Control cabinet wiring - getting there...

Spent a fair chunk of time over the last week or so making up the myriad cables, brackets, holes, mounting plates etc required to "wire up" the various components within the machine enclosure. There will doubtless be some cockups along the way but hopefully nothing too serious or embarassing. Only time will tell....

Hydraulic block plugs:

Luckily, the 9/16"-18 UNC SAE plugs I ordered several weeks ago finally came. Unluckily, I had the wrong thread so these didn't even remotely fit. What a complete twat, not least as I dropped £22 for the privilege. For a Scottish-blooded Yorkshireman, that's quite a hit. Turns out it's actually 1/4" NTP (national pipe, taper). On the upside, these are available from Amazon at £8 for 10. 

Even better, the damned things actually fit. Bit of PTFE tape and Bob's your auntie:

GA500 VFD control wiring:

I have 2 of these to wire up. The larger (4kW) version is for the spindle drive, with variable speed and braking resistor (and external EMC filter). The smaller (2.2kW) version is for the 1.5HP hydraulic pump and only runs at one set (forward) speed, without the need for a braking resistor. 

Apart from the analogue speed signal (0-10V), the control signals will be largely similar. Here's the larger one:

Acorn ethernet cable - COCKUP #1:

I knew it would be a mistake to get The Stupid Fat Bloke to mount the Acorn boards and expect them to connect up without a hitch. And sure enough, when I try to plug in the shielded ethernet cable that connects the Acorn to the PC, the relay board gets in the way. What an idiot - me for leaving it to him and him for being....The Stupid Fat Bloke.

Reasonable progress was happening until this point....

So, move the relay board down to clear the connector.

Getting there?

Yes but let's mount the display now. This is another Hanspree touch screen with Elived telescopic support arm. For now, I will simply mount the arm on the front of the machine. It will be some time before I've got swarf and coolant splashing about, so it's most conveniently mounted here for now. It's getting there:

And nipping round the back, you can just about make out the servo drivers. The signals and power are connected up, although fitting the covers on the Dsub connectors might be asking for trouble, so they will come later, once I've got things running.

So there we are. Arguably approaching 80-90% wired up. Some stuff not connected yet:

• Hydraulic pump umbilical - not required yet. Will connect into the ETHER1616 board once the main system is sorted.
• Limit and homing switches. I should connect these up before powering up the servos.
• IEC socket for the monitor. I haven't decided how to mount the monitor or finish off the front panel, so no rush there.
• Lube pump. Bit premature to power that thing up without anywhere to discharge the effluent. It simply wires up to the mains after the isolator switch, so no sweat.