What's the word on extending the wiring (CK)?

[Goliathan]

I'm planning out a basic bench and enclosure for the Carve King.  I want the electronics to live outside the enclosure for dust and accessibility reasons, maybe under the bench, bolted to the side, or similar.  In any case I'm going to have to extend the motor and homing switch wiring, and possibly the laser wiring as well.

For the motors and switches, what's the word on noise?  Do we recommend shielded cables, twisted pairs, or is an extra couple of feet not generally an issue?

[Scott]

Curious as well On this one.

[Bruce]

If you can use twisted pair, shielded cable that would be best. Another alternative is to use a Metal Braided Sleeving like this: www.amzn.com/B01BIBQESG Added to the cables to reduce electrical noise. Make sure to ground one end of the shield/sleeve.

I did some digging and found out the connectors used on the CNC Shield (and other boards) are called Dupont connectors. The pins are spaced at 2.54mm (0.1 inch) and commonly referred to as a Pin Header.

Here is a Dupont Connector kit with crimp tool at amazon: goo.gl/v1526m   I made my own plug in Stepper Motor extension cables with these connectors.



Here is a video on how to crimp the connector end onto wire and make a multi-pin Dupont connector.

[Derek the Admin]

Bruce is indeed the forum guru.

[Bruce]

Another thing to remember, is to route power wiring away from the control unit and stepper motor wiring as far as possible.

BTW, Not really sure how I earned that title of Forum Guru...lol

[rowiac]

One thing to keep in mind if using shielded cables is to ground only one end of the shielding, otherwise it turns it into a big antenna.  I think in the case of these CNC routers, it would be easiest to ground the end that is attached to the CNC Shield board.  The shielding on the end with the limit switch would be left floating (ungrounded).

We ran into this issue on a prototype at work where someone got overzealous with grounding the sensor cables and we failed EMI susceptibility testing.

[jchamberland27]

I ended up using terminal blocks and 6' Ethernet patch cables to extend the Carve King wires for my enclosure and haven't had any problem at all with noise. it's all been rock solid and I love being able to quickly disconnect the wires to pull it out for cleaning or to do a job outside of the enclosure.

Here's the thread where people helped me plan out the idea: millrightcnc.proboards.com/thread/1428/plug-options-extending-carve-wires
And here's the one where I talk a little bit about how I actually did it: millrightcnc.proboards.com/thread/1613/carve-king-enclosure-build-log

[Bruce]

Good info on shielded cable and the different types available.

How Does Cable Shielding Work Anyway?
goo.gl/TyRffo