Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => Mach4 General Discussion => Topic started by: Shamanj on June 05, 2015, 07:09:03 AM
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Hi guys,
I'm having a hell of a time setting up ESS on Mach4.
So far I have my axis's jogging, and thats it, my home switches light, but the moment i hit Ref an axis the system stops responding saying the switches have been hit.
I'm not sure why my keyboard wont jog but if I have to assign every single key i'll be grumpy.
So heres my idea.
If someone has a working version of Mach4 on ESS that has the spindle, 3 axis, and homing working, please provide the Mach4 loader file so we can see all the I/O screens on ESS that you have done. It seems there are just so many people with differing problems maybe its time we got together and started with a baseline setup that we can expand on as a group.
So does anyone running warp9 ESS actually have this working functionally, or is it still a pipe dream?
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Shamanj,
I have MACH4 and ESS working with homing sensors on my three axis machine. The one remaining task is to setup the spindle. On MACH3 I was using a water cooled Chinese spindle with a Huanyang VFD that used a plugin. We the plugin supported a VFD that was not fully modbus compliant and they author never wrote the plugin again to support MACH4. I just purchased the CNCPC C41 board that supports PWM speed control.
I agree getting MACH4 setup with the ESS is a challenge. Homing requires things to be set in the ESS plugin instead of MACH4, etc. It is more difficult to get going that MACH3 no question. I will see if I can get some screen shots or at least a list of what you have to set to get the basic aspects working. There are a few other people that also have ESS and they have spindle and everything else setup. My homing, referencing, Gcode all seems to work correctly. I am waiting on an updated plugin for the POKEYS to get my pendant working.
Russ
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Russ cheers bud. So do you not use the inputs in Mach4 for your home switches but the ESS config screen?
Mate I'd love those screenshots!
I think i'm running the same controller card in Mach3 with no problem. Have a relay that switches when needed. Goes forward only no reverse function.
I'm playing in it now trying to make something happen. If I have any luck with the spindle will let you know. I'll be here for a few hrs.
It certainly seems promising.
What of keyboard jogging, do you need to map all the old inputs for that too?
I have the same spindle setup as you, and was looking at purchasing a "Large torque"(lol) 8000rpm now found on aliexpress check it out.
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Shamanj,
The keyboard jogging aspect broke with one of the releases of MACH4, that has been posted several times. Someone said they took a keyboard plugin for MACH4 from an earlier version and were able to get it working again. I have one of the newer releases and it is still broken. You can jog using the screen arrows but not the keyboards, and yes you do have to map things.
Russ
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Here is a Word doc that contains screenshots of MACH4 configured for Homing using the ESS. Hope this helps.
Russ
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Dude thanks!
I have no idea why, and those are the settings i had, I just deleted it and re-installed it, deleted the M3/4/5 macros and it seems to work. I'm now homing!
Now I'm worried about my spindle control lol.
But this makes me happy!
A-axis is doing what the other axis were doing before, saying it trips then freezes the program. I got no idea why.
Can you tell me what you know about setting up keyboard commands like e-stop and jogging?
Thanks bro!
Champion!
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Shamanj,
For E-Stop that should be a dedicated IO coming in from a ESTOP switch. Normally you would not use the keyboard for that function but something that is guaranteed to work, since this is a big safety issue. Even if you used the keyboard the keyboard plugin apparently is broken so you will not be able to do that type config until they get that plugin fixed again. Next I am going to work on the Spindle will install the CNCPC C41 with relays for forward and reverse and you configure the ESS like an axis to send out a pulse stream for the speed that gets converted to a voltage by the C41 board and you configure the VFD to take speed command as 0-10V. More to come hope to get this working in the next few days.
Russ
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Thanks for the update russ I'll stay tuned. My e-stop was my reset key (~) key next to the 1 in mach3 and I have a mechanical e-stop for machine shut down on the machine itself. From memory it was pin14, but it can't be selected on the ESS config as its an output? Anyway thats not a huge issue, I'm guessing its still quite a work in progress, but I guess I was thinking it was ready for use ;) Guess I'll keep waiting, but for now atleast I can play around with it ;)
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Next I am going to work on the Spindle will install the CNCPC C41 with relays for forward and reverse and you configure the ESS like an axis to send out a pulse stream for the speed that gets converted to a voltage by the C41 board and you configure the VFD to take speed command as 0-10V. More to come hope to get this working in the next few days.
Hi,
is there any chance that you can provide detailed info on how to configure ESS and Mach4 for C41 like you provided screenshots for homing? Thanks.
Boris
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Qwertysimo,
Look at my post on June 5th it contains the info you need on homing with C41.
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Yes, I found it, sure, thanks, but I have asked you about guide for setting up ESS, Mach4, VFD and C41 for on/off/speed/fwd/rev spindle control.
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I just started the Spindle work today. Got buried in work and other things, now I have the latest MACH4 release, latest ESS release, and have homing and gcode working fine. WOrking on the spindle control of the VFD using the C41R2 board from CNC4PC, will post if I get this working.
Russ
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Following up on the C41 board and spindle control. I'm just setting up a similar configuration now and wanted to know how you got it working.
Thanks
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Yes but I am out of town on business will post info when I get back
Russ
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Thanks for your reply on a year old post. I managed to get mine working last night. Still a few quirks to work through but it feels like most of the heavy lifting is over.
John
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IF anyone still checks this thread, could you post your config for the spindle. I am working on the same thing with no luck getting an output from the c41. Relay clicks on when hitting the On screen buttons, but the 0V-10V output always reads 0V.
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Have you tried turning the spindle on via a gcode command?
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Yes I've tried "M3 S10500" output still stays at 0V
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Hi,
you have yet to establish whether signal is leaving the ESS to the BoB or not, it could be that it is but
the BoB is not doing its thing or there is no signal output from the ESS.
Can you monitor the ESS output?
Craig