Topics

1

General Mach Discussion / Softlimits question

« on: February 16, 2010, 11:00:27 AM »

I use softlimits on my Novakon Mill and whenever I load Mach 3 I get a "Softlimits System Movement Aborted" message in the status bar before I do anything  including referencing the mill.

Can anyone tell me what this means and why is it occurring?

Thanks

David

2

General Mach Discussion / Strange circle problem

« on: December 07, 2009, 08:51:19 PM »

I have a Seig KX1 (LMS version) and all of a sudden it is behaving strangely cutting circles.   The top and bottom of the circle is flat rather than a smooth circle.  It is like at the top and bottom the y axis has stopped moving.  This is repeatable and is always a perfect horizontal flat.  I have adjusted the gib on the y axis but it is still the same.   Is there anything else that could cause this?

Thanks


David

3

General Mach Discussion / Homing and limit problem

« on: May 06, 2009, 10:17:39 PM »

I am setting up the homing and limits on my CNC Router (Joe's 4x4 Hybrid).   I have wired my limits/home switches for XYZ axis to the same port/pin and and my A axis (which is slaved to the Y) switches wire to a different port/pin so I can do squaring.

The limits all work as expected and the homing all works as expected, however after homing ("Ref All") the limit switches are no longer working although I can still move all the axis and run g-code with the exception that the limit switches are inactive (although they are still working according to the diag screen in Mach 3 as I can see the LED go on if I press one).  If I press reset (Mach 3 is not asking me to do this) then the limits are reactivated and function fine unless for some reason I do another "Ref All".

Can anyone tell me what is happening here.

THanks


David

4

VB and the development of wizards / Help with macropump code

« on: February 16, 2007, 09:37:35 AM »

Hi all,

I have just built a pendant for my CNC Router I built (see
http://web.mac.com/dacostad) and I have the following in my
macropump.m1s to control the turning on and off of the LED's on my
pendant.

As you can see towards the end of the code I have a single LED on the
pendant that when on means that the pendant is not in MPG mode.
However as there are two non-MPG modes (cont and step) I would like to
have the LED be on for cont mode and flash for step.

At the moment I just turn it on for both (OEM LED 14 and 15) and as I
am not a programmer I am not sure how to get to flash when OEM LED 15
is on.

I imagine that I need something like a do while loop.

Can someone advise me on the correct code.

Here is the code;

If GetOEMLed(59) Then ' X Axis selected
ActivateSignal (OUTPUT4)
Else
DeActivateSignal(OUTPUT4)
End If

If GetOEMLed(60) Then ' Y Axis selected
ActivateSignal (OUTPUT5)
Else
DeActivateSignal(OUTPUT5)
End If

If GetOEMLed(61) Then ' Z Axis selected
ActivateSignal (OUTPUT2)
Else
DeActivateSignal(OUTPUT2)
End If

If GetOEMLed(14) Or GetOEMLed(15) Then
ActivateSignal (OUTPUT3) 'Jog Mode, LED on is cont. mode
Else
DeActivateSignal(OUTPUT3)
End If

Thanks

David

5

General Mach Discussion / HELP Please

« on: January 18, 2007, 02:24:44 AM »

I have just bought a brand new HP Desktop computer to use with Mach 3.  I have only loaded Mach 3 (latest version) onto the PC straight out of the box and run the driver test after re-booting and I am getting a weird result as attached (the first image).

The PC specs are Pentium 4 519(3.06GHz) 512MB DDR2 80GB ATI Radeon Xpress 200 Integrated Windows XP Pro.

The real strange thing is another member of the CNCZone bought exactly the same machine from the same vendor 1 days later and his driver test looks ok (see second image)

Does anyone have any ideas as to what is going on?

Thanks

David

6

General Mach Discussion / CNC Router step issues

« on: January 14, 2007, 05:17:54 PM »

Hi all I am trying to troubleshoot missing step and stall issues I have with a CNC Router I built.  For background and troubleshooting to date see my thread at http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26792.

Attached is a zip of a quicktime move which shows a 30 sec extract of the driver test.  I don't see any spikes but I do see "noise" which comes and goes on a fairly regular cycle.  Could this be causing me problems?

The PC is a 1.6Ghz P4 running on a mini-atx flex motherboard.

Thanks

David

7

General Mach Discussion / Limit switch reset

« on: December 31, 2006, 08:45:33 PM »

Hi all, I have just finished building my CNC Router ( check it out here http://web.mac.com/dacostad ) and in the process of adding my limit/ home switches.

I have a simple question - when an axis hits a limit switch, I have to hit reset and move the axis away from the switch (I have auto override set to on).  I have to reset at least twice to get it off the axis but I guess I need to change the debounce setting which is currently zero.  However, my problem is that to reset the axis I have to remember what way to turn my shuttlepro or what arrow key to hit and would like to just hit a button and have the axis move away a safe distance say 1".  Now I know the direction it has to move will depend on which end of the axis it is (each axis has a limit at each end wired in series, seperate pin per axis), but I figure that can be figured out depending on the value of the DRO.  Is something like this possible and if so how?

Thanks


David

8

General Mach Discussion / Charge Pump Problem

« on: November 03, 2006, 03:40:01 PM »

Hi all,

I have a Xylotex 3 axis board plus I am using CNC4PC Multifunction board.

I have tested the xylotex board and 3 motors with Mach 3 and it works fine.

I have connected the Xylotex board to the CNC4PC board (to the DB25 port labeled "Output" and the other DB25 port is connected to my PC.

I have connected the 3 required power sources to the multifunction card and I see the appropriate LED's illuminated.

I have gone into Mach 3 Config - Ports and Pins and on the output tab, I have set the line that says "Charge Pump" to be enabled and use pin 17 port 1.  I am not sure whether it should be set as active low or high ( I think high) but have tried both, but I still cannot jog the motors.   

What am I missing?


Thanks

David

9

General Mach Discussion / Using a Contour Design Shuffle as a pendant

« on: July 28, 2006, 02:51:30 PM »

Hi all,

I thought you might be interested in seeing the Contour Design Shuffle that I have setup as a pendent for my Sherline CNC Mill and lathe that I am using with Mach 3.

The buttons are fairly obvious except the one labelled XZY.  This toggles the useage of the jog and shuffle wheel between each axis (a small popup on the Windows toolbar tells you what axis is in use. 

The outer ring on the controller provides fast jog in each direction while the inner one provides a step by step move as you wind it around for fine movement.

The four bottom buttons are unused.

David

http://www.scalereplica.com

10

General Mach Discussion / Vector CAD/CAM setup for MAch3

« on: July 19, 2006, 02:42:42 PM »

Can anyone help me with what the correct driver settings should be in Vector CAM to make sure I get the right output for Mach 3.


Thanks


David