Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Mach3 driving GRBL boards and machines

« on: April 01, 2023, 05:51:44 PM »

I want to use MACH3 with a GRBL cotroller which uses the CH340 driver.
Is there any way I can use MACH3 with this board.
Has anyone wriitten a driver for these boards?

2

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: sainsmart 3018 MX3 laser does not immediately honour M3/M5

« on: July 26, 2020, 04:34:46 AM »

Do you still use that board, and what are you doing right now?
Do you still have that problem?
You could test my ideas

Lawrence

3

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: sainsmart 3018 MX3 laser does not immediately honour M3/M5

« on: July 25, 2020, 11:59:50 AM »

Hi there Tweakie,

I have been playing with the Mach3 Macros and found out why the M10 and M11 commands do not work. It's not the board, it's just because the macros M10 and M11 work on output9 and this is not set up for this board. They also do not refer to the first parameter P either.

I have written two other macros based on these, and these seem to have fixed the problem.

Do you still use this board? Then you can try them. What a labour!! Separates the men from the boys I suppose!

Sainsmart do not know MACH3 evidently, so they could not help, but I
am waiting on their reply to the ZDIR problem.

Lawrence

4

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: sainsmart 3018 MX3 laser does not immediately honour M3/M5

« on: July 23, 2020, 05:54:44 AM »

Hi there,

Yes you did mention the board not supporting M10/M11 commands.

I have tried the ZDIR, and this tums in the LED on the board, but not the laser. Did you get it to work and did you have special settings
I have made a sample test, and this toggles the LED on the board, but does not turn on the laser.

By this I claim that their application note does not work.
Have you got it to work?

Lawrence

5

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: sainsmart 3018 MX3 laser does not immediately honour M3/M5

« on: July 20, 2020, 04:26:32 AM »

I will try that. I did not realise that the M10/M11 needed to be followed by the P1 command (in this case). I had used G4 with P, then of course the P was the parameter to G4.

I had tried S********* for ON and S0 for off, and was looking at the motor tuning for speed ram

Lawrence

6

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: sainsmart 3018 MX3 laser does not immediately honour M3/M5

« on: July 19, 2020, 04:57:04 PM »

I have posted before on this subject and am now trying again.

It seems as if the commands overlap, the laser does not come on immediately on M<on>G1 and on M<off>G0.#

I had hoped (it may yet) that the G4<pause> command would have forced this. A pause does seem to help as I am restarting the project.

What synchronizing commands are there in MACH3?

How can determine the ports and pins for the M10/M11 commands?

BTW, do you know of any other MACH3 boards for the Sainsmart 3018MX3?

Lawrence

7

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: sainsmart 3018 MX3 laser does not immediately honour M3/M5

« on: October 08, 2019, 04:18:34 PM »

Do you know where I can get info on this board? A manual?

It has an option jumper for M3/Z, apparently you can switch the laser on with Zaxis control.But I cannot get it to even come on at all with this option.

Lawrence

8

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: sainsmart 3018 MX3 laser does not immediately honour M3/M5

« on: October 05, 2019, 07:07:08 AM »

Thanks for your reply.

I am using USB, and I enclose photos of the board. It is "MACH3 controller for mini CNC" and I have versions 1.3 and 3.1. They look basically the same.

If I use drufel CNC it shows the board USB number. I am told the Drufel does not have the M3/M5 delay, but I doubt it.

It looks as if output1 is active, and this might be the laser. I will try your file and let you know.

Are there any MACH3 setting I should know aboit? I have tried them all with M3 and M5.

I would love to get a manual for the board, and even a schematic: 2 boards blew up and I changed the regulator, but I could then find out why.

Thanks for your help.

Lawrence

9

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: sainsmart 3018 MX3 laser does not immediately honour M3/M5

« on: October 05, 2019, 04:50:56 AM »

Thanks for the reply, and especially for modifying my code for me.

Since iy is a OEM board I do not know which output to select for the M10/M11.

How do I find the output for the laser? I do not have a manual for the board. I could just do trial and error, especially as I have your working code. Are there any settings in MACH3 I should change?

Thanks

Lawrence

10

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / sainsmart 3018 MX3 laser does not immediately honour M3/M5

« on: October 04, 2019, 12:52:42 PM »

The laser does not immediately obey M2 and M5.
(I'm Using Freecad, which does not issue motor off when G0.
So I edited the file and added M3/M5 at the correct places.)

Problem - the laser comes on before the G0's are complete, and
goes off before the cutting is complete.

I have added G4 P 2 commands and this fixes the problem, but the
laser is on for a short time before moving and after stopping.

Why do I need these delays (using PWM). Can I not turn the laser off/on
immediately. I also notice the delay when I press "spindle CW F5".

I saw that I could use M10 or M11 to do this but I cannot set this up.

Sainsmart say that Drufel (another CNC controller S/W does not have this problem.

Lawrence