Machsupport Forum
Third party software and hardware support forums. => Third party software and hardware support forums. => Topic started by: hmonnier on December 26, 2019, 09:32:05 AM
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Good Morning.
I received a new pendant as a Christmas present, and have a couple of setup questions. I have gone thru the manual, and have set up all the buttons as shown on page 13. However I do not understand what is supposed to go in all the button windows for "Custom OEM Code #1" (also #2), including what is supposed to go into all the associated Macro # fields. Assistance will be welcomed as I'm currently stumped. I have attached a snapshot to show how far I've gotten (not far LOL). Forgot to add, I'm on MACH3.....
Thanks, Henri Monnier - cnc@themonniers.com
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After a lot of playing around and trying things, I've discovered that if in the config, if i set a button macro to one in the list, it seems to function fine. However if I select a custom macro, and put that number in the macro box for that macro, it does not work. So my suspicion is that i have no idea what code number I should be putting in that custom oem code box. In the manual, it shows a code of 1001, but I have no idea if that is a good number or not. Can one of you out there that have and are using this pendant, could you help me out a bit solving this little issue????
Thanks, Henri Monnier - cnc@themonniers.com for faster response.....
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Hi,
I have the same product installed on my newly made CNC mill, and I have the same problem...
as always chinese manuals are useless (or not specific enough), so I'm stuck like you!
I was thinking if there may be a list of mach3 operation codes that may fit in those macro boxes... but I'm completely new with the software too... so I'm just wondering.....
Anyway, for now I have bigger problems to face.... sometimes while jogging with the pendant the mach3 software get stuck and the axis I am moving continues to move even if I stop turning the wheel! I need to push the reset button for stopping the machine, as none of the other buttons in mach3 work....
Bye Adrian
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Hi.
sometimes while jogging with the pendant the mach3 software get stuck and the axis I am moving continues to move even if I stop turning the wheel!
If you spin the wheel fast enough the machine can't keep up so the pulses get stored up, so even when the wheel stops the
pulses in the buffer cause the machine to move until the buffer is emptied. This is normal behavior. You need to either not
spin the wheel so fast OR decrease the step size so that the machine never lags behind OR increase the speed of the machine
so that it never lags behind and therefore no pulses get pushed into the buffer.
My solution was the second option, namely reduce the step size. I had originally set the maximum movement per click at 1mm.
I had the problem you describe, that is the machine would carry on moving even after I stopped. I reduced that down to
0.5mm per click. Now I can still make it happen if I spin the wheel really really fast, but you have to be pretty determined
to do it. Mostly I can turn the wheel and the machine keeps pace at a good and comfortable speed without overrun. Problem solved.
Craig
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I thank you both for your comments. I found that it also interfered with my SmoothStepper, causing the stepper to alarm. Once that happened, in order to reset the stepper, you had to shut MACH3 down, then restart it from scratch. Not a big deal if you are not in the middle of a carve, but a potential pain if you are. I also noticed that there were also some impacts to buttons on the 2010 Screenset that I use; the buttons no longer worked if you selected them with the mouse. Also the inadequate manual and no support (they ignored messages sent, I had return notifications set, so I know they received them; multiple published contact addresses) from the manufacturer, lead me to abandon my use of the pendant.
I had wished this pendant would have been an asset to operation, but after spending almost 5 or 6
days of frustration trying to get the pendant working satisfactorily, I flat gave up and returned it to Amazon.
I have returned to using my old wired ShuttlePro, which functions fine with no impacts to screen buttons, or the stepper. Hopefully it will not crap out, since it will be difficult to find another....
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@Henri
regarding the pendant performance, I doubt on its reliability too.
while jogging sometimes the axis I'm working with, becomes crazy and moves forward or back at high speed for fractions of a second then returms to move properly....
it's not a question of speed, as it happens also when turning showly the wheel, and the switch is set to 0.1/0.01%.
I think you made the right choise to give it back to Amazon.... I can't do it as I bought on Aliexpress at the beginning of the year... but I may put it on sale!!
I would like to use a simple wired PG, but my controller card (the XHC MK3-ET ethernet) does not have the inputs needed... I wonder if I may use another expansion card as interface for controlling it....
Like Craig said, it may be a question of buffer (thank you for the hint, Craig!) but I also wonder if other hardware/software plug-ins may cause the system to be unstable.
