Topics

1

Galil / Upgraded to win7 on PCI system - now weird VFD behavior

« on: September 15, 2012, 02:57:40 PM »

Hello,

I recently upgraded my cnc computer to an i7 Celeron running windows 7.  I am using an 1840 PCI card (I was running XP on an old Pentium 3 with a 1740 card for 4 years).

I installed Smarterm, but I had to manually install the version 7 driver in the system32 folder and go through device manager to get the driver registered.  I could not get windows 7 to install the drivers due to them not being digitally signed and Galil does not support or recommend them for use with w7.  I've read through the Galil notes and verified all the needed drivers are now in my windows/system32/drivers directory.

Anyway, things went smoothly after that and all three axises move fine.  The problem is getting the VFD to work correctly.  M3 and M4 commands work fine and the spindle starts, but usually turns very slow.

I've found that going into the configuration of the Galil plug-in on the "Axis Setup" tab and selecting/de-selecting the Spindle has Encoder" box will usually get the VFD to work right.  Sometimes it takes a couple attempts, but once going, I can run all day.  

Barring going back to XP, is there anything I can do to fix this bug?  I'd prefer to keep w7 if possible.

Any help is appreciated.

Jim  

2

Galil / Need help with basic MPG set-up and 1750 card

« on: February 15, 2011, 11:27:53 PM »

I could use some help setting up an MPG for use on my mill driven by a Galil 1750.  The first three axis are used for X(A), Y(B), & Z(C) and the spindle is on D.  I have the MPG wired to the auxiliary encoder for the E axis and it is enabled in the plug-in. 

I have enabled the MPG #1 in Mach3 with the port set at 1 and the pins for A & B at 0.  The MPG works very roughly by using the TAB screen.  Each MPG step gives 0.0125 inch of travel on any selected axis when the "cycle jog step" is 1.000, 0.100, 0.010, or 0.001.  If the "cycle jog step" is set to 0.0001, each step of the MPG results in 0.008 on an axis. 

I have tried changing the MPG counts/unit and velocity settings in Mach3, but it doesn't seem to do anything.  The "Calibrate MPG" wizard under the Function Cfg's menu doesn't seem to work either.

Does the encoder channel for the MPG need to be set-up in SmartTerm? 

What am I doing wrong?  Any help is appreciated.

Jim

3

Feature Requests / Mach Turn: soft limits and jog enable on diagnostics screen

« on: January 14, 2011, 01:47:22 PM »

I would love to be able to use soft limits in Mach3 Turn on my lathe.  Currently, it does not look like that is an option.  The Soft Limit button on the Tab-out screen does not seem to work.

Also, it would be convenient if jogging was available on the diagnostics screen for testing.  I know you can hit TAB and jog through that interface, but it would be nice if you could also jog with the keyboard keys without the Tab-out screen so you can see the full screen.   

Anyway, it's just a wish list.

Thanks,

Jim

4

Galil / Possible bugs in MachStandardMill or R3.043.012 when used with Galil plug-in.

« on: August 09, 2010, 12:47:30 PM »

I'm not sure how many of you are running the development version of Mach3 with MachStdMill, but there appears to be a few bugs in it.  Previously, I was running Mach3 R3.042.040 with the Galil plug-in and it worked very slick.  However, I really like the new MachStdMill screen set and thought I'd give it a try.  I found the following bugs:

1.  If I enter any command in the MDI window, it does a cycle start.  This is very scary if a program is loaded.  The program starts and the machine takes off.  I installed a clean version of MSM and R3.043.012 on another computer and it also flashes the cycle start button when a command is entered in MDI.

2.  After finding this, I made sure there was no program loaded and entered the spindle command string M3 S1500 in MDI.  This will start the spindle at the correct speed and direction, but the spindle stops after about one second.  I can manually start the spindle with the CW or CCW buttons.

3.  When I run an edge finder to verify my vice location at offset G54, Mach3 forgets its absolute position, the softlimits are no longer accurate, and it is easy to run the machine into a limit switch.

4.  One really weird problem is if I run the NewFangled linear hole pattern wizard: the X, Y, incremental, and angle input windows display unstable numbers.  I believe the other wizards function normally.

I did not find any of these problems with the standard Mach3 R3.042.040. 

Having said all the above, I think the MSM screen set is very nice and I like its logical set-up.  If I can help anyway in testing solutions to the above, please let me know.


