Machsupport Forum

Mach Discussion => General Mach Discussion => Topic started by: jdstock on May 29, 2013, 12:02:24 AM

Title: Axis Mixing Issue
Post by: jdstock on May 29, 2013, 12:02:24 AM
Hello All,

I must first confess that I am very new to CNC machines, but I hope to become a pro with a little patience and advice from the experts. I am having an issue wherein Mach3 seems to be mixing my axes. What I mean by this is the following:

1) My z axis is being treated by Mach 3 as my x axis.
2) The x & y axes are being treated as only my z axis. For example, when I press the pg up and pg dwn keys, the axes jog together at a diagonally at an equal rate across my mill.

I am sure this is simply a setting somewhere in Mach 3 that is easy for the experts, but I just can't find it. However, if that is not the case, I would be happy to provide some more background information about the setup procedure I used and the hardware as well. Lastly, I apologize if I am asking my question in the wrong section of this forum, but I did not see a particular place it belonged; therefore, the "General Mach Discussion" seemed to fit the best. Please feel free administrators to move this if it is posted in the incorrect discussion board.

Thanks,

Jacob
Title: Re: Axis Mixing Issue
Post by: Hood on May 29, 2013, 04:23:49 AM
It sounds like you possibly have the ports and pins set incorrectly such that when you jog an axis two axis are set to the same output and you are getting both moving.
The other thing I can think it may be is you have one axis slaved to another.
If you attach your xml file for the profile you are using I will take a look. To attach your xml first thing to do is open Mach and then lower right note the name of the profile. Close Mach then browse to the Mach3 folder on your drive and look for a file of that name but with a xml file extension, right click it and choose copy then go to your desktop and in a blank space right click and paste. Then rename the file to jdstock.xml and finally use the additional options button on the reply page to browse to your desktop and attach the file.
Hood
Title: Re: Axis Mixing Issue
Post by: jdstock on May 29, 2013, 10:50:24 AM
Easy enough... My .xml file is attached. Also, I included a picture of my board so you could see its corresponding pin-out. I have check and rechecked those numbers a few times so I doubt they are wrong, but it would be just my luck.  :) Also, it may be relevant to point out that my driver board is a Hobby CNC driver board.

Thanks again for all the help!
Title: Re: Axis Mixing Issue
Post by: Hood on May 29, 2013, 05:19:40 PM
Ok they look fine and no axis slaving, next thing to check is your parallel port cable, make sure it is not a cross over cable instead of a direct pin to pin cable.
Hood
Title: Re: Axis Mixing Issue
Post by: Hood on May 29, 2013, 05:29:31 PM
One thing I have noticed is there are no axis hotkeys set for jogging. That may cause issues for you so if you go to config menu then System Hotkeys and then set the keyboard arrows up to your axes.
For example click the X++ bitton in system hotkeys then a box will pop up telling you to press a key, press the right arrow. Next move on to X-- and press left arrow, same for Y and Z. Z Hotkeys are PgUp and PgDn as standard.

Hood
Title: Re: Axis Mixing Issue
Post by: jdstock on May 30, 2013, 12:39:38 AM
Parallel cable is straight through; there are no issues there. I assigned the hot keys as instructed but no change in behavior. I kind of anticipated this being the case, as I had entered g-code into the prompt and I got the same results as using the hot keys.

So the quest continues! I feel a little better knowing that it was not something super easy thus far.
Title: Re: Axis Mixing Issue
Post by: Hood on May 30, 2013, 02:47:44 AM
It has to be a problem with either the wring or the breakout board, assuming of course Mach is showing the correct axis movement and not showing the dual movement that you are actually getting.
Hood
Title: Re: Axis Mixing Issue
Post by: stirling on May 30, 2013, 04:28:24 AM
Max NC-10 wave drive is ticked. ;)

Ian
Title: Re: Axis Mixing Issue
Post by: Hood on May 30, 2013, 05:03:09 AM
Looks like my decision to get the eyes tested yesterday was the right thing to do. Roll on Monday when I get a  shiny pair of milk bottles to hang from the lugs :)
Hood
Title: Re: Axis Mixing Issue
Post by: jdstock on May 30, 2013, 08:57:41 AM
Excellent! Thank you so much Ian! It now works as desired. I am having some other issues, but for now I will read literature to see if I can find the answers there rather than plaguing you all with questions. I'll post anymore questions if I can get it resolved.

Thanks again,

Jacob
Title: Re: Axis Mixing Issue
Post by: jdstock on May 30, 2013, 11:44:06 AM
Ok, after a couple hours of troubleshooting, I am getting a lot of noise from the system. Sometimes when I boot everything up, there is no noise and the motors move very smoothly, or at least, as I would expect. Other times the motor move the correct distances, but not very smoothly. The best way I can describe it is that the motors "chatter" along the rails. Also, the motor will occasionally leap into the smooth operation that I mentioned, and very quickly leap back out causing the gantry to "stutter". I have iterated through quite a bit of motor tuning to mitigate these issues with no luck, so I am thinking its something else. If I tune the motors to move very slowly (<20 in. per min) there is no stuttering or chattering, just lots of static noise. This is most likely because it is moving so slow I can notice it.

To be explicit with the questions...

A) Is it typical for the to be a lot of static noise when none of the motors aren't being utilized?
B) Why are the motors behaving as stated above?

Posted below is a video that demonstrates some of the issues. During the video the motors are not moving very smoothly and some stuttering occurs about 13 sec. into the video. (you can tell from the change in pitch of the motors).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeYtJVUH3Zc&feature=youtu.be
Title: Re: Axis Mixing Issue
Post by: Hood on May 30, 2013, 01:30:07 PM
Have you run the driver test to see what it looks like?
Hood
Title: Re: Axis Mixing Issue
Post by: jdstock on May 30, 2013, 09:31:22 PM
I don't know what you are referring to.
Title: Re: Axis Mixing Issue
Post by: Chaoticone on May 30, 2013, 10:39:32 PM
If you go to your C:/Mach3 folder you will find in it a file named drivertest.exe  Click it and it will run.  Will need to right click and run as administrator if useing Windows 7.

Brett
Title: Re: Axis Mixing Issue
Post by: jdstock on June 04, 2013, 10:58:39 PM
I ran the driver. The test results were the best for 100kHz, and fairish for 25kHz. I selected the 100kHz kernel option in "Ports & Pins" with no improvement in the result. Any ideas? I am using a Mach3 demo, just to make sure everything works, but I think I remember reading somewhere that the demo only allows the user access to the 25kHz kernel. The program allowed me to select the 100kHz kernel, so I ASSUME it is allowing me to utilize the option. Is this a good assumption?