I should change the vfd from V/F control to Speed sensor less vector control (SVC) from the research I have done V/F control is for equipment such as fans which have a fairly constant load, my understanding is torque is lower at lower rpm where as SVC is for CNC type applications where you get full torque at all rpm and consistent speed regardless of loading on the motor. It would be great if any of you could offer an opinion on these modes. But I wanted to leave settings as they were as I know the CNC runs well on those settings and I dont want to introduce any extra areas that could cause problems

After doing some research I have found a great explanation of the difference between v/f and svc control (I will try to set vfd to SVC and see how this goes)

What really is "vector sensorless drive?"

I probably ought to know this already, but can one of the drive experts here explain in simple language what this is and why it matters, and how to know if a drive for sale somewhere has this feature? (Is there a drive database somewhere?) The Wikipedia article here, for example, (Vector...

www.practicalmachinist.com

Here's photos of drawers and a layout with parts

 

[cncnutz]

Hi Steve

The build is coming along really nice.

I agree that not having the machine earthed is very dodgy.

If it helps my machine is earthed for electrical safety and I have Masso Gnd permanently connected to the machine body for touch probe operation and I have no problems.

Keep up the good work.

Cheers Peter

 

[stevefrisby]

The machine conversion is 90% complete all I need to do is clean up the low voltage drawer, run VGA cable through the back (almost had to go to antique store to find VGA parts lol), sort out z axis as it is homing but not functioning after (I will need to watch peters set up video again), And reverse the CW CCW inputs in the VFD as it is running backwards. And that's about it apart from cosmetic stuff (Front panels and paint)

I will post the settings and connections to get furlong VFD functioning with Masso a little later

I will post a few problems and solutions that I came across also

So here are some more photo's

 

[stevefrisby]

Here Is where the low voltage drawer is at, I have an extra 230v lead and spare signal leads to terminate but that's about it

 

[breezy]

@stevefrisby

Steve,

sort out z axis as it is homing but not functioning after (I will need to watch peters set up video again)

Also read the warning on the axis calibration page, before doing anything else.

Axis Calibration

Beautiful conversion.

Regards,

Arie.

 

[stevefrisby]

Thanks Arie I will look into all those things, I have managed to get z axis working but probing to touch plate generates a alarm (I just need to do a little more research)

I am posting the user manual for the dzb 200/300 series furlong inverter and also the settings that i changed to get it functioning with the Masso, I have also posted the manual for the stepper drivers I have used wiring for them is pin to pin (step+ to step- ect) the enable inputs have been left disconnected (I actually used them to put old wire sheath in a loop to tie cabling to)

For programming the inverter you power it on and press prgm/reset and F0 should come up you can use the up down arrow keys to change the 0 value, once you have the first f value press func/data and arrow keys to change the second parameter press func/data again and arrow up down to change the value of that parameter press prgm/reset to move back to last menu level (page 19 of the manual)

the following are the changes to make to get vfd running with Masso

F0.03 set to 1 (Voltage input control)

F0.10 set to 1 (Operating at reverse direction), I tried this at 0 (Default) but spindle did not operate at all I have a feeling this is why spindle ran backwards until I reversed cw/ccw on the vfd input pin assignment

F2.01 set to 2 (reverse or ccw) on S1 F2.01 to F2.06 assigns functions to input pins S1 to S6 on the vfd

F2.02 set to 1 (forward or cw) on S2

F2.03 to F2.06 set to 0 (no function)

F2.07 set to 0 (two wire control mode 1) refer to page 49 of manual for explanation if you need it

Not important for operation but I set these two as well (they set the display mode during operation and stop modes)

F3.05 set to 2 (so the vfd will display spindle speed when running)

F3.06 set to 255 (allows you to scroll through different settings)

So after these have been changed power off the vfd and set the switches on the pcb as per the photos

wiring is simple Masso GND to ACM

from the spindle control connector

(Masso) Pin1 to VI

(Masso) Pin4 to DCM

(Masso) Pin5 to S1

(Masso) Pin6 to DCM

(Masso) Pin7 to S2

Set up the spindle control settings in Masso as per their documentation

with all of these settings my spindle operates as it should

 

[stevefrisby]

A few minor problems

Z axis seems to be missing steps so as I have changed the stepper from 1600 steps per revolution to 3200 I increased the current by about half an Amp and that seems to have fixed the problem

x and y are running fine and are not loosing steps

I am using probing to set the tool height which is working fine, and it was after a few up and down Z100,Z0 I realized that it was starting to leave a gap over material surface (I suspect this may have been a small issue with old A11 controller but not as bad)

Is it possible to home Z at a different speed to X and Y as the old controller had this feature and it was useful.

