Programing code for turning aux switches on/off

[RussCard]

Hi All,
I'm trying ot figure out how to insert code (or a better way) to get my machine to turn on of the auxilary switches off and on at the start and end of each cut.

I'm going to use the signal to turn a plasma torch on and off.

Any help with the correct code would be most appreciated.

Rusty

[frank]

Hi Rusty,

The output switches are controlled with the [SO] command. SO,switch number,ON or OFF. The first parameter after the command is the number of the switch that you want to control and for the second parmeter you enter a 1 to turn it on and a zero to turn it off. You can enter cammands directly from the keyboard or you can insert them into a file.

[jimmys]

Hi All,
I'm a new shopBot user that is running my Shopbot on solar power. I could use some help on two points. When the power get to low (no sun shine)I some time have to stop a project in the middle of a run. How to I start the project where I stopped.The next question is how do I put in a command the will turn off the router at the end of a job.

Jimmy

[wingnut]

Hi Jimmy
I think if it was me I would be trying to set up a way of automatically switching to the power grid when the sun disappears. I know that their is a way to continue the run but I will leave that to some of the more experianced shopbotters to explain. If you do a keyword search on turning off router you will find previous disscussions on that subject.

Best of luck
Wing

[artisan]

Hi Jimmy. Two exceedingly simple solutions come to mind for starting and stopping work. Of course you can simply hit "S"...stopping the program and turn off just your router, leaving the system in a holding pattern with a blinking screen. This requires litte power and will get you by short term. Of course just hit "R" to resume. I've left my system on hold for 3 and 4 days and picked up right where I left off. The other solution is to look at the line number in the upper right hand corner of the screen and jot it down. I have a chalkboard by my Bot for just such occasions. You can then shut down the whole system. When you start up again, type in the "FG" or File Goto command and enter the line number where you left off. Provided nothing has moved, you should pick up right where you left off.... The solar powered Bot sounds pretty interesting. Good Luck....D

[billp]

Jimmy,
I tried running my Bot on solar as a test a few years ago. It ran fine, but as soon as I fired up the Porter Cable router it
tripped the breaker on my old Heart inverter(10 amps), as the starting surge was to much for it.. Are you running a small
router? I would think the Bot motors wouldn't draw too many amps, but the router would be the major drain. If you are not
using your Bot as a heavy duty panel saw, you could probably get by with a very small router..
Obviously more batteries, or a very efficient inverter would help as well. I'd consider augmenting the solar rig with either
wind/water power if you could, just to pump up the amperage on average.
The "FG"command as suggested on the Forum might be your only answer in the meantime. Of course you have to be there
when the Bot stops, OR you have to turn it off if you suspect the batteries are running low. If I had a very important job I'd be
tempted to run battery cables from my vehicle to the battery bank to finish the job, and charge the batteries at the same time.
Where are you located?

[jimmys]

Darrell & Bill

Thank you for all the great info. I have two solar system one for the house that is a 8kw inverter system and 7kw of solar plus wind. The problem is my shop is only a 2kw inverter with large batterys and only 1kw of solar. I don't run the router on the solar just the bot and lights. The router is run on the grid. I want to set up a relay that when the bot is done or goes down the router is shut off. The help of reading the line no. is very helpfull. Thanks

I am in Winchester Calif.

[bill.young]

Hi Jimmy,

You've got two different issues here. It's easy to turn the router off when the file has finished using the SO command, and I think that somewhere in the manual there are instructions for making a relay circuit to turn acc. circuits on and off.

Turning the router off when the ShopBot shuts off abrubtly because of a power loss is another thing, though...you couldn't use output switches then. Maybe you could rig a relay that used the power to the ShopBot to keep the circuit to the router turned on, and when the power to the ShopBot went down, the relay would lose power as well and dis-connect the power to the router.

One more thought. If somehow you can tell when you're power is close to getting too weak to power your ShopBot BEFORE it gets so weak that it actually does shut it down, how 'bout somehow triggering a relay that was connected to input switch #3 ( the limit switch input) so that the ShopBot stopped moving and there would be time to shut things down neatly?

Bill

[jimmys]

Bill

Thank you for the help. I picked up the relay part to day. Will let you know how it all turns out.

Thank you Jimmy

[kaaboom_99]

HI Jimmy.
If you search on the forum you will find a previous post by me, but I shall state a solution in a slightly different light. You could hook up a relay or contactor that has contacts rated for the current(amps) that your router draws. Power this relay/contactor with the power from you solar energy either before (12volts DC I assume) or after inverter (120volts AC). This way if there is enough voltage to run the SB, there is enough to pull in the relay and provide power to the router. If voltage drops, relay de-energizes and router stops.
Hope this helps