Frage UC400 Ethernet Controller

Hi guys,

We have had numerous sporadic problems with our stepcraft 2 840. problems using the UC100 and a 10 meter USB cable, that resulted in small electric shocks from the machine, and also sometimes manual commanded movements would result in jerky, or no movement at all from the tools.

So we purchased the UC400 ethernet connector, which uses electro isolators, meaning hopefully there should be no more shocks, and no more movement interuptions.

With the UC400, we need to provide a +12 to 24 Volt DC power supply, and I was wondering if any part of the breakout board in the stepcraft has a voltage and 500mW rating, that we could branch off, rather than get another power supply going?

I cannot find any details about the breakout board that comes with the stepcraft anywhere

Nick

It would have been easier to buy a cheap Powered USB HUB and use it as a simple repeater, connecting both the UC100 and your PC to it.

I'm not sure if I understand it correctly but if you need 24V the X2 connector provides you with 24V on PIN 9 and PIN 10 is ground. To be frank, it's 30V but adding an simple 7824 Voltage regulator and some capacitors as shown in the datasheet gives you 24V:

X2

7824

Datasheet-Figure-4

Referring to your USB cable problem...did you ground all metal parts of the machine? There's often a problem with static electricity due to rotating parts (spindle)...

10 metre USB cable is too long. Any extension is not a good idea. The Ethernet connection using the ETH module is done using differential signals and is therefore isolated on the communication side. Therefore the communication signal can happen over a lot longer distance with more reliability.

the ETH module cannot (and should not) be powered by the STEPCRAFT card. you need to get another supply

Hi,

I'm also interested in using the UC400ETH for a Stepcraft system I just ordered, due to the fact that it is opto-isolated. I don't want to risk frying my laptop, should the drive stages malfunction. I've asked for information about whether the parallel interface is opto-isolated, but so far no answer. Given your experience with small electric shocks from the machine it sounds like it is not isolated.

I'm guessing that supplying power from the Stepcraft main power supply eliminate the intended opto-isolation, so you better go with a separate supply. However, it would be nice if it was possible to mount the UC400ETH inside the Stepcraft and just add another chassi-mounted 24/12 VDC supply. Unfortunately, the UC400ETH comes with a bracket which according to the manual it is needed to provide cooling, so even if the PCB itself is similarly sized to the parallel interface board, it may be hard to swap it out for the UC400ETH.

Integrating it into the Stepcraft system and offering it as an option seems like a great idea to me. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the Stepcraft crew also see the benefit of opto-isolation and Ethernet interface.

In the meantime, I will build a separate housing for the board and the cabling that is needed.

Let us know more about your experience with using the UC400ETH with the software! Any problems so far?

Warmly,

Per Takman

the UCETH is isolated on the Ethernet side. Not on the output side. So the isolation on the machine side is related to what optoisolators the drives and electronics have.


We've used the ETH module in our workshop for a number of weeks now and it has been perfect.

Thank you for the reply!

Great to hear that you've had good experience with the UC400ETH. The opto-isolation I'm looking for is to protect my computer so that architecture suits me perfectly.

Cheers,

Per Takman

Cool - the main reason for the isolation is to protect the chip from noise.

The ETH side of the ETH module will protect your PC from any mishaps. If for example the UCETH gets an overvoltage or ir wired in the wrong way - the over voltage cannot get back up the Ethernet cable.

However - the ETH chip if connected to a card with a lot of noise - and no isolation - means the motion controller chip can have issues.

In short - overall performance depends on what the UCETH is connected to on the machine side.

Question regarding the I/O ports when using the UC400ETH

When I start the default profile of UCCNC I can change the port setting from 0 to 2, but when I start the Stepcraft profile I'm no longer allowed to choose 2. I've tried to compare the two profiles, but can't find a setting that prevent me from making use of both ports.

Can you help me "unlock" the second port?

Warmly, Per

Connect to port 1 of the ETH module?

you have to select the box, type in the value and hit enter key.

Then apply + save

not sure why you can't select 2

Hi Rory,

I'm connected to port 1 of the UC400ETH. Everything works fine and I can even see the diagnostics tab react to input on port 2. I just can select 2 with the Stepcraft profile loaded. With the default profile it works...

If I try to change to 2 it reverts back to whatever was in the box before. If I edit the profile text file the same thing happens. There must be something in the profile that limit me to use only port 1.

/Per

hmm.. interesting. not sure will see can i find out.

I now have a lead to what may be causing this. It turns out that if I change the screenset from the “Stepcraftscreenset” to the “Defaultscreenset” I have access to the second port when configuring output triggers.

I’ve tried to compare the two sections for the UC400ETH, but fail to understand which setting in the screenset files that unlock access to the second IO-port.

I've sent the question to cncdrive.com and I will let you know if they can provide an answer.

In the meantime, if you find an answer how to modify the screenset file... let me know!

/Per

Update: Changing to port 2 works since of software version 1.2022.

Question: Is there any disadvantage of choosing the screenset file from UCCNC instead of the customized one for Stepcraft. With the Stepcraft screenset the new features of UCCNC are not shown. It is very simple to edit the Stepcraft profile to use the default screenset, but I don't want to cause any problems.

Cheers, Per Takman

Second update:

According to cncdrive.com, there is no disadvantage of using the default screen set file to get access to new functionality.

Meanwhile, I discovered that output pins 1, 14 and 16 on port 2 on the UC400ETH can't be configured as output triggers. There is a bug in the firmware of the UC400ETH that cncdrive.com are now aware of. It will be fixed in the next version that ship with UCCNC.

Cheers, Per

Hallo Dudes,
I use the UC400ETh Controller with the new all in one installer and the UCCNC Version 1.2037.
The Screenset "Stepcraft2-300" works fine!
But the Screenset for the 3D Probe funktions "SC2-300_ATC_3DProbe" looks ugly and so dosnt work for me!
The Buttons ar not on the right Place at Screenset!

Any suggestion how to fix it!
I realy dont want to go back to the USB Controler only for using the 3D Probe!