Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => General Mach Discussion => Topic started by: AdamF on January 28, 2011, 01:05:46 PM
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Hi all,
I set up my Mach3 software today and hooked it up to the Mini Mill 3-Pro. I started jogging the tool around to get a feel for the different feedrates and noticed a couple things:
- The tool would only move positively along the X and Y axis in real time, despite the DRO in Mach3 indicating that the tool was moving in both the negative and positive directions
- The tool would move in the Y direction when I would try jogging using the Z direction buttons in Mach 3, but when clicking the Y direction buttons I get no response in any direction on the tool
- This would occur whether I used the arrow keys on the keyboard or the hard keys for +Y, -Y, etc. in Mach 3
- Z axis would not move on the milling machine despite the DRO in Mach3 indicating that it was moving
Any suggestions on how to go about fixing these issues? I'm very new to the Mach3 software, so any support here is much appreciated.
Thanks!
- Adam
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Sounds like you have the pins assigned wrongly for your axis, you need to work out which motors are which and enter these numbers in the respective boxes in Ports and Pins Motor Setup page.
Hood
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Is there any particular way I should go about finding which motors should go to which pin/port?
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Did you build the machine? If yes then you should really know which pins you connected to. If you bought it ready hooked up then there may be documentation or even a xml file with the setup.
Hood
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Bought it ready to be hooked up. I think I figured one thing out, as now the tool moves in every direction, but they are backwards. I.e. jogging in the positive Y direction will result in the tool moving in the negative Y direction etc. I'm a student doing research for a professor, so I'll ask him if he has any documentation that might help fix this issue.
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Reversing is done from Config menu then Homing and limits. It may also be the Dir pin active state as changing that will also reverse an axis, however your drives will likely need either active High or Low and you should find out which and set it up correctly in Ports and Pin Motor Setup. Once thats correct if the axis is still going the wrong direction then the reversing from Homing and Limits is where to do it.
Hood
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I am posting for the first time here, so please bear with me. I have been searching this and other forums for this particular problem, and rather than start a new post on the same topic, I thought it is more appropriate to add it in here.
My only worry is that no-one will see it.
Anyway, I've just finished setting up a 3040 Router (the Chinese version) with Mach3 and although at the start, things didn't look too good, but I'm now at the stage where the X and Y motors are running sweetly; except for the Z axis.
It will only run in one direction regardless of which key is pressed.
I have swapped the pin allocation from either X or Y to Z and the same effect happens, only a different key does the move: this suggests that the signals from the PC are not getting through.
I've looked at the Config pages dozens of times, but nothing is leaping out that is obviously wrong. I've allocated different keys to the Z axis, with the same single direction.
Has anyone had the same problem with this?
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Update:
So it would appear that I have all the input ports and pins set up correctly as now each axis will move in both directions. However, the issue I'm running into now is that the scale of movement on the different axes is different. For example, the DRO will say that the Z axis is traveling significantly faster than it really is (z axis motion in reality is barely perceptible), and the X and Y axes seem to be operating at different feed rates as well. Suggestions?
Thanks!
- Adam
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Likely you need to set the correct steps per unit for your axis.
Hood
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Wouldn't that also mean that the steps per unit for each axis would be different as well? If so, when I go into the Motor Tuning and Setup, the step per unit for each axis is the same, but I still run into this issue.
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Are your physical axis all the same, ie same pitch screws? same gearing? same microstepping on the drives?
Hood
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My initial guess would be that they are, as all motors are of the same type and appear to be connected similarly. However, seeing as how I had no hand in the fabrication of the machine I can't say for certain.
The stepper motor is of this make:
http://motionking.com/Products/Hybrid_Stepper_Motors/23HM_Stepper_Motor_57mm_0.9degree.htm?ID=9&fenlei_id=2&products=23HM%20Stepper%20Motor%20-57mm%280.9%20degree%29 (http://motionking.com/Products/Hybrid_Stepper_Motors/23HM_Stepper_Motor_57mm_0.9degree.htm?ID=9&fenlei_id=2&products=23HM%20Stepper%20Motor%20-57mm%280.9%20degree%29)
Model Number: 23HM8430.
I used the stepper calculator to roughly determine that the Steps per mm should be around 640, but without knowing the other variables such as Pulse/Step, gearing, and pitch screw details it's hard to tell if that value is accurate.
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Ok well your motors are 400 steps per rev rather than the normal 200 steps per rev. If you can measure the pitch of the screws and see if there is any gearing between motors and screws then it would only leave the microstepping of the drives to find.
The other thing you could do is go to the setting page in Mach and use the Set Steps button, it will only be as accurate as your measurements and you may have to do things a few times for each axis but it should get you close.
Hood
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Thanks for all the help so far! As far as measuring the pitch, which screws should I be measuring? After looking at the picture, it would appear that the cylinder coming out of the stepper motor is smooth, but I'm guessing that's the one that I need to measure? Lastly, what should I be looking for to determine the gearing between the motors and screws as you mentioned?
I think I'll just e-mail the motor manufacturer to figure out the microstepping.
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The motor manufacturer wont be able to tell you the micro stepping, that is determined by the drives and the setting you have on these drives (if adjustable)
Sorry dont follow what you mean by After looking at the picture, it would appear that the cylinder coming out of the stepper motor is smooth, but I'm guessing that's the one that I need to measure?
Can you attach a picture of your machine, especially pictures of the drives and axis connections would be good.
Hood
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It might be a little until I can get pictures of the machine itself. But it is a Minitech Mini Mill 3 Pro. I found a sheet of the machine and drive specs, and it appears that they have a large range of micro stepping modes, so I'm thinking that maybe the axes are on different step modes. Could this potentially be the issue? If so, how do I go about checking/changing the micro-stepping modes? Here's a link to the machine specs.
http://minitechcnc.com/mini%20mill%20Pro%20More.htm
Interestingly enough, it says that the stepper motors operate at 200 steps/rev in full step mode, but on the motors there is a sticker saying "0.9deg/step".
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Look at this page and then click on the downloads link and then sign up and see if they can provide a xml, that will save you a lot of problems.
http://minitechcnc.com/software09/software.htm
Hood