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1

Galil / MPG not working correctly with galil and mach 3, error code 9 and 46

« on: February 26, 2018, 06:46:15 PM »

Hello all,
   I am having issues trying to get my z axis to jog with a MPG.  The lathe has X, Y, Z axis with the X and Z being controlled by the MPG1, and MPG3, respectively.  MPG1 is tied to Galil X axis auxiliary input, MPG3 is tied to Galil Z axis auxiliary input.  This was working quite well with the galil plugin 4.4.0.0. 

I updated the plugin to 4.6.0.0 because it looks like this plugin has the option to use a 0-10v input signal for spindle control, which is something I'd like to utilize.

After updating, i noticed a couple of errors, error 9 and 46.  I think error 9 mentioned something about variables being off and error 46 mentions axis master/slave issues.  I don't have any axis tied together in the axis slave screen.

After playing around with some settings, i am able to get the x axis to jog with MPG1 and MPG2.  I can also make the Y axis jog with MPG2, but cannot get the z axis to jog with either of the MPG's.  I can get both X and Y to work at the same time as well.  I haven't tried any other settings. 

A couple of other things I noticed after updating the plugin:
1. the ports and pins section was filled out for MPG1 and MPG2.  (i think 1,13,1,15).  I was under the impression ports and pins don't need to be used with the galil plugin, but could be mistaken here.  If they do, i haven't been able to locate a pinout for what they should be.
2. The green check mark to enable the MPG's  in the ports and pins screen doesn't seem to work.  The MPG seems to work fine with or without the checkmark.
3. On the jog tab, there are two buttons, MPG axis and second axis.  I can't click on the second axis button at all.  Well, i can, but it doesn't appear to operate.  But i just realized that if i click on the MPG axis button, it will switch between the x and z axis, and low and behold the z axis will move with the MPG.

Is there anyway i can disable this link between the X and Z axis and get these to each work with their own MPG?

Any help would be much appreciated.  Please let me know if you'd like any additional information.

-Brian

 

2

General Mach Discussion / Need help - Jerky movement with large files - CPU usage maxes out

« on: April 25, 2015, 05:25:02 PM »

Hi all!
  I'm having some difficulty trying to do some 3D cutting with very small line segments.  The g code that was produced is just shy of 100K lines.  I can start the program, and it runs fine until it hits about the 20K line mark, then I start getting very jerky movement on all 3 axis.  I also notice that when I start getting the jerky movement, mach 3 is using a full 50% of the CPU (dual core machine), and when it's running fine, it only uses 28-45% of the CPU.

Just to test it out, I took a segment of code out of the middle, where I was getting very jerky movement (about the 39K-40K), and saved this as a new file that was only about 1k lines long.  The machine runs fine with this file, and CPU usage is about 30%.

I've tried disabling the tool path preview to save system resources, but this didn't really help at all.  I'm not sure what else to do, except manually edit the G-code into multiple files, which is something I'd really like to not have to do.

computer specs:
HP DC5700 small form factor
Windows 7 32 bit
Intel Pentium 4 (2 CPU's) 3.00GHz
1Gig ram

Is my computer just not up to par?  Any suggestions on how to get a little more performance out of it?

thanks in advance for any suggestions, they are truly appreciated!

-Brian

P.S. G-code file is attached for reference

3

General Mach Discussion / "go to zero" doesn't go to zero and other issues.

« on: July 06, 2012, 07:30:25 PM »

Hello all,
   I'm using mach 3 version 3.043.022, and am getting some abnormal results.  I just ran a program, then hit the "go to zero" button, y and x went to zero, but z went from 0.125" to .0017".  This is what mach 3 displayed on it's DRO.  This is a constantly recuring problem on the machine, sometimes if the axis is within .015" of zero, it won't move at all when i hit the "go to zero" buttom.  This happens for all the axis on the machine.

Another issue i've noticed which may be related:
load & run "vice home",zero all axis, then .001 incremental jog 10 times(all axis do this):
    1) .0000
    2) .0000
    3) .0024
    4) .0024
    5) .0049
    6) .0049
    7) .0049
    .0073
    9) .0073
   10) .0097

load & run "cribbage board drill 1",zero z (all axis do this), then .001 incremental jog 10 times:
    1) .0010
    2) .0020
    3) .0030
    4) .0040
    5) .0049
    6) .0060
    7) .0070
    .0080
    9) .0090
   10) .0099
this is repeatable, i can load either program, run it, and then incremental jog with the same results
the numbers above are the numbers shown in mach.  Actual table movement is ~ the same as measured with a dial indicator.

The theoretical motor/table resolution is .0000492".

Any ideas on what might be the issue?

Any and all suggestions are much appreciated.

Brian