The motor speed is set so that I can move the axis by 0.1mm/wheel pulse.
@Craig
is there a way to see if a buffer was made and the system is waiting to end the sequence?
I am pretty new on the mach3 so I don't know the meanng of many error messages.... but this is a list of the errors I last saved:
Sun - 18:06:54 ---Program Startup
Sun - 18:06:56 ---ReConfiguration Estop.
Sun - 18:07:01 ---Device IO Triggered.
Sun - 18:07:59 ---Device is busy!
Sun - 18:08:10 ---Mach3 is jogging!
Sun - 18:08:36 ---Device is busy!
Sun - 18:08:36 ---Mach3 is jogging!
Sun - 18:08:38 ---Device is busy!
Sun - 18:08:38 ---Mach3 is jogging!
Sun - 18:08:46 ---Device is busy!
Sun - 18:08:47 ---Mach3 is jogging!
Sun - 18:08:51 ---Device is busy!
Sun - 18:08:53 ---Mach3 is jogging!
Sun - 18:08:59 ---Device is busy!
Sun - 18:09:02 ---Mach3 is jogging!
Sun - 18:09:55 ---Device is busy!
Sun - 18:10:53 ---Mach3 is jogging!
Sun - 18:11:25 ---Device is busy!
Sun - 18:12:02 ---Mach3 is jogging!
Sun - 18:14:12 ---Device is busy!
Sun - 18:14:29 ---Mach3 is jogging!
Sun - 18:18:42 ---Device is busy!
Sun - 18:18:46 ---Mach3 is jogging!
Sun - 18:18:56 ---Device is busy!
Sun - 18:18:56 ---Mach3 is jogging!
Sun - 18:19:20 ---Device is busy!
Sun - 18:19:21 ---Mach3 is jogging!
Sun - 18:19:34 ---Device is busy!
Sun - 18:20:12 ---Nothing to Feedhold
Sun - 18:20:15 ---Nothing to Feedhold
Sun - 18:20:15 ---Waiting for sequence to End!
Sun - 18:20:18 ---Nothing to Feedhold
Sun - 18:20:18 ---Nothing to Feedhold
Sun - 18:20:20 ---Nothing to Feedhold
Sun - 18:20:33 ---Nothing to Feedhold
Sun - 18:20:35 ---EStop Button Pressed.
Sun - 18:20:43 ---EStop Button Pressed.
Sun - 18:20:47 ---Note: Cycle Pause in effect..No jogging or Reverse!!
Sun - 18:21:36 ---EStop Button Pressed.
Estop pressed is when the axis continues to move for long after I stopped turning the wheel....
so I doubt such a buffer was stored.
When this problem happens also other errors are reported, but I don't remember them now....
Do you know the meaning of "device is busy"?
which device could it talk about?
the control card, the PC, or even the pendant?
I have one last question I hope you guys can help me with:
sometimes if I want to move an axis left, it moves right for an instant, then moves left!
it also happens the opposite.
my system is made from an old japanese chip mounter, so X and Y axis are controlled by Yaskawa servo drives and motors, while the newly installed Z axis has a closed loop step motor;
The signals given by the controller should be DIR first and then PULS so that the motor can rotate accordingly;
taking a look at signals with my 2 channel oscillocope I found that both DIR and PULS start emitting signals at the same time so I guess the Yaskawa driver may sometimes fail to move to the right direction (even for a moment)...
Do you know if the vawes kind and times are set by mach3 software or it is the controller to manage this thing?
I know it's a pretty electronic question (which I'm more familiar with...) but you know it ;)
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Troops,
I am by no means an expert on MACH3, but I've been using it since about 2009. I do not use one of the newer versions, but an older version (Version R3.043.066), since there were some issues with some of the newer versions back then. Perhaps they have been corrected, but for me, if it ain't broke, I ain't messing with it. There also was an issue a while back (2 years or so?), where Microsoft, issued an update, that 'broke' MACH3. Once that got corrected (think that was by MS), the CNC PC's that were connected to the net were disconnected, and will never be reconnected. All app updates, Aspire, etc., are only done via CD of USB.
