Topics

1

General Mach Discussion / Relay for Spindle (Plasma torch on) buzzes, rattles, on off really fast

« on: April 29, 2014, 05:12:54 PM »

The breakout board we have has two relays.  Looks like the relay we use has died.  It will flick on but not flick off unless you unplug the power to the whole cnc controller box.

So I went and moved the two wire to the second relay and reassigned the pins to suit.

Now the plasma torch is firing again and turning off.  On the old relay it would fire and stay on.


I notice that when the plasma is is the relay will rattle fast as in on/off 10 times really fast until the plasma arc is established.  Maybe this was also occurring when on the first really and it just simple wore out.

So what can I do to stop this flicking of the relay?  Is there a debounce setting for an output like this relay?   Or is it just electrical noise from the plasma?

2

General Mach Discussion / Manually enter value into DRO to move machine then click "To Go"

« on: January 14, 2014, 09:36:05 PM »

I think I used to be able to enter a distance in the DRO on the "Program Run" screen then click on the  "To Go" button and then it would move to that position/distance.

It does not seem to work like this anymore, is there a setting somewhere that I can change.

I do not want to enter it via the MDI screen as it is slower to do that what used to work.

Any ideas?

3

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / What is a Macro? and what can it do for me?

« on: February 17, 2009, 10:32:20 PM »

What is a Macro?  and what can it fo for me?

I'm thinking a macro is a pre saved snipped of code that is entered into the standard g code where ever you need
it so that you only type in the one line instead of heaps of lines of code every time you need to do the same command.

Is this correct?  or am I off with the fairy's?

Peter

4

General Mach Discussion / How many axis can I slave? X and Y or just X

« on: September 04, 2008, 08:36:37 AM »

Hi,

Can I slave, X and Y axis or just the one axis?

Peter

5

General Mach Discussion / Corner slow down for plasma, laseroxy fuel and waterjet cutting?

« on: September 02, 2008, 07:21:46 PM »

Corner slow down for plasma, laseroxy fuel and waterjet cutting?

How can I get some kind of corner slowdown in Mach3?

Peter

6

General Mach Discussion / What are the limitations of Mach 3?

« on: March 12, 2008, 07:28:28 PM »

What are the limitations of Mach 3?

I did have Mach 3 on my plasma table but have since sold the machine.  How does Mach 3 compare to other controllers on the market, compared to say Centroid or Ajax cnc, or any other controller?

How many businesses or companys use Mach3 as a controller?  Or more so how many companys that make cnc retrofits for mills, lathes and small cutting tables (router, plasma oxyfuel) use Mach3.

Peter

7

General Mach Discussion / Stepper motors are still going at the incorrect speed. Need help with Mach3

« on: December 23, 2005, 08:13:39 AM »

I have this system on a plasma table.

Cut area 3m x 2m
Geckodrive G202's
48Volt 13amp power supply
Running two 1200oz-in steppers on the x axis.
And one 270oz-in stepper for the y axis.

Using CorelDRAW, AutoCAD, SheetCAM and

Mach3.

The motors are all tuned up right.  They have the correct steps per unit etc.

--------------------------------------------

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The problem:

If the velocity is set to 10,000mm/min in the 'motor tuning' page for both the x and y
axis.  And I go and jog the gantry in the y axis it will move along at the correct speed of 10,000mm/min.  This will be shown in theDRO.

But, if I jog with the x axis the motors will move at 14,000mm/min instead of the 10,000mm/min that was setup in the 'motor tuning' page.  This problem will also happen if I run a g-code through Mach3.  Say for example I run a square shape.  The feed speed will be set on 5000mm/min.  The y axis will feed correctly at the set 5000mm/min.  The x axis will move faster than the set speed that it is meant to.  It will move at 7000mm/min instead of the 5000mm/min required.

I have checked that the speeds that the DRO are reading are correct.
How I done this was, Made the machine run for a distance of 1meter and counted how long it would take to travel the 1meter. 

From those results it showed that the DRO are giving me correct readings.

I have alos cut out a part in 10mm steel with the plasma.  You can see how the edges are smooth and perfect, then the gantry
makes a right turn and the x axis starts driving.  The x axis moves faster than the y axis and therefore the cut edge is very poor.

I am only a newbie to this so I have tried everything that I can think of.
I wiped all traces of Mach 3 then reloaded Mach3 again.  Making sure to re-boot after the instalation.

So I am stumped as to what is going on.



Can anyone help?



P.s on the gecko's I adjusted a 'trimpot' which is the 'low speed vibration' trimpot screw.  Maybe this has effected the motors etc...
I adjusted the screw at the back of the Gecko untill the vibration in my machine went away.


Peter
Australia