Thanks,

Jim

5

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / Possible bugs in MSM or MSM when used with Galil card

« on: August 09, 2010, 12:40:25 PM »

I'm not sure, but there appears to be a few bugs in MSM or R3.043.012 of Mach3.  I am running Mach3 with the Galil plug-in,

1.  If I enter any command in the MDI window, it does a cycle start.  This is very scary if a program is loaded.  The program starts and the machine takes off.  I installed a clean version of MSM and R3.043.012 on another computer and it also flashes the cycle start button when a command is entered in MDI.

2.  After finding this, I made sure there was no program loaded and entered the spindle command string M3 S1500 in MDI.  This will start the spindle at the correct speed and direction, but the spindle stops after about one second.  I can manually start the spindle with the CW or CCW buttons.

3.  When I run an edge finder to verify my vice location at offset G54, Mach3 forgets its absolute position, the softlimits are no longer accurate, and it is easy to run the machine into a limit switch.

4.  One really weird problem is if I run the NewFangled linear hole pattern wizard: the X, Y, incremental, and angle input windows display unstable numbers.  I believe the other wizards function normally.

I did not find any of these problems with the standard Mach3 R3.042.40. 

Having said all the above, I think the MSM screen set is very nice and I like its logical set-up.

One request is to add a NewFangled Wizard button to the load screen.  I miss that one.

Thanks,

Jim

6

Galil / MachStdMill and Galil plug-in

« on: July 26, 2010, 10:38:09 AM »

Has anyone tried the new MachStdMill screen set with the Galil plug-in? 

Thanks,

Jim

7

CVI MachStdMill (MSM) / MachStdMill and Galil plug-in

« on: July 26, 2010, 10:36:28 AM »

Does anyone know if the latest MachStdMill screen set works with the Galil card plug-in?

Thanks,

Jim

8

Galil / Need help with basic VFD spindle setup - 0 to 10 VDC, Forward & Reverse

« on: January 23, 2010, 08:49:00 PM »

I've got my Shizuoka mill moving on all three axis well, but I need help getting the VFD driven spindle working in Mach3.

I'm using a 1750 ISA card with ICM2900 terminal board.  In the plug-in, I have the spindle set up to use axis W as a servo motor (I do not have an encoder on the spindle).

I wired the VFD 0 to 10 VDC input to the W servo motor output and return on the ICM 2900. 

I am confused on how to wire the VFD Forward and Reverse inputs and what the settings should be in Mach3 for a basic VFD set-up. 

Any help is appreciated.

Jim

9

Galil / Bug in plug-in re:Homing?

« on: January 14, 2010, 11:25:17 AM »

I think there is a bug in the plug-in.  I have set up my system (1700 card, AMC amps) in SmartTerm and everything works OK.  a PR 40000 command followed by BGX moves X in the positive direction and PR -40000 with BGX moves it in the negative.  The Y axis works the same (I did need to swap the motor leads and the +A & -A on the Y axis to get it to move in the proper direction).

When I use Mach3, the X axis moves in the wrong direction.  If I set the X motor as a "Servo Reverse" in the plug-in (under the motors tab) the amplifier faults out after accumulating error. I think this feature incorectly changes the MT command without a change in the CE command.  Does that make sense?  Changing the Y axis does the same thing.

The other problem is with the Homing.  Under Mach3's Homing menu, if I set X axis Homing as reverse it changes the motor jogging direction when using the keyboard and the DRO reads backwards.  Changing this parameter in the Homing menu should not change how the keys on the keyboard function or change the DRO polarity.   It seems really weird.  The Y axis does the same thing.

Has anyone else experienced this or am I the only lucky one?  I do have the latest revision of the plug-in installed.

Any help is appreciated.

Jim

10

Galil / Minimum computer required to run Mach3 & 1750 ISA card?

« on: January 10, 2010, 04:29:12 PM »

I would like to use an older Pentium III computer (850 MHz Celeron) with my Galil 1750 ISA card.  Do you think this will cause any problems (new computers with ISA slots are kind of hard to come by)? 

The Galil controller should take most of the load off the computer.  Should I set the kernel speed to 25K or something higher?  Would a low kernel speed limit the maximum velocity of the system or is that more or less under the control of the Galil card?

Thanks,

Jim