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General Mach Discussion / Herky-Jerky Z

« on: June 01, 2012, 04:50:49 PM »

After cutting 100 of the same piece without trouble, or change to any setting, the Z started plunging deeper on the piece. It would plunge to drill a hole and not lift up the specified amount. As it continued to drill the next couple of holes it wouldn’t pull up enough to clear the surface and would route a line leading to the next hole. I’ve tried turning everything off and restarting everything and I get the same issue.  I noticed when I was cutting the previous pieces that when the machine returned to the start position after completing the job the DROs for X & Y were not zeros so I would just hit “Go to Zero” and then start the next job.
  When it started ruining material I decided to check the steps on the Z axis and when I did, I found that the positive direction was fine but when I went in the negative direction it was off a bit. I tried going back and forth with calibrating the steps and could get close but not as close as I would like so I went in to motor tuning and stepped up the acceleration and velocity wondering if that might have some effect on the stepping. Much to my dismay the motor for the Z started to vibrate badly so I ran it to the limit switch and it stopped. After resetting the acceleration and velocity back where I had it (60 and 10 respectively) I got the jogging to slow down but it still vibrates badly even when no jogging is taking place. When you look at the motor it is just going back and forth rapidly causing the spindle to shake up and down until I either close the program or run it up to its limit switch.
  Is there anything you can tell me that might help?

Thanks a bunch - bingart

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General Mach Discussion / Perske Spindle - Can Mach3 control one of these?

« on: January 17, 2012, 11:06:55 AM »

 I've searched this forum and the manual and haven't been able to find an understandable answer to help with setting up Mach3 to control my spindle. That doesn't mean it's not out there, I just need to be able to understand it. I've made all of the suggested setting changes that I can find. I can get the Output#1 to light up on the Diagnostics Page but I'm not able to get any control of the spindle yet.

I have a Perske 3 phase 3 HP spindle that is powered through a MagnaTek GPD333 control and I would like to be able to control speed and CW CCW rotation of my spindle through Mach. I'm including a photo of the motor control if that helps. Is there anyone that can help me with this?

Thanks for the support!

Bingart

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General Mach Discussion / Newbie needs help with Z-axis error codes

« on: January 04, 2012, 08:50:11 PM »

I'm new to the world of router tables and I just recently purchased a used 6 X 10 Precix Router table. The controller had just been replaced with an Ajax ALLIN1DC and the software is Mach3. The guy I bought it from had just replaced the ball screw because of a crash that he had in trying to set up this new controller and software. After waiting months for the part he lost interest and sold the thing to me as a project. I've been able to get everything fired up and working but had some issue I need your help with. I was able to get everything moving on the X, Y and Z axes briefly but when trying the Z everything stopped working and the error code "Axis Z Encoder Error" came up. I hit "Clear" and then "Reset" and was able to get the Z to move again briefly and then the same error message came up but this time I was no longer able to clear the error and get things to restart. I also have a scrolling error near the Reset button that says "Press Reset...Emergency Mode Active". Also I have a flashing yellow button that says "Abnormal Condition" and when I click on it the message comes up saying "One or More Axis enabled or disabled". I have no doubt these are all related and pointing to something. I just need your help to get this resolved. Thanks in advance for your input!