Messages

231

General Mach Discussion / Re: Another newbe with a 3040Z CNC from China :(

« on: February 24, 2014, 05:40:09 PM »

   Keep us informed.

  Yeah I have the 3D printer too. It is a different animal though it uses the same GCode. I never hear of anyone hand coding it.

   I will be happy to walk you thru what I know. I will pm you my number if you want to call.

232

General Mach Discussion / Re: Another newbe with a 3040Z CNC from China :(

« on: February 24, 2014, 12:57:43 PM »

Lets try for a few things.

Does this machine have onboard spindle speed control? (1 of the boards appears so).

Have you ever run or set up Mach 3 successfully? Not a knock, just trying to find where the issue might be.

Good the steppers do lock at some point, most likely a setting in Mach.

I would stick with the 25Khz on the set up. Especially with your steps per unit settings as they are. I personally think there is a mistake there but routers are different beasts. My reasoning, you state your motors are tuned to 400 steps per unit. Most steppers are 200 step per revolution or 1.8 degree per step. I wouldnt imagine a 2x micro stepping to be very smooth as I have always run 10x. Nor would its theoretical resolution be very low. Somebody else might chime in on that.

  Your pin assignments are typical for your steppers. I see no issue there. Not sure of the ramifications of the active low for the step and direction as I cant remember but none of mine are checked on my USB Smoothstepper/G540/Lathe profile.

  Is "disable spindle relays" checked? I believe it should be (it is in mine)

  On mine under "motor control", use spindle motor output is checked as is Step/Direction motor, PWM base is 5 and PWM minimum is 0%. This area has always stumped me and I dont know why. It could be vocabulary, I dont know. My spindle does work though.

  Do you know how to turn your spindle on via the MDI line? M3 S750? for example (clockwise with a requested speed of 750rpm) Again not a knock just not sure of what you need to get going. I had no idea even after my machine was wired correctly. There is and was a bit to learn.

  Keep posting.

233

General Mach Discussion / Re: X Limit switch challenges

« on: February 24, 2014, 12:32:26 PM »

BB,    First go back thru the diagnostics. It sounds like the switch might be wired correctly but not the BOB.

   Which inputs are you using? pin 10 port 1?
   Does 1 leg of the EStop switch go to the ground of the BOB and the other leg go to pin 10? Try a jumper for a test. If that works then suspect your switch and or wiring.

   Also, you say you built your router and controller. Controller from a kit? Hobby Cnc?

   If you can, post pictures with your cell phone. Some of us are much more visual.

234

General Mach Discussion / Re: got the limits wortking great - but why can i jog past them and squeal the motor

« on: February 24, 2014, 12:28:50 PM »

  Where in the world are you? screw cobblers?, doofers? squealing the motor? I swear there has to be a common vocabulary somewhere. I can imagine you wankered the screw but not the bearing.

235

General Mach Discussion / Re: home plus and minus = limit switches

« on: February 24, 2014, 09:14:54 AM »

   Just saw your micro stepping question among this. Most modern steppers are 200 steps per revolution or 1.8 degree. Lets just assume they are for simplicities sake. There is an issue called resonance that will make steppers stall at certain rpms. For example a Gecko G540 has no option but 10x micro stepping. That means it would take 2000 steps per revolution (not accounting for lead screws and gearing), theoretically it also means your individual step would now be .18 of a degree (again this is theoretical). One of my machines requires 101,000 steps per inch, another only 40,000.

236

General Mach Discussion / Re: I feel somewhat stupid asking but.......

« on: February 24, 2014, 08:56:26 AM »

nobby, Though some breakout boards will require an external voltage for some switches, most that I have seen (hobby level breakout boards) do not. It is a simple switch between whatever pin you assign (must be an input pin) and the ground pin, again usually there is a common ground pin for all switches. Changing the "active low" status will accommodate either style of switch though NC is best.

You must account for momentum of the machine in motion when coming up to a limit switch. It might not seem like much on a machine traveling 60 inch per minute to keep traveling .005 after the switch triggering but if that machine was running 600ipm, the .05 wouldnt be acceptable. Yes that is what the slow zone is about. Set it to .5" or so and a low percentage of its rapid, say 25%. This should keep you safe.

Have you calibrated your axis'? Are they dead on? In General Logic Configuration, do you have DRO's set up to setup units?

237

General Mach Discussion / Re: X Limit switch challenges

« on: February 24, 2014, 08:50:32 AM »

   These are 2 different set of problems.

   First lets get the EStop sorted. Are you sure your EStop is using NC contacts (the contacts are available separately and in both configurations). If you untick the "active low" does the EStop requested error go away? If so leave it that way until you get some new contacts or EStop button. Personally I have had this issue too. I now order my EStop switches with 2 sets of NC contacts. I use 1 set for the latching feature of my contactor and the other set for the EStop within Mach and my controller. My computer is powered upstream of the contactor so it never loses power. The pressing of the EStop kills all power to the machine at that very moment AND triggers Mach into a fault/EStop condition.

238

General Mach Discussion / Re: X Limit switch challenges

« on: February 23, 2014, 07:42:06 PM »

Hi, i am new to cnc and have a problem i need some help with please. I need help with my limit switch problem?
I`m new to cnc and this forum, i have built a router and controller but can only get it to work without limit switches pluged in.
My settup,
4 steppers, one slaved to the y axis.
E stop wired NO on pin 10
limit switches, 2 each axis all 6 wired NC in series on pin 11. Active low.
The problem, the nachine will only run if the limit socket on my controller is not pluged in as soon as i plug it in even with machine idle but under mach control  the reset button comes on and advises limit activated.
I have tried limits active high, no result.
i am getting very frustrated with this, the machine runs well without the limits pluged in but i do not want to run the risk of machine damage if i get a problem, i also want to use the same switches for homing but i need the limit problem solved, new to this so to solve one problen at a time.

Hope i can get some help.
Best wishes to all.
Billy

Have you changed the debounce setting?

Try installing a value of 1000 for starters. If it works, try 500, keep going less and less. Switches especially cheap mechanical ones are prone to bounce. Mach sees this as a trigger. If you lengthen this time (debounce) the signal must be present for the set time to be recognized. Try this first.

It could also be a ground issue but more on that later.

Do not switch to an NO set of switches. NC is the safest way and will come to a halt if ANYTHING in that circuit should fail. Better safe than sorry.

239

General Mach Discussion / Re: Machine running in slow motion

« on: February 23, 2014, 10:39:44 AM »

A potentiometer? Is that assigned for a manual feed rate over ride?

240

General Mach Discussion / Newbie with new 6090 needs help...

« on: February 22, 2014, 11:06:11 PM »

Your theory sounds about right.