Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => General Mach Discussion => Topic started by: punisher001 on October 12, 2009, 11:54:36 PM
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Sorry Guys and gals i'm a real newbee to this CNC stuff, anyway i bought a CNC machine off ebay, it came with no instructions whats so ever and no cad software, i bought the Mach 3 software, installed it and set up the parallel port and the pins a ports as per the mach 3 website.
loaded up some Gcodes that i had someone do for me, started the stepdown motor pressed start on Mach 3 and you guessed it nothing,
i can jog on the software and see the numbers move on the XYZ axis but no movement on the machine, i can hear the machine change sound as each Gcode is run but no movement,
i am using a desktop dual core computer but as i said real new to this , i am guessing something real simple but i have no idea now
any help would be much appreciated
thanks in advance
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Believe me I am as lost you but further down the curve at this moment. Tired and cross eyed from reading in the wee hours yet? Anyway. reset is not flashing? Have you set up an E switch and is it really hooked up? I suffered grounding issues that would trigger a stoppage with no visible signs. But that lets hope that is not the issue. Really look thru the ports and pins and motor settings. Do your steppers resist your turning them by hand when the machine is powered up? I have minimal to no experience and I do notice more as I look thru all of the options on the toolbars to Mach. Have you watched the videos? The ones I have watched have helped. Regarding limits and homing and such.
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thanks for the reply.
yeah Eswitch is set up
Reset is not flashing.
my steppers do resist when trying to turn by hand.
i have not watched the video yet but will do now
thanks
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Have you set your steps per unit and the velocity and acceleration to suit your motors/drives?
Hood
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Forutnately/Unfortunately there are quite a few videos. I watched some of them when I had no answers and it helped with problems that were about to arise LOL that I wasnt aware of. I didnt want the info it just happened to be applicable. At least your steppers are powered up correctly or it sounds right. What kind of machine did you purchase? Do you know what size steppers? For example my Sherline mill I am running 8000 steps, velocity of 24, accel of 5 and step pulse 1 and direction 0. Not that this will be the ultimate end all setting, but it is pretty accurate for what I know as of now. I am not a machinist just lucky enough to acquire and start to use some cnc stuff. The continuous mental challenges are what interest me I think. Most of my problems seem to be more related with how to hold the piece to the work surface.
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Hey Hood
thanks for your input
Mate i have no idea what you are talking about, like i said i'm very new to this so i am not sure what you mean.
hey Fastest 1
no idea of stepper size, no idea what sort of machine it is lol
thanks again
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Ok well you have to set the amount of steps Mach puts out to move 1 unit. 1 Unit will either be 1 mm or 1`inch depending whether you are set up in metric or imperial.
To work out the steps per unit you need to know the type of motors, if steppers it is likely they will be 200 steps per revolution. Stepper drives nearly always have the ability to microstep, so that if you have the drives set to 10 microsteps it will take 10 x 200 = 2000 steps to rotate 1 revolution. Servos are a bit different but it is likely you have steppers. The pitch of the leadscrew/ballscrew and any gearing will also be needed before you can work out the correct steps per unit.
So really you need to find out what you have, if you can take some pictures of the hardware or provide a link to where you bought the machine that will probably let us determine what you have.
Hood
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thanks Hood
yes i have a stepper i know that much
i have set the steps in the config of Mach3.
i just watched the tutorial ON TROUBLESHOOTING and everything he said on the video i have done and still no movement, like i said before i can hear the stepper changing sound as i either jog or use a Gcode but the damn thing won't move
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is it a loud noise? Try removing the motors from the axis and see if they turn without the axis friction. What have you got the velocity and accel set to and also what have you got the steps per unit set to?
Hood
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i have the steps set at 1800
i just watched the video on this section and just tried what he did on the tutorial but nothing,
no it's not a loud noise just a change in the sound
i will try and remove the motors if i know how lol
thanks
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ok i took the motors off , everything moves by hand as it should, but still won't move from Mach3.
it seems like there's not enough power coming from the stepper motor to turn the motors.
no real sure though
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it is still probably a tuning issue. It was/is very frustrating getting started. Stick with it. Any pics of the machine?
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yeah i'm sure it is a tuning issue, and yes very frustrating lol
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Is it a mill or a lathe or? It can be very frustrating but rewarding when the bulb finally goes off.
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did you try the 8000 steps?
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it's a Mill and yes i have tried 8000
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Ok just an update.
i took the Z axix motor off, hooked it up to the controller and mach 3 , ran some GCodes, now it vibrates as each gcode for the z axis comes into play but the motor don't spin, so at least i know the computer is talking to the controller, i did some investigations and noticed that the step motors are some cheap ones from "Keling Technology" you can buy them for $39, so it maybe fair to say that the motors may not have enough power to turn, dunno just a thought,
any suggestions
thanks
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I finally upgraded my Sieg X2 mill from Xylotex drivers, to Geckos, and I had the same
Ok just an update.
i took the Z axix motor off, hooked it up to the controller and mach 3 , ran some GCodes, now it vibrates as each gcode for the z axis comes into play but the motor don't spin, so at least i know the computer is talking to the controller, i did some investigations and noticed that the step motors are some cheap ones from "Keling Technology" you can buy them for $39, so it maybe fair to say that the motors may not have enough power to turn, dunno just a thought,
any suggestions
thanks
I updated my mini mill from Xylotex, to Geckoes and had the same problem you are describing. My problem was that the step and direction pins were opposite of the two drives, and I had overlooked that. Once I reversed the pins, all were fine. Can you tell us what drivers were sent with your machine?
