Topics

1

Mach4 General Discussion / probing cycle only seeking 0.125" then gives up?

« on: March 31, 2021, 11:12:38 PM »

Does anyone have any suggestions as to where the setting is that might control the distance the probe will seek before giving up? its only moving .125" per seek then it gives up saying the probe didn't hit anything..  can get it to move further with prep move, but then it complains it hit something during the prep move..

Ideally when I start a probe routine it would move until it hit something or triggered... dug around and never found a setting that made since..

Thanks

2

Mach4 General Discussion / Spindle Accel/Decel wait times scale??

« on: November 18, 2018, 01:47:17 PM »

So I think I stumbled across something that is a touch confusing  the spindle settings for wait times for speed scale from 0 to 100% of the inputted time based on the commanded speed?  I have a VFD that has an acceleration time set that it will meet, wither its 2000 RPM or 24000 RPM it will get there in X seconds (or back to zero).. How can I tell Mach 4 not to scale the time.. when I say wait 15 seconds I don't mean 15 seconds at 24000 rpm but only 1.25 seconds at 2000 RPM, I really mean 15 seconds in all instiances where an M3 or M5 are happening..

Thanks

3

Mach4 General Discussion / Custom Error and stopping a program?

« on: November 13, 2018, 10:16:38 PM »

Howdy all..

  I am trying to figure out the best way to achieve the following...

I have several inputs that signify an error that are setup on various input ports  (High level feedbacks from my CLEARpath Servos, a Spindle alarm, and a low air pressure alarm)...  I would like to configure Mach 4 so that if any of these 6 (or 7 if I add a 4th axis)  inputs activate (high or low depending) its treated like an error and stops the program (like hitting E-STOP or a limit switch would)..  What is the best way to configure (or program) custom error trapping and error messages in mach 4 so I can alarm out if something goes wrong..

Thanks
Josh

4

Mach4 General Discussion / Mach 4 and Windows 10 creator update?

« on: March 30, 2017, 09:56:19 AM »

Looks like Mach 4 is not a fan of Creator Update... I got the "official" update via Windows Insider program last night.. Now when I open Mach 4 I get the following error (which doesn't look like an error but popup box with big red & white X suggests something isn't happy..

8:53:32 AM: Failed to load shared library 'mcLua.m4pw' (error 0: the operation completed successfully.)
8:53:32 AM: Failed to load shared library 'mcModbus.m4pw' (error 0: the operation completed successfully.)
8:53:32 AM: Failed to load shared library 'mcRegfile.m4pw' (error 0: the operation completed successfully.)
8:53:32 AM: Failed to load shared library 'mcSerial.m4pw' (error 0: the operation completed successfully.)
8:53:32 AM: Failed to load shared library 'ShuttlePro.m4pw' (error 0: the operation completed successfully.)
8:53:32 AM: Failed to load shared library 'Sim.m4pw' (error 0: the operation completed successfully.)

I thought it was due to some Lua scripts I was working on, so I uninstalled/reinstalled mach.. same errors with a fresh install.

5

Mach4 General Discussion / Script for tool changes--- Doable? worth the effort?

« on: March 29, 2017, 08:50:23 AM »

So tool changes without an ATC are a pita.. Mostly zeroing Z after the tool change.. So I had a thought, but before I went down the rabbit hole, I figured I would ask if this is doable in the LUA scripts.

(writing this up in Gherkin to help describe the process)

Feature : Calculate new Z-offset with tool change dynamically.
Scenario :
Given the CNC Router was homed and Global coordinates are known
Given that a Touchplate is at a known location in Global coordinates
Given that a tool was zeroed against the work piece
Then the tool is touched off the touchplate to record its global offset.
When a new tool is put in the spindle
Then the CNC Router moves to the touchplate
Then the tool is touched off the touch plate
Then the offset of the new tool is compared with the old tool.

So on paper this seems doable.. but I have never messed with tool tables or tool offsets... So for those that are LUA ninjas... doable? I don't want to go down a rabbit hole if Mach4's API doesn't even support this kind of behavior.

Thanks all

6

Mach4 General Discussion / Where did "Home Slave with Master Axis" Go?

« on: November 23, 2016, 05:36:49 PM »

I am transitioning from Mach 3 and parallel port to Mach 4 and ESS, where did the option to make sure that the Master and Slave are not homed together? They both have their own homing sensors (for auto squaring) but I can't find that option anywhere in the Mach 3 or ESS settings?

Thanks
Josh
(Running Build : Mach 4.2.0.3233 and ESS driver : 186)

7

General Mach Discussion / Licensed Mach 3 Stopped mid project.

« on: March 04, 2013, 09:46:59 AM »

Howdy all,
    I have a Gecko 540 running a 3 axis machine, and last night on the machines "maiden" voyage the program stopped at line 11,547... There was no error, no limit switch getting hit (wasn't near one anyways), no nothing.. Mach 3 just stopped running the program... I pressed my E-Stop (which is wired and tested) But Mach 3 didn't recognized that either.. It also wouldn't recognize Jog commands.  I restarted Mach 3 (fixture location saved), and the E-Stop started working, but Jogging still wouldn't... I then used MDI and was able to move the motors... At that point I was able to start the job from about 10 lines back no problem and finish the part (another 30,000 lines of NC Code)..

   Does anyone have any diagnostic steps I should take to figure out why Mach 3 just froze up mid program?  *its always stressful trying to restart a program mid way thru!

Thanks
Josh