It seems to be getting some kind of interference or a short within the wiring or communication, try jogging the motors in the software without anything wired to the board. Then add one motor at a time to see if there is a short within your wiring or a faulty driver/motor.
If the USB breakout board continues to move the x-axis with no motors or driver wired to it, please email customerservice@buildyourcnc.com for a replacement or further troubleshooting.

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I AM USING USB BREAKOUT BOARD WITH PLANET-CNC SOFTWARE. WHEN ENABLE JOGGING KEYBOARD X AXIS STARTS TO MOVE BY ITSELF (WHETHER CONNECTED OF NOT). PRESS STOP - IT STOPS FOR A MOMENT AND THEN AGAIN. WHAT COULD THAT BE? TRIED REINSTALL SOFTWARE DID NOT HELP.

It seems to be getting some kind of interference or a short within the wiring or communication, try jogging the motors in the software without anything wired to the board. Then add one motor at a time to see if there is a short within your wiring or a faulty driver/motor.
If the USB breakout board continues to move the x-axis with no motors or driver wired to it, please email customerservice@buildyourcnc.com for a replacement or further troubleshooting.

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I am using USB breakout board with planet-cnc software. When I enable jogging keyboard x axis starts to move by itself (whether keyboard connected of not). When I press stop - it stops for a moment and then starts to move again. What could that be? Tried to reinstall software - did not help.

The parallel breakout board has the db25 connector for data and the USB connector for power. Connect the USB from the computer to the parallel breakout board so the breakout board will have 5V of power coming from the computer. The db25 connector (connector with the 25 pins) receive data signals for each pin from 1 to 17 and have respective numbered screw terminals, some for input and some for output (18 to 25 are gnd pins).

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Should I connect both the USB and the 25 pin connector of the parallel breakout board to the computer?

We are working on a keypad that will connect to the USB interface. It is possible to create a quick keypad using perf-board and some push buttons. All you need to do is connect one side of the switch to the pin of the axis and direction and the other side of the push button to the 5v pin. The datasheet shows the pinout of the jog connector.

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I had found the pins to wire in a job connector. My question is, what sort of connector do I look for (on Amazon for example) that will work for each 2 pin pair? I suspect they are the same as the connector for power and reset on my computer's motherboard, but I have no idea what to look for (what to buy).
thanks.

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I need to find a connector(s) to wire a pushbutton array to the USB board I purchased. Do you sell such a connector. Can you tell me what to look for?/What such a connector is called?

Any of the following power supplies will be fine for powering the Mach3 USB controller:
https://www.buildyourcnc.com/item/24v

however, the limit switches do not need high current, so the following power supply is sufficient for the task of connecting limit switches:
https://www.buildyourcnc.com/item/electronicsAndMotors-power-supply-24v-1a-dc

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What power supply do you recommend for the spindle and limit switches if I buy the USB Mach3 breakout board?

We recommend checking the dip switch settings on your drivers, having the correct microstepping/amp settings along with the steps/unit will help the motors run as effective as possible.
This is a default parameter that we use while we test our motors:
Driver dip switch settings will be at a 1/16 microstepping and 2.7amp (11001100) for x/y-axis and the z-axis will be at 1/4 microstepping and 2.7amp (10101100).

In planet-cnc with increasing the motor speed, you will have to modify the settings in planet-cnc (File/settings/setup) you will modify the initial speed, maximum speed, and the acceleration.
X/Y-axis step/unit: 1422.22 initial speed:500 maximum speed:750 acceleration:25
Z-axis step/unit: 1600 initial speed:100 maximum speed:300 acceleration:25
The initial speed and maximum speed will have to be roughly tested and adjusted per application.
Make sure to adjust the JOG slide bard underneath the axis controls on screen to about 750, to compensate for your x/y-axis adjustments. If left alone the speed will max out at the default setting.

Here is a video tutorial to calculate the steps required depending on your mechanical linear motion components. (

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I bought Nema 24 motors and driver package with usb board. What do i need to have more speed? Cant even jog past 25 ipm without the motor stalling (not having enough torgue)

I would suggest using the NPN proximity sensor for the Mach3 USB or the Pokeys57cnc. The proximity sensors have a top DC voltage limit of 30 volts, so it would be best to use the 24V power supply that is used to power the controller. Both controllers have a 24V power requirement, so that is convenient.

