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General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 - is there a parameter to indicate inch/metric?
« Last post by JohnHaine on September 06, 2025, 02:47:58 AM »Thanks, I'll give that a try.
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General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 - is there a parameter to indicate inch/metric?
« Last post by Tweakie.CNC on September 06, 2025, 01:49:22 AM »You could read Led 801 - if active you are in INCH Mode or read Led 802 - if active you are in MM Mode.
I cant remember if it is just GetLED (801) or GetOemLED (801) to check if you are in INCH units - try it and see.
Tweakie.
I cant remember if it is just GetLED (801) or GetOemLED (801) to check if you are in INCH units - try it and see.
Tweakie.
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Mach4 General Discussion / Mach4 – Z Axis Limit Switch Not Triggering During Homing Cycle
« Last post by patrickdam on September 05, 2025, 11:39:42 PM »Hi everyone,
I’m currently facing an issue with my Z-axis homing routine in Mach4 and was hoping someone here might have some insight.
The setup:
Controller: Pokeys57CNC
Mach4 (latest build)
Limit/Home switches wired normally-closed
Diagnostics window shows inputs changing correctly when switches are pressed
Here’s the problem:
When I run a homing sequence, the Z-axis starts to move upward but never stops at the Z home switch. The diagnostic panel shows the switch toggling, but Mach4 doesn’t seem to register it as a “home” event. Instead, the axis just keeps moving until it faults out as if no switch was ever triggered.
What I’ve tried so far:
Swapping the Z switch with the X-axis switch → the physical switch works fine as an X home.
Checking input assignments in the Mach4 control configuration → they appear correct.
Verified with the Pokeys plugin diagnostics → Z switch activation is detected.
Tried reversing homing direction → no change.
So, the hardware and wiring seem fine, but Mach4 isn’t treating the Z home input as a valid homing signal.
Has anyone run into something similar with Mach4 not linking the home input to the actual homing routine? Could it be a signal mapping issue inside the plugin or something I’m missing in the homing/limits configuration?
Any advice, suggestions, or troubleshooting steps would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance.
I’m currently facing an issue with my Z-axis homing routine in Mach4 and was hoping someone here might have some insight.
The setup:
Controller: Pokeys57CNC
Mach4 (latest build)
Limit/Home switches wired normally-closed
Diagnostics window shows inputs changing correctly when switches are pressed
Here’s the problem:
When I run a homing sequence, the Z-axis starts to move upward but never stops at the Z home switch. The diagnostic panel shows the switch toggling, but Mach4 doesn’t seem to register it as a “home” event. Instead, the axis just keeps moving until it faults out as if no switch was ever triggered.
What I’ve tried so far:
Swapping the Z switch with the X-axis switch → the physical switch works fine as an X home.
Checking input assignments in the Mach4 control configuration → they appear correct.
Verified with the Pokeys plugin diagnostics → Z switch activation is detected.
Tried reversing homing direction → no change.
So, the hardware and wiring seem fine, but Mach4 isn’t treating the Z home input as a valid homing signal.
Has anyone run into something similar with Mach4 not linking the home input to the actual homing routine? Could it be a signal mapping issue inside the plugin or something I’m missing in the homing/limits configuration?
Any advice, suggestions, or troubleshooting steps would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance.
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General Mach Discussion / Re: Pokeys57cnc M11/M10 Issue
« Last post by fpm007 on September 05, 2025, 07:37:57 AM »The equivalent Mach4 commands are M62/M63 but you would need to check with Pokeys technical support to confirm if they are implemented in the plugin.
An alternative Mach3 or Mach4 fast switching solution is to use an imaginary axis Direction Pin. This is demonstrated in my short video linked here; https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=12444.msg254635#msg254635
Tweakie.
Okay so to do this all I need to do is take my direction pin and plug that into my relay to be triggered right?
Is there a wiring diagram for this? I was not able to find one.
Got it figured out and working. This was so much more simple then trying to get M10/11 working (tried that for two days). I guess I did not need to buy the pokeys57 board either to get this working lol.
I appreciate your help and the laser welded tubes are going to have a lot nicer end point now.
Thank you for suggesting this.
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General Mach Discussion / Re: Pokeys57cnc M11/M10 Issue
« Last post by Tweakie.CNC on September 05, 2025, 07:10:45 AM »Quote
Okay so to do this all I need to do is take my direction pin and plug that into my relay to be triggered right?
Nothing is ever that simple.
The Direction Pin is unlikely to source sufficient current to drive a standard, coil operated, relay but it could drive a dc solid state relay (which only draws a few mA).
Tweakie.