It's a shame that the WHB04B seems to have some really solvable issues. The concept is great, the packaging is great, but more attention needs to be directed at improving the interface between itself and the cnc machine. As for pendants, you might consider the ShuttlePro. I have been using them since 2011, and they have never hiccuped nor has MACH3 or the SmoothStepper. I'd love to have a wireless one, but am not willing to spring at the price of the other ones that are out there.
Henri Monnier - cnc@themonniers.com
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I'm using exactly the same software version, the 3.043.066.....
today I wanted to test some parts of my system, so the first try was to change PC;
the currently installed is a 10 year old 2 core at 3Ghz with SSD and 2Gb RAM, so I tested the Mach3 on a new very performing PC....
that was the perfect try!! it came clearly out that the problem is the Pendant!!!!!
maybe the pendant setup....
using it the axis now moves very badly (worse than before) and lots of errors appear on mach3 status display.
It is lakely that the busy device is the pendant!
using the arrows on the keyboard the axis moves smoothly, it never misses a step, and motors never get crazy like they did before.
all the other questions about axis drive signals are useless now, as the system now WORKS!
I will look for a different pendant and sell this one.....
have a great new year eve, regards
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Hi,
XHC has a long reputation as being buggy, both their controllers and their pendants, and you can forget trying to get
XHC to help. They've already got your money and they just don't care.
I use a VistaCNC P1A pendant and have done for years. It worked perfectly with Mach3 and then with Mach4 for the last five
years, and they support their products.
Craig
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You are right Craig, I realize that now that I have been working on Xhc stuff for the past few months....
I saw a Vista CNC pendant video on YouTube, it works great, it's very precise.
The problem will be have it shipped to Italy..... I hope I can find it somewhere in Europe....
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Hi,
what the hell, I had mine shipped from the US to New Zealand, that's about as far apart as you can get on a sphereical
planet....and it got here no problems. Italy is a reasonably well known address....if you order one you'll probably get it!
Tax?....blame your government!!
Craig
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I do blaim the Italian government!
Not a big deal anyway, I'll get it from Amazon.. ;)
By the way, happy new year!
In New Zealand it will be almost noon, here we are having fireworks everywhere now!!!
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Hi,
peak of summer here and we take a dim view of fireworks at this time of year for fear of fire, doesn't stop
some people.
Craig
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Hi,
what the hell, I had mine shipped from the US to New Zealand, that's about as far apart as you can get on a sphereical
planet....and it got here no problems. Italy is a reasonably well known address....if you order one you'll probably get it!
Tax?....blame your government!!
Craig
As I supposed getting the P4-S Pendant in Italy won't be cheap... Amazon USA does not ship to Italy, Ebay does but the piece will cost 380 USD.....
MMMMM I'm evaluating what to buy then....
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Hi,
why the P4? That's the most expensive pendant they make.
I have a P1A, the one WITHOUT the LCD screen, and it works perfectly and $159USD list verses $289USD for the P4SE which
has an LCD and a keypad. Thankyou, but I don't need an LCD or a keypad as I already have a PC!!!
Craig
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I asked Vista CNC to send and invoice it to my company... ;D
today I re-installed all the software and got rid of XHC pendant setup.... for now I control everything with the keyboardm and the system is pretty stable and reliable on movements... I'm satisfied....
It would have been good to read some stuff on this forum before buying porducts from XHC like the controller (which works well enough but there is no comprehensive documentation about it) and this pendant....
on the download section, there are lots of plugins of good stuff, like a professional 4 axis controller for about 250 EUR.... better than paying 140 EUR for the XHC...
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Hi,
there are lots of plugins of good stuff, like a professional 4 axis controller for about 250 EUR....
if you buy on price you'll get stung again.
If you must buy another controller buy one that has a Mach4 plugin. They are:
Ethernet SmoothStepper by Warp9TD
UC100, UC300, UC400 by CNCDrive (watch out for cheap Chinese fake UC100's, get genuine or don't bother)
57CNC,57CNCdb25 by PoKeys
PMDX-411, PMDX-424 by PMDX
Hicon Integra by Vital Systems
DMC40x..., DMC41x... by Galil
CSMIO by CSLabs, note the Mach4 plugin is buggy and the company have 'gone off song' and don't appear to be to fussed
about fixing it. Given the price, hard to recommend despite excellent build quality.
XHC make a Mach4 ready controller....buggy as hell, avoid like the plague!