The blue wire of the proximity sensor is the GND wire and is connected to the 24V power supply's V- terminal. The brown wire is the positive wire and is connected to the V+ terminal of the 24V power supply. The black wire is the signal wire and is connected to the input terminal of the controller.

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Good evening, if I wanted to use your inductive proximity sensor's with your USB interface board what would I need besides the sensors I would be using 5 of the sensors. I have a 48V 12amp power supply. Thank you

We generally use the USB to power the interface (breakout board). The current from the computer is sufficient to supply the breakout board.

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Breakout Board with Relay. What is the USB connection on this board for? Does this board Still require a 5v power supply?

The Breakout Board is a single product assembly, it will not include a short ribbon cable nor connectors. You can find the parts required to build or make your specific ribbon cable in our motion electronics page or follow the links below:

25 Conductor Flat Ribbon Cable: https://buildyourcnc.com/item/electronicsandmotors-connector-DB25-conductor-ribbon-cable

25 pin D-Sub Male connector: https://buildyourcnc.com/item/electronicsandmotors-connector-male-dsub-DB25-ribbon

25 pin D-Sub Female connector: https://buildyourcnc.com/item/electronicsandmotors-connector-female-dsub-DB25-ribbon

You can also buy a complete DB-25 cable:
Male to Female Parallel Cable: https://buildyourcnc.com/item/electronicsAndMotors-cable-wire-db25-male-female
Male to Male Parallel Cable: https://buildyourcnc.com/item/electronicsAndMotors-cable-wire-db25-male-male

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Does the break out board come with the short ribbon connectors? Mine was soldered together and the new one comes with a plug. If it does not come with one where do I get one, I need the short ribbon connector to go with it.

Make sure that the spindle motor output pin is not interfering with the signal. Go to config -> ports and pins -> motor outputs, at the bottom of the table, there will be a line for spindle. Make sure that spindle line item is disabled.

Additional Information:
I disabled the spindle port and I am still only able to activate port 3 and get 24v and even there when I enter m5 the voltage bounces all over the place. The other outputs read all over the place whether they have been designated as the spindle on the spindle settings tab

Additional Information:
I tried wiring a relay to each of the outputs and only out3 was able to activate the relay

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[575] I connected this to 24v power supply and only out3 will show 24v when activated the other 3 read 300+v whether activated or not

I would suggest using the NPN proximity sensor for the Mach3 USB or the Pokeys57cnc. The proximity sensors have a top DC voltage limit of 30 volts, so it would be best to use the 24V power supply that is used to power the controller. Both controllers have a 24V power requirement, so that is convenient.

The blue wire of the proximity sensor is the GND wire and is connected to the 24V power supply's V- terminal. The brown wire is the positive wire and is connected to the V+ terminal of the 24V power supply. The black wire is the signal wire and is connected to the input terminal of the controller.

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if I wanted to use your inductive proximity sensor's with your USB interface board what would I need besides the sensors I would be using 5 of the sensors.

The 5V power required for the breakout board can be a simple USB male to male cable, that will connect from your computer to the board itself.
Now adding a external power supply make sure that it does not exceed a total of 5V and the standard 500 MilliAMP - 1 A.

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I have a YDH-18-5 Power Supply AC Input:100-240v 47-63Hz, Ouput: 5v - 2A and need to know if its safe to use with the Parallel Breakout Board.

The Mach3 USB controller will light a solid red light when the controller is properly connected to the computer, and mach3 is in the ready mode (reset pressed to engage the machine). When an arrow key is pressed to move an axis, the red LED will blink rapidly showing there is communication to the controller. If it does not blink rapidly, then check the motor output and confirm that the axes are enabled. Also, confirm you are in jog mode (located in the program run tab). You can also try using the built-in MPG by pressing the TAB key and clicking on the axis letters to move the axes.

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I connected my intrface board as per the diagram but I don't get a blinking light. I get a solid red light. What could cause this?

The solid red light is a condition where the Mach3 USB controller is successfully connected to the computer and is communicating to Mach3.

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I connected my intrface board as per the diagram but I don't get a blinking light. I get a solid red light. What could cause this?

You will need a USB cable to connect the computer and the Mach3 USB. The 64-bit operating system must be Windows and you will need the Mach3 CNC control software installed on the operating system.