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When you say Drivers what are you meaning?
thanks
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Stepper motor drivers,,,, That which the computer, stepper motors, and powersupply are all plugged into. There may also be what's called a Breakout Board, which isolates the computer from the stepper motor drives.
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Well have a box that came with it that i plug the stepper motors into and attach the parallel port cord into to and from my computer, but no drivers came with that
thanks
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The drivers are in the box,,, Or you can call them controllers. here's what I'm referring to http://www.geckodrive.com/ (http://www.geckodrive.com/), http://www.xylotex.com/ (http://www.xylotex.com/),
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ok well i have something like that yes,
so are you saying i should open it up and change some wires?
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Nope, you need to open it up and see what you have, You said the seller didn't give you any documentation. Once you find out what you have, you should be able to go to the manufactures website, and donwload the manuals for your equipment. Chances are, all you will have to do once you get the manual, is change the pin settings in Mach to get you going. If you can't find the manual online, post what you find here, and someone should be able to help you out.
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Awesome thanks man, i will open it up now and see what we have
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ok opened it up, no manufacture name anywhere to be seen
i did notice some writing on the PCB
here is what it said may mean something to you experts.
pin 2 - XDIR
pin 3 - XSTEP
4 - YDIR
5 - YSTEP
6 - ZDIR
7 - ZSTEP
8 - ADIR
9 - ASTEP
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Open up Mach,click on config,ports and pins, and then motor outputs. make sure the settings match. If not, just click on the box, and put the right number in. for example, for your x Axis, you want the enabled box checked, Step pin# would be 3, and Dir Pin# would be 2.
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Yes mate just did that and wow and behold it WORKS, Hoorah, finally i can sleep peacefully lol
thanks so much for you help it is very very appreciated
thanks
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NO WAY! Congratulations! You are going to sleep now? All this work and no play? Unless you know something about the next step, the fun has just started! I know I wanted to help you as I was just there a few months ago. Enjoy
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thanks man, no not going to sleep now lol BUT i can at least sleep without worrying about the machine lol.
well you said is was something very simple and yes it was, sooooo happy it works, now i gotta watch some tutorials about homing etc before i start cutting
thanks
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Have you ever run anything cnc? BTW I shouldnt have siaid simple, I should have said cheap. The research to find the answer, well that is different.
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no nothing on cnc so its all new to me
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Well we will be seeing a bunch of each other posts in the near future I am sure. Have you figured out any commands for the MDI box? You can add single line commands. Cya soon
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oh thats a bit technical for me at this stage lol
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Well we will be seeing a bunch of each other posts in the near future I am sure. Have you figured out any commands for the MDI box? You can add single line commands. Cya soon
Use the stable version of Mach3 (3.042.029) Version 3.043 has a bug that showed up for me in MDI. With 3.043, when i set speed (f10) and then typed G1, All three axis started moving.
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cool thats the version of Mach 3 i have the good one that is
well i'm gonna be busy today trying to work all this stuff out BUT at least we got it movin so thats a start
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If you go to the 2nd screen, there is a dialog box at the bottom where you can enter MDI (Manula Data Input). If you type G0 X1 It will travel in the Y positive direction 1" or 1mm whichever unit of measure you have checked. G0 is a rapid movement, G1 a cutting move that also will need a feedrate or it will default to the last speed issued (I think that is the way I understand it. I know it might sound simple if you any experience running a machine, but to those from other fields these movements will be enlightening.
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thanks man i will try this
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I love it. You guys are working good together and progressing nicely. :)
Do you guys know how to post screen shots to get help or help others?
Brett
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Hey Brett
thanks mate, if it wasn't for these guys helping me i would be well you know lol
but in answer to your question no i don't know how to post screen shots
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Go to this link and download a free version of screen hunter and install it. http://www.wisdom-soft.com/downloads/downloadfiles.htm You can set it up so that a hot key starts the process of takeing a screen shot. I set mine to the PrtScn (Print Screen) button. You can choose which folder to save you screen shots too. I made a folder named screen shots on my desktop to save to. There are other options you can set as well. I set the type image to Jpeg. Once you have screen shots you want to post, go to the reply page or start a new topic tab. To the lower left of the reply box you will see additional options. Click on it and use the browse button beside the attach: box to browse to your picture or most other type files. The allowed type file extensions are listed below the Attach: box. You can post up to 4 attachments per reply so if you want to post more than one beside the browse button you will see more attachments. You can't have two files named the same thing in a directory and the forum is no exception to that so I use the options in screen hunter to name my screen shots a unique name by using the date and time in the file name.
Brett
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awesome thanks man
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Brett
Thaks for the suggestion on the screenshots saver. That is cool. Btw I got my new copy of Xp pro and wiped out all of my info! At least I now know what most of the settings in Mach do now!. On that note, always back up your info, I didnt. Of course this computer only runs my machines.