Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: Job not visible in Table display

« on: January 10, 2014, 09:01:12 AM »

Geez nevermind guys Im a total moron sometimes. My darn offsets got changed and I never bothered to check them. Moderators please feel free to delete this entire thread!!

2

General Mach Discussion / Job not visible in Table display

« on: January 10, 2014, 08:51:25 AM »

I tried to find a solution for this but didnt have much luck. Im posting a screen shot of a simple piece of gcode Im using for testing purposes while I get my machine setup. The problem is the job appears way off screen in Table Display. If I go back to Vcarve and set the origin to the bottom left then recalculate the toolpath, save it then bring it up in Mach it appears correct. Now this is easy enough to do on files I create but Ive gotten a few from the internet that the origin was set in another corner or the middle even and I cant get it to appear correctly in Mach.
Is there a way to fix/edit the code/files so they are sit on the Table correctly?

3

General Mach Discussion / Problem with Probe and Home switches

« on: January 08, 2014, 11:48:31 AM »

I am trying to setup a probe and my home switches on a Momus cnc machine Ive just finished building. I connected a wire to pin 15 and another one to 5v on my BOB. right away I start to hear an odd hum and when I touch the two wires together the machine goes crazy, grinding and trying to move. Its really rough sounding. I break the connection and it goes away. Ive tried active high and low and it still does it.
I tried connection a home switch to my X axis and I get a similar thing happening there too. So I did a little investigating into the problem. I found if I just connect a single wire to ANY input signal then I touch that wire to any metal on the machine it does this crazy grinding moving thing. It even does it through me, meaning if I touch the end of the wire the touch the machine with my other hand it does it just not as harsh.
This is driving me nuts, Ive checked all the common things like my gound on the power side of things, I used shielded cable throughout the machine too.
I do have some of my signal wires from the BOB running alongside some of the wire from my power supply to my motor drivers, but I thought since everything is shielded this wouldnt matter. Maybe it does?
Any suggestions??

4

General Mach Discussion / Re: Strange movement behaviour

« on: December 06, 2013, 02:52:44 PM »

Good news, I received the new BOB and Im happy, no wait Im ecstatic to report problem solved!! I have nice smooth movement in X and Y. Dont have the Z done yet but should over the weekend.
Thanks to Gerry once again for the assistance, huge help!!

Jim

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: Strange movement behaviour

« on: December 02, 2013, 05:08:47 PM »

I understand Gerry, man I really appreciate all your help, its really great having people such as yourself willing to offer your expertise on this stuff!
You have been a huge help.
I went ahead and ordered the board regardless, I just never have liked the cheapo BOB that came with my kit. Its always seemed like junk to me so whether or not its the only problem its going to be nice to have a better bob anyway.

Thank you!!

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: Strange movement behaviour

« on: December 01, 2013, 12:34:15 PM »

Ok my printer port is def only putting out 3.3V on the Dir pins while jogging. So safe to assume I need that C10 board wouldnt you say?

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: Strange movement behaviour

« on: December 01, 2013, 12:19:24 PM »

Not sure if the drives support 3.3 or not. They are cheap asian drives, Longs, Wantai etc.

8

General Mach Discussion / Re: Strange movement behaviour

« on: December 01, 2013, 11:59:26 AM »

Ok this is more than likely my problem or at least part of it. After taking some readings directly off the printer port on the back of my PC here is what I found.
Pins 10-13 read 4.3V
Pins 14 and 16 read 3.3V
Pin 15 read 4.3V
No other pins gave me any reading at all. None read 5V.
Hhhmmmmmmmmm

9

General Mach Discussion / Re: Strange movement behaviour

« on: December 01, 2013, 11:37:44 AM »

Unless my printer port is not putting out 5v for some reason.

You need to check the voltage at the port, or at least at the end of the cable to narrow down the issue.
A lot of newer PC's have 3.3V ports, which may not be enough for your drives.

If this turns out to be the case do I have any options besides another computer?

10

General Mach Discussion / Re: Strange movement behaviour

« on: December 01, 2013, 11:06:54 AM »

Well I think this is my problem then. I only see 2v on any of my direction pins when I read it with my meter and jogging.
Im thinking my BOB is a POS. Earlier today I had good movements on the X, then it stopped working altogether so I moved the X to pins 8 and 9 from pins 2 and 3. X started working again.
I was using cheap alarm wire 22/4 for my connections. I thought this might be introducing some problems so I just spent the last hour and a half rewiring the system with shielded 18awg cable. Everything is individually shielded. Now I cant get any smooth movements at all from any axis. The Y is all jerky and sounds horrible like something is grinding against something else. If course I checked and its freely moving by itself.
So now I have no movement on the X, jerky movement on the Y and still no idea why.....
I only have the 1 parallel cable to I cant check that but it and my BOB is the only thing I can think of as to the cause of this. Unless my printer port is not putting out 5v for some reason.

Some good news, I got my license from Artsoft, I feel all official now!!