You will need to install the USB driver called RNRMotion.dll. You can find the driver here: https://www.buildyourcnc.com/item/electronicsAndMotors-electronic-component-breakout-Mach3-USB-Board

Move the file to your Mach3 Plugins folder Example: "C:/Users/ProgramFiles/Mach3/Plugins"

Mach3 will prompt you to select a driver and this is where you can select the "RnRMotionController" and check "Don't ask me again". This will allow your board to communicate with Mach3.

You will also need the xml file found on this page: https://www.buildyourcnc.com/item/electronicsAndMotors-electronic-component-breakout-Mach3-USB-Board

On that page, you will need to download the XML Mach3 Config File by right clicking on the link and selecting "save as". Save the Mach3Mill.xml file in your Mach3 root folder.

That file is the main configuration file for the Mach3 board. It has all of the typical settings that the Mach3 board needs.

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I have a 64 bit operating system and the Mach3 usb control board. What do i need to communicate between the two?

We recommend using an extension cord, or some other 3 conductor power cable, that is at least 16 AWG. Cut the end of the cable off, and then strip to expose the three wires, typically white, black and green. Connect the black to L (called Live), white no N (called Nuetral), and green to the 3rd place from the right, that has the three line symbol for Ground. Our supply has a red switch on the side. When looking at the terminals, it will be on the right hand side of the supply. make sure that you have selected the proper input voltage with this switch. Either 220v (used mainly overseas) or 115V (for typical North American power)

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I bought a 36V power supply through you, and when I connected it to the wall outlet, it measures in the mid to high 70 Volt range. I then bought one on-line, and got the same result. When I test the line voltage, it reads 111V, so I believe the multimeter is working properly. What am I doing wrong?

For the USB controller and reversing the rotation for a motor, you would need to do this in the software (planet-cnc). In the configuration, you will need to reverse the direction by inverting the direction output.

Technically, the motor changes direction when the direction signal changes from a high to a low, or vice verse. For instance, the motor turns in one direction when the direction signal is, say, low. The motor will turn in the other direction when the direction signal is high. High is 5v and low is 0v or gnd.

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I have wired the step motors with the USB breakout board. When I jog the y axis it travels in the wrong direction. How do i switch the motors rotation?

Here is a list of the parts needed to get the electronics combo functioning (parallel or USB interface options):

- 22 or 24 gauge stranded hookup wire to connect all of the drivers to the USB or parallel interface (terminal to terminal connections),
- 18 gauge stranded hookup wire to connect the drivers to the power supply,
- a power cable (extension cord) to connect from the power outlet to the power supply,
- 4 conductor cable to connect the drivers to the stepper motors,
- a USB cable to connect from the computer to the USB interface (or for power to the parallel interface),
- for the parallel interface, a parallel cable is needed (male to male db-25),
- a computer (for parallel interface, the computer will need a parallel port and if the computer does not contain a parallel interface, the motherboard may have a header for it, or you can purchase a parallel adapter to plug into the motherboard, very inexpensive),
- cnc control software: for the USB interface, you will need planet-cnc software, for the parallel interface, you can use any industry standard cnc control software (the typical is Mach3 for Windows, or EMC2 or Linuxcnc for Linux (Linuxcnc.org).

5v power supply is not needed. The 5 volts signal level power is derived from the computer through USB on both types of interfaces.

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What else to I need to purchase along with the "3 Axis Electronics Combo w/ USB Interface Board" to get the electronics up and running? (software, 5V power supply, 4-conductor wire, etc.)

The breakout board has a relay installed and uses the terminals labeled S, O and P. The following link explains the operation of this relay and how to connect the terminals:
https://www.buildyourcnc.com/item/electronicsAndMotors-parallel-breakout-relay#prettyPhoto/8/

You will run your power cord (use an extension cord rather than the actual power cord of the router) through the relay using the S, O and P. The P is a general connection and the S is normally closed (S and P is connected when the relay is not engaged) and O is normally open (O and p are not connected until the relay is engaged).

There are three wires in the power cord: neutral (white), live (black) and earth ground (green). You will run your neutral wire (white wire) through this terminal. At some point in the power cord, remove the outer insulator and expose the three wires within. Cut your neutral wire and strip both ends of the cut. Then insert one end in P and the other end in O (normally open), so Mach3 or other control software you are using will engage the relay and the router will turn on.

You will need to setup your control software to turn on the relay using Pin #16 as this is the digital signal pin that controls the relay.

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What do I need to do to my breakout board to turn the router motor on at the beginning of the program and off at the end?