Craig
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now I have the XHC MK3-ET controller, which works fine enough but I realize that it is was not a good purchase (but when I did it I though it was much better than others like Novusun Nvem or generic ones).
Surfing around Machsupport website i discovered the CSMIO/IP-M by CS-LAB which is not that expensive (EUR 229+VAT) and should be a kind of professional product... the 5 and 6 axis brothers are way more expensive thou.
I would control it with Mach3 for now, but would be better to get something mach4 ready....
So should I have troubles with the XHC, I would buy something like this... and the list you made is good to start from....
for now I got rid of the XHC pendant, I'll put it on Ebay!
Regards,
Adrian
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Hi,
Surfing around Machsupport website i discovered the CSMIO/IP-M by CS-LAB which is not that expensive (EUR 229+VAT) and should be a kind of professional product... the 5 and 6 axis brothers are way more expensive thou.
My opinion of CSMIO products is somewhat tarnished. CSLabs had a market leading reputation for build quality and support.
In more recent times that support has diminished greatly, maybe change of personal. Another possibility is that they are developing
their own CNC software solution and their support for Mach has taken a back seat. Their Mach3 plugin is pretty complete
and that is a viable solution. I think however you will be disappointed in the restricted feature set of the CSMIO/M.
If you are going to consider Mach4 then CSLabs lack of commitment to creating a bug free Mach4 plugin is very evident.
Notwithstanding the build quality which remains high I think the diminished support and buggy Mach4 plugin make CSMIO
hard to recommend at the prices demanded by them. Other manufacturers, Warp9TD, PMDX, PoKeys and CNCDrive all
produce cheaper boards with excellent support and a demonstrated commitment to Mach4.
Craig
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Notwithstanding the build quality which remains high I think the diminished support and buggy Mach4 plugin make CSMIO
hard to recommend at the prices demanded by them. Other manufacturers, Warp9TD, PMDX, PoKeys and CNCDrive all
produce cheaper boards with excellent support and a demonstrated commitment to Mach4.
Craig
Hi Craig, as it seems like you have a good experience on drivers I write to you again for asking advice...
I installed the P4-S pendant, It works great.....
now I have other issues to face, and don't know if this time the problem is the controller board...
it happens when I joge the X and Y axis manually;
Yesterday I was cutting a piece of wood as a try and I moved Y axis forward by 550mm;
when I moved back the axis by 550mm I didn't get to 0 point.... It missed something like 7mm!!!
The X and Y axis are run by professional Yaskawa servo+motor kit, so when a certain amount of steps are given to the servo, it is sure it will do that amount of steps...
I noticed that when I move the axis on "velocity mode" the acceleration is not that smooth; the axis does not accelerate smoothly as I accelerate the pendant rotation; instead it moves like a car that changes gear with no clutch!!
I will try to chang axis speed settings as well pendant setting in order to see if there is a wrong setting, however I doubt the the controller is just *********.... maybe I may change to CNC Technics Breakoutboard 3.4 + ESS Smoothstepper ....
Have you got any suggestions to give on software/parameter setup check-up before I go chang the hardware?
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Hi,
The X and Y axis are run by professional Yaskawa servo+motor kit, so when a certain amount of steps are given to the servo, it is sure it will do that amount of steps...
It sounds like you have confidence that the servos are doing as they should, an I tend to agree for the following reason, IF the servos were losing
steps then they would fault 'following error' long before they got 7mm out from the commanded position; UNLESS you have programmed a ridiculous
'following error window', and surely you have not done that??
That would tend to suggest that either the pendant or the motion control board is losing steps. My money is on the motion controller.
Have you got any suggestions to give on software/parameter setup check-up before I go chang the hardware?
I've got no idea about XHC plugin parameters, XHC is shhitte and so I've never bothered with them.
Craig
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It sounds like you have confidence that the servos are doing as they should, an I tend to agree for the following reason, IF the servos were losing
steps then they would fault 'following error' long before they got 7mm out from the commanded position; UNLESS you have programmed a ridiculous
'following error window', and surely you have not done that??
good question, I need to check, because I left this parameter at the default level.
the strange thing is, why should this "missing steps" happen when moving back (Y-) and not moving forward (Y+)....
I will doublecheck settings in Mach3, in Mach3 plugins and the servos, then if I don't find the clear source of the problem I just change the controller... so I get rid of all XHC stuff on my machine...
Adrian