Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: GoTo Zero not working

« on: October 31, 2021, 09:02:34 AM »

What machine do you have

2

General Mach Discussion / Re: GoTo Zero not working

« on: October 31, 2021, 09:02:09 AM »

Hi George
I never resolved this issue. Till today its doing the same.
I'm chalking it up to cheap Chinese driver🤷

3

FAQs / Re: Question re NcUsbPod.dll plugin file

« on: August 23, 2018, 12:53:56 PM »

No problem!

- Yes, USB connection
- I have no idea what control board it has; I have never opened up the box and there were no manual
- Yes, I replaced the NcUsbPod.dll file with one I found elsewhere on the internet.
(There is no difference between the supplied copy of Mach3 and a purchased copy. You only buy a license for whatever version you have installed)
- Yes, I ran the memoryoverride file
- Windows 7 here as well

As for the interface you mentioned. It was designed to work specifically with the supplied machine and yes, it's quite a bit different to other screens I've seen.
Buying a proper license will not change the interface screen at all.

Hope that makes sense

4

FAQs / Re: Question re NcUsbPod.dll plugin file

« on: August 20, 2018, 10:08:27 PM »

Hi Rob

I have been cutting merrily for the last few weeks  

Here's a little YouTube video I put together:

https://youtu.be/XS6jMV2FcAw

There are a few niggles, but it is hard to say whether it's from changing the .dll file or not.
Here is one of the outstanding problems:

http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,37034.0.html


And yes, it was cracked with a fake license.
I highly suggest you do what I did, and buy a new license from the Mach3 website.
Buying a proper license does not change anything in the interface though. It just makes you sleep better at night 

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: GoTo Zero not working

« on: April 15, 2018, 06:21:07 AM »

USB connection.

It's a Chinese Special, so I'll have to tear it apart to see what's inside I guess.

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: GoTo Zero not working

« on: April 15, 2018, 05:53:50 AM »

The M3 also makes a difference to a subsequent G1 command

This

Code: [Select]

M3
G1 X0 Y0 F1000works as expected. Roughly 1/4 speed and smooth movement to 0,0.

But if I just run this alone:

Code: [Select]

G1 X0 Y0 F1000
The movement is pulsating.

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: GoTo Zero not working

« on: April 15, 2018, 05:43:42 AM »

Thanks Craig

I will investigate your suggestion.

However, in my tests the spindle was actually NOT on (VFD is switched off).
But just the fact that there was a M3 command seemed to make the difference.

I also tested the speed and when I use jogging (keyboard arrows), the gantry moves at the dialled in max speed (4000mm per minute).

8

General Mach Discussion / Re: GoTo Zero not working

« on: April 15, 2018, 04:32:31 AM »

Hi Craig

I dont think the speed is set too high.

As I explained above: Jogging works perfect. Ref All Home works perfect and a G0 (after a M3) also works perfect.
No stalling, no screamingm just smooth movement at the defined max speed.

It's only the Go To Zero function that creates the problem

9

General Mach Discussion / GoTo Zero not working

« on: April 14, 2018, 05:35:03 AM »

Hi All.

My new machine is up and running, but there's a few niggles :-(

When I hit GOTO ZERO in Mach3 the steppers on X and Y scream and although there's some movement, the spindle does not move to the correct position.
Z-axis behaves correctly.

Motor tuning (as per manufacturer) as follows:

Steps per: 320
Velocity: 4000
Accel: 300
Step Pulse: 0
Dir Pulse: 0

If I jog the X/Y axis using computer arrow keys, the unit moves smoothly and without problems at 4000mm per minute.
When I use "Ref All Home" function, it also moves smoothly and without problems.

When I change the Velocity down to 1000 things get "slightly" better.
The unit does move back to zero position, but it does it in a pulsing movement in stead of a smooth movement.
But this does not really solve the problem, as everything is very slow like this.

With some experimenting I found some other interesting behaviour as well:

When I execute this command
 

Code: [Select]

G0 X0 Y0
Same problem: screaming steppers, pulsing movement.

But if I execute this:

Code: [Select]

M03 S15000
G0 X0 Y0
the machine works perfectly fine (smooth movement). I dont understand why turning the spindle on makes the G0 command work differently.


I'm new to Mach3 and GCode, so I have no idea if this is normal behaviour, the CNC machine or Mach3 being the problem.

Any insights will be greatly appreciated.

10

FAQs / Question re NcUsbPod.dll plugin file

« on: April 05, 2018, 03:07:45 PM »

Hi again all.

Next question in my new found CNC quest!

I bought a relatively vanilla flavour Chinese made 6040 machine.
Control box looks like this:



It has an USB controller connected to a Win7 32bit laptop.


PROBLEM:

After installing and configuring Mach3 software (as per manufacturer's instructions), I got this message in the final step of setup:

"Find no XHC NcUsbPod!"

This happens when hitting the E-Stop button in mach3. The message is shown in the STATUS field, like this:




STEPS TAKEN TO RESOLVE PROBLEM:

1. I contacted the supplier, but as expected, it would have been more helpful to contact The Pope in Rome!

2. I searched this forum for "ncusbpod" and read everything I could find.
This lead to a link posted by joeaverage that pointed me to a Chinese supplier website and there I found a different (and newer) version of the NcUsbPod.dll file.
(The website is here: http://www.cdxhctech.com/html/edownloads/220.html)

3. I replaced the old NcUsbPod.dll file with this newer one and voila! Message gone and machine seems to be working. (I only ran one test piece of Gcode, but it seems to function OK for now).

MORE INFO:

I have checked every single setting in Mach3 with the two different .dll files installed.
Everything is exactly the same except the following settings screen:

->Mach3 Main Menu    ->Config    ->Config Plugins    ->NcUsbPod-XHC-Mach3-USB-Motion-Card   ->Config

Here is a screenshot of that settings screen with the original .dll file installed:




And here is the same settings screen with the new .dll installed:



The old NcUsbPod.dll file is 268K big and dated 26 Jan 2015.
The newer one is 420k and dated 15 Jan 2018.

I have not (yet) opened the control box to see what exactly is in there. I guess I can if that info would help.

QUESTION TO THE GROUP:

Was this a good idea to simply replace that file? Can I break my motion controller by doing that?

Any input is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
Regards
Andre