Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => General Mach Discussion => Topic started by: powermatt on December 02, 2013, 05:01:57 PM
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I purchased a machine a while back and it has been working great until it developed a limit switch triggered problem. That came and went for a while and the motherboard went. I replaced the motherboard and now I am not sure where to start.
My machine is a knee mill that the previous owner setup to be controlled with Mach 3.
I replaced the motherboard and the video card and was thinking I would be back up and running using my existing settings. Now when I fire my machine up, my drives are all engaged but my home and limit switches are all lit up for all three axis.
Can someone please tell me where to start? I am in the middle of a production run and need to gett back up and running. I would love to be able to talk to someone about the setup I have so I understand it better.
Please help???
Thanks,
Matt
612-490-5696
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Well, I was able to find part of the problem. The port was turned off. I turned that on but am not sure if the settings are correct. Machines starts up and homes great. When I run the program I have been running before the new motherboard, it can't seem to stay on path and crashes. When I cut the feed rate in half it runs the program without problems. I am running Windows XP. I am not sure if I have the parallel port set up correctly?
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Matt
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It is likely just your new computer does not have as clean a pulse as the old one, you could try increasing the pulse width and see if that helps.
Hood
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Hood,
Thanks for the reply. I was able to complete a run today but had to cut the feed rate to 50%. The funny part is it seems to be taking the same run time as it did on 100% with the last setup. Again all that has changed is a new identical motherboard and a new video card. Not sure if this info helps at all.
A new problem that came up this morning:
My motors would not sync up. I had to turn the power on and off several times until all three connected. I have a had this happen in the past but not for a long time. Any ideas?
I really appreciate all of your help. I picked this machine up to get back to machining here in my shop. I am drilling simple bolt patterns right now and am afraid to tackle anything more complex until I can work some of these bugs out.
Thanks,
Matt
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First thing to do is run the driver test and see what it looks like.
If you want to attach your xml I will have a look through it to see if there are any problems to be found with your config.
Hood
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Thanks Hood!
I have attached my XML file.
My drivers test says excellent. Is there anything else I need to look for when watching the test?
Also what is the correct start up order?
Currently I fire up my computer, run the drivers test, start Mach3, and turn on my machine and control. Is this correct?
Thanks again for all your help!
Matt
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What you should be looking for in the driver test is a nice clean line with very little disturbance and no large spikes.
I looked at your xml and your pulse width is set to zero, try setting that to 10 and see if that helps, also the Dir one as well.
Check at your parallel port and see what voltage it is, most modern ones are just 3.3v and it will depend on your breakout board/drives whether they will be happy at that reduced voltage, if not that could be an issue.
Hood
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Hi all
I have similar problem
I converted an old Farley Wizard to mach3 and got it running perfectly but...
I forgot that hard drives don't like vibrations and after a test run with a small file at full speed (6000mm/m) the gantry started to jump on the rails and the hard drive got damaged.
Anyway I replaced the board because the old one did not had Sata connections and a SSD hard drive and put the old xml file in it and is up and running.
Now to my problem, if I load a file the machine runs just fine but if I try to jog any of the axis they only move the amount of distance that is set on the jog dial (100.000mm) or what I put there.
Before the hard drive failure I could jog in continuous mode and now it doesn't do it.
The other thing I noticed during a test cut this morning is that the machine stops for no reason and displays a limit switch activation but the axis are nowhere close to the limit switches
Any pointers ?
We really need the machine up and running.
Running mach3 .066 with license.
Ric
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Press the Tab key on your keyboard and make sure you are not in Step Jog mode.
Limit switch issue is you are picking up noise and Mach is seeing it as a limit activation. Limits and E-stops as well as all other low voltage signal wires should be properly shielded and properly grounded. You could try increasing the Debounce Interval on General Config page, try 2000 and lower as much as you can if it helps.
Hood
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Hi Hood
That is one of the problems
When I press Tab I can't change between step and continuous (the LEDs don't light up).
With the previous mainboard there was no noise issues the computer is in a steel cabinet and everything is well grounded.
The only thing I could find is that the old mainboard was running at around 4 on the driver test and this one is doing around 5.5 to 6.
Going to try the debounce setting and let you know later on.
Ric
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Ok, changed the Debounce interval to 2000 and during the test cut the machine stopped once with a limit switch warning.
Other thing that changed is X+ limit switch is always on (tested connections an all ok) so must be something on the LPT from this mainboard.
Yet another one on the old mainboard with touch screen the keyboard arrows didn't work for the jog function and in this one is working.
Starting to consider starting from scratch with the Mach3 install
Need to get high control to work but that is something for another day
Ric
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attach your xml and I will have a look.
Hood
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Here it is
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You have Jog On/Off button switched Off so you will not be able to seect any of the Jog modes.
Not sure what you are meaning regarding
Other thing that changed is X+ limit switch is always on
If that was the case then you would not be able to get Mach out of Reset, so possibly you are meaning something different than I am thinking you mean?
Hood
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Not sure what you are meaning regarding
Other thing that changed is X+ limit switch is always on
If that was the case then you would not be able to get Mach out of Reset, so possibly you are meaning something different than I am thinking you mean?
Hood
That's exactly it I can't reset Mach, the only way is to go to config/port and pins and deselect that limit switch
I did check the connections and the switch itself and there is nothing wrong with it.
All this issues started after I copy the .xml file to this install it was working just fine on the previous computer.
Ric
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If the switch is working and you have verified that by testing with a meter right back to the port on your computer then you must have a bad parallel port. You could double check that by either making a new basic xml and just setting up that input or download Parmon and see what it is saying.
Hood
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Thanks, will that a go
About the jog not been enabled where do I do that ?
I looked at all the settings on Mach3 and the only mention to jog is on General configuration on Persistent Jog Mode,
Is this the one ?
Ric
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See pic.
Hood
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Had a go this morning
And no luck
With the "Jog ON/OFF" on it does the same
"ON" move the amount typed in the jog wheel "Tab" in this case 100.00mm
"OFF" does exactly the same as above.
Ric
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Well it seems to be working fine here with your xml so I am not sure why/how you could be having issues. Can you attach your latest xml, also what Rev of Mach are you using and I will test with that.
Hood
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I'm using the .066 version and my latest .xml file is the one I posted before.
The only difference from the previous computer is the mainboard and the SSD drive
Everything else is the same
Going to play with the machine this weekend and see how it goes
Ric
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Your xml will change every make a change in Mach so that one posted earlier will not be the same.
Hood