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General Mach Discussion / Re: Pokeys57cnc M11/M10 Issue
« Last post by fpm007 on September 05, 2025, 06:40:43 AM »The equivalent Mach4 commands are M62/M63 but you would need to check with Pokeys technical support to confirm if they are implemented in the plugin.
An alternative Mach3 or Mach4 fast switching solution is to use an imaginary axis Direction Pin. This is demonstrated in my short video linked here; https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=12444.msg254635#msg254635
Tweakie.
Okay so to do this all I need to do is take my direction pin and plug that into my relay to be triggered right?
Is there a wiring diagram for this? I was not able to find one.
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General Mach Discussion / Mach 3 - is there a parameter to indicate inch/metric?
« Last post by JohnHaine on September 05, 2025, 06:27:14 AM »My Novamill is a native metric machine with a homebrew Mach3 controller. Most of my machining is done in metric but occasionally I have a component to make with native inch dimensions. Examples are PCB layouts for isolation routing, and recently a replacement clock movement plate with precise whole inch dimensions which would have been a pain to convert to mm without. I generate the g-code using for example CamBam set to inches. A G20 command at the start of the code sets the machine to inches (or G21 to switch back to mm). Everything just works except that tool height setting is tricky.
My tool setting macro is derived from several examples on here and generally works fine but key parameters in it are defined in mm. What I can do is set the tool height using my touch plate with the machine in mm; then type a G20 in the MDI, and the reference tool height (which is 50mm above the table surface) appears in inches (1.9685) and all then goes well. However if I have to change the tool during a run, I have to set the machine back to mm, run the macro, and switch back to inches which is awkward and error prone.
So to my question: is there a parameter accessible to a macro in Mach 3 which will tell it which mode the machine is in please? Then I could modify my tool height macro to read this and use the appropriate parameters. If I want to do a job in inches I could just give Mach3 a G20 in the MDI and carry on without issues.
My tool setting macro is derived from several examples on here and generally works fine but key parameters in it are defined in mm. What I can do is set the tool height using my touch plate with the machine in mm; then type a G20 in the MDI, and the reference tool height (which is 50mm above the table surface) appears in inches (1.9685) and all then goes well. However if I have to change the tool during a run, I have to set the machine back to mm, run the macro, and switch back to inches which is awkward and error prone.
So to my question: is there a parameter accessible to a macro in Mach 3 which will tell it which mode the machine is in please? Then I could modify my tool height macro to read this and use the appropriate parameters. If I want to do a job in inches I could just give Mach3 a G20 in the MDI and carry on without issues.
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Mach4 General Discussion / Toolbox acting strange after macro edit
« Last post by liamwonka on September 04, 2025, 09:26:32 PM »Hey everyone, I’ve been on Mach4 for about three months now, and today I ran into something weird with the Toolbox. I was editing a small macro through it, saved my changes, and after that, every time I opened the Toolbox, the text fields looked scrambled, like the values were shifted into the wrong boxes. The machine still runs fine, but the Toolbox display looks totally off until I restart Mach4. It almost feels like it’s holding onto some cached info. Has anyone else had this happen?
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Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 and fc300 VFD
« Last post by arturod on September 04, 2025, 12:18:20 PM »What you are saying tells me that you have the jumpers on the C25XP set to INTernational mode, where Relay 2 is Spindle ON/Off and Relay2 is direction. So you have a VFD configured outside of the US. Keep in mind that the US (and sometimes Canada) is the only country that uses Relay 1 for FOR and Relay 2 for REV. You can verify this in the configuration of your VFD. Relay 3 can be used for Pin 17 on port 1, which if using the SCHP, can be used to activate/deactivate external things when active, like the master contactor, servo brakes, etc... Or can be tied to pin 16 on port 2 to be used as a general-purpose relay.
To summarize, the circuit on the board expects a PWM signal from 300 to 1000Hz on pin 14, port 1. The presence of PWM starts the spindle, and pin 16 on port 1 determines the spindle direction. The jumpers on the board will determine the spindle logic, so no output should be assigned to drive the spindle.
Arturo Duncan
https://cnc4pc.com
To summarize, the circuit on the board expects a PWM signal from 300 to 1000Hz on pin 14, port 1. The presence of PWM starts the spindle, and pin 16 on port 1 determines the spindle direction. The jumpers on the board will determine the spindle logic, so no output should be assigned to drive the spindle.
Arturo Duncan
https://cnc4pc.com
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General Mach Discussion / Re: Triggering my plasma using a relay issues
« Last post by JDEWizard on September 04, 2025, 11:28:59 AM »Thanks for the relay.
question
what i am trying to do is to just turn the torch on with the controller with out having the THC.
so this is not possible with this controller?
JDEWizard
question
what i am trying to do is to just turn the torch on with the controller with out having the THC.
so this is not possible with this controller?
JDEWizard