Topics

1

General Mach Discussion / 0-10 volt output for vfd

« on: April 10, 2009, 05:53:00 PM »

Has any one checked the 0-10 volt signal output from a breakout board that has a speed control
for controlling a vfd?I checked mine and the output bounces around .It will change from say .105-.115.
This may not sound like much but at very slow speed it causes the spindle to pulse.At higher speeds it causes the gears to chatter.
This goes away at about 1 volt but at this point it is friction in the system , the voltage still bounces around.
Is this normal or can I have something set wrong?

2

General Mach Discussion / motor tuning

« on: February 15, 2009, 06:09:11 PM »

well this is not really about tuning but I reinstalled mach 3 when I
added a ss to my lathe.Now there is nothing when I try to do the motor tuning.
ie  conifg-motor tuning- nothing pops up?
Why?

3

SmoothStepper USB / index pulse

« on: January 28, 2009, 10:19:17 PM »

how would or is the index pulse set up on the smooth stepper.I have a cnc4pc c3 board for
the pulse.Im only going to use the pulse to trigger a stop signal for the spindle.I tried connecting a second
bob to the ss but did not get it sorted on the ports/pins stuff.I need acurate location for the stop to do
a tool change.

4

General Mach Discussion / start relay

« on: January 22, 2009, 09:06:13 PM »

.I made up a one line brain that was to turn on the spindle
with a 5 sec delay as a test.I found that:as soon as the spindle is started
the relays on my breakout board would close.I turned off the brain
and on the spindle setup added a 5 sec delay.This did nothing.
I then turned off the outputs on the ports /pins for the spindle start.
The spindle would still run.I then changed the port and pin numbers to something
stupid ,still worked.
Is there something in the xml file for my Bob Campbell breakout board that is doing this?
I just added a Smooth stepper, might this be the cause?
.Maybe use relays not connected to the breakout board?

5

General Mach Discussion / printing brains

« on: January 21, 2009, 09:50:28 PM »

ok this maybe a simple one; How do you print out a brain so that the size is
 big enough to read?I work on my brains at my desk with a bread board
then when all seems well type it in to my machine.Thing is with short simple
stuff no problem but now some of these things are grOWING.

6

General Mach Discussion / troubleshooting modbus

« on: January 10, 2009, 03:19:13 PM »

Any ideas on what to check for the modbus setup?I must have a conflict somewhere
but I cannot find it.I have had it work but briefly.

7

Modbus / modbus cubloc help wanted

« on: January 09, 2009, 06:55:14 PM »

I have a cubloc cb290 on my mill for more I/O.To learn all this plc stuff I bought the cubloc study board and cb280.
It is sitting on my desk with the lights turning off and on nicely.I have written several "brains" that work fine on the cb280
and I think I get the whole thing.So I set up the cb 290 on my mill same way.It worked for about 1/2 hour, or at leasdt the
time out error never came up so I assume that I had com between Mach and the plc.Now all I get is time out errors.I ran a small looping progm on the plc to test and it seems to work fine.
 Any ideas on how to get Mach and the plc to get along.
I have tried usb/serial cable that works on my cb280 and a pci serial card that also works with the 280.
The 280 is connected to a differant computer.I have the latest version of mach.

8

SmoothStepper USB / spindle motor

« on: December 30, 2008, 06:33:40 PM »

I want to run my ac spindle motor as a servo motor.I need to know the rpm
and would like some form of feed back.I mounted a dif. 1000ppr encoder on the
motor shaft.I have the smooth stepper on this machine.Can I use the encoder
connections on the smooth stepper?Or connect to the Bob Campbell
break-out board.How would I reconise this in mach.

9

General Mach Discussion / more tool change questions

« on: December 17, 2008, 03:52:49 PM »

I have been trying to implement a rotary tool changer,it is rotated with a stepper motor
and I have it set as the "a"axis.I can enter a goa# on the mdi line and the turret works.
I found that a value of 1.64375 X tool # and it will rotate to that tool.Now I want to do it
with a brain or with a vb macro as below I must have something wrong
with this as I cannot get it to work!.I would rather use a brain as I would like to add
funcionality to my machines as I go.My turret is simple
-a pneumatic cylinder holds a lock closed, release with a signal
-read input from limit switch, to indicate lock is released,
- rotate turret and reclamp
-read lose of input from limit switch to indicate all is good.If IsLoading() Then
  ' do now't, program loading
Else

' dim some vars

  Dim next_tool As Integer
  Dim current_tool As Integer
  Dim steps_per_tool As Integer
  Dim max_tools As Integer
  Dim holdingDRO As Integer
  Dim rotateCW As Integer
  Dim moves As Integer
  Dim axis As String
  Dim zero As Integer


' set up some vars

  zero = 0
  axis = a ' change to what ever axis you use for tool changer
  rotateCW = 0 ' set to 1 for CCW and 0 for CW rotation
  max_tools = 8 ' number of tools on turret
  steps_per_tool= 1.64375 ' set to what ever it needs to be
 
 
  holdingDRO=1050 ' or what ever you have set screen dro to
  next_tool = GetSelectedTool()
  current_tool = GetUserDRO(holdingDRO)
 
' do some tool changing

  If next_tool > max_tools Then
    Message "Tool number too high, program stopped."
    Code "M30"
    End
  End If
  If next_tool<1 Then
    Message "Tool number too low, program stopped."
    Code "M30"
    End
  End If
  If next_tool=current_tool Then
    ' do nowt, we got it already
  Else
  ' lets do some changing
    If next_tool>current_tool Then moves=next_tool-current_tool 
    If next_tool<current_tool Then moves=max_tools-current_tool+next_tool
   
    If rotateCW =1 Then
      rapid_move = zero - rapid_move

    End If
    Code "G92 " & axis & "0"
    Code "G91 G94 G61"
    Code "G01 " & axis & rapid_move & "F" & fast_feed
 
    While IsMoving()
    Wend
    Code "G01 " & axis   "F"     While IsMoving()
    Wend
    SetCurrentTool next_tool
    SetUserDRO holdingDRO, next_tool
    Code "G90" ' back to absolute movement
  End If
End If

' end of tool change   

10

General Mach Discussion / whats happening with threading

« on: December 03, 2008, 12:36:32 PM »

I have just upgraded to the newest level *********xx.20.
Everything seems to work fine but when I tried to thread using the wizard
I get un reliable movement on the z axis.Thread starts-goes in fist cut
does not retract on x comes back addes cut on x and cuts fine for random
number of passes then randomly starts to feed in on or out the x durring the cut
obviously with disasterous results.Is this me or the wizard?