My display is getting a bit of noise (Interference) since I cleaned up the low voltage side of the CNC, I have run 24v to a connector on the high voltage side of the CNC and will try terminating that with a resistor, and if that doesn't work I will put ferrite noise choke on some of the cables. I didn't have this problem before cleaning up the cabling so shouldn't be to hard to fix

I would like to have a button that probes Z and sets Z on an input but will put this in the feature request section. I have always set Z by probing to top of my material and I like to place touch plate near the center of my material also and I have no place to put a permanent touch plate so auto Z feature seems to be inconvenient and not very useful. I can mount the button on the side where the touch plate is.

 

[breezy]

@stevefrisby

I have always set Z by probing to top of my material and I like to place touch plate near the center of my material also and I have no place to put a permanent touch plate so auto Z feature seems to be inconvenient and not very useful.

Steve,

Have you watched Peter's video on How to set up a Toolsetter in Masso - Episode 017.

In there he discusses how to setup both Auto Tool Setting and Touch Probe on the same touch plate.

I think that will solve your problem of having no place for a permanent touch plate and still use the touch plate for Z probing.

Regards,

Arie.

 

[stevefrisby]

Hi Arie thank you for your support, One of the reasons I had confidence in the Masso product was actually people like you who are willing to help people with their installation. Having an active forum and actually adding features that users suggest also makes the product improve and mature for real world usage

I am happy with using the probing feature as it works 100% just wondering if they could add a function to the input settings the equivalent to pressing the z probing on the probing screen with set z after so I could install a switch on my machine where probe is so all i need to do is place probe under z axis and press button on my cnc rather than use the mouse and screen to do this..

In other words it would be like a auto Z input for an mpg, simply press the button and job done. I thought it would be a nice feature to add and it would just be another option on the input setup menu

Pretty sure it would only take a few lines of code linking an input to two mouse clicks and even control P on keyboard

 

[stevefrisby]

I have solved the last problem with my setting up of the Masso, when doing auto tool zero after home the z was set to top of the touch plate not the work surface. I have not seen any solution in the videos and forum I have been looking for a while for a solution but then realized I needed to go into f4 tools and offsets and set g54 up just called it home and put -ve value for touch plate height in the z offset, I am finally happy that all my hardware and Masso is running well. I would still like to see a home Z or probe Z option in the input function settings though

 

[stevefrisby]

I have been continuing to do the clean up mission, Managed to get some paint on the cnc am planning a android app that will allow advanced mpg functionality but that's dependent on Masso adding more input options as they are very limited atm

Here are some of the latest photo's of the build

I ended up dropping one of the front panels and drilling the wrong size holes for switches so need to remake it, I don't like finishing jobs and am a bit fussy really want to dig in and get this finished so i can start on my next mission and use the CNC unfortunately it wont run safely in its current state, but have used it to cut hole for fan in the front panel

 

[stevefrisby]

A Few more photos in finished Color (I used up red paint as filler and guide coat for sanding)

 

[npapa]

Hi Steve, I'm Nick Papa from Texas. I too have a large CNC router (Laguna Smartshop 1) that runs using a RichAuto A11 controller, and I would love to use the MASSO system to perform a retrofit. I have used another large cnc for years using Mach3 and would love to adapt this workflow to the new Laguna, but I know nothing if the inner workings of the control box and after much research I still cannot figure out how to proceed with such a project, specifically with how to wire everything up to the MASSO hardware. Could you offer me any advice or resources on how to repeat what you have done with your machine? Perhaps a wiring sketch at least? My existing hardware appears to be very similar to yours (Leadshine drivers, etc.) , but with the addition of 2 vacuum pumps that work with VFDs. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I can also email a summary list of components if that is of any help.