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Messages - xj5373

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1
General Mach Discussion / Re: Struggling with Mach 3
« on: June 19, 2013, 03:17:54 PM »
Just a quick update - I looked at the optimisation info and did a couple of additional things - most significant one really was to "maintain the hard disk" - ran error checking and then defragmented the disk. Unfortunately I still have the problem. I have now installed CCleaner and removed a couple of progs that I have never used and then ran the registry clean up. Re-start - but I still have my periodic dead stop problem.

I think the next step may be to reinstall Mach 3 and see if that has an impact.

Ian

2
General Mach Discussion / Re: Struggling with Mach 3
« on: June 12, 2013, 02:50:14 PM »
"Ctrl alt del" shows nothing running under processes except System Idle at 90+ which as I understand it is what you should expect.

With Mach running and driving the machine tool - Mach3.exe starts to score between 01 and 05 and there is the odd instance where explorer.exe scores 01 but other than that nothing changes.

Running the program with my hand on the table you can clearly feel the dead stops as the machine suddenly stops - there is nothing odd happening during one of these pauses as far as task manager is concerned - nothing suddenly starts up as far as I can see.

It is as if the PC hangs monetarily and the pulses to the stepper drivers stop - then after a short (variable) time 1 to maybe 10 secs max, it kicks off again. The watchdog doesn't kick in.....

I wonder about reinstalling Mach?

Ian

3
General Mach Discussion / Struggling with Mach 3
« on: June 12, 2013, 07:19:35 AM »
HI,
Been running Mach 3 on my PC with my Denford Easimill for years with no real problems - suddenly I am struggling. The PC seems to become unresponsive to keyboard or mouse clicks now and then - there could be a couple of seconds pause between clicking on a command before it wakes up and switches screens or whatever. When running code it looks like the same thing is happening - the machine stops dead mid movement - sits for a second or maybe 5 secs, and then moves off again with a jolt.

Ran driver test last night and it reported pulsing too fast - dropped the speed one notch to the minimum - this seemed to sort it last night. Ran this morning and same problem - this time driver test reported too slow. I am assuming that this is a PC problem so went searching - used msconfig to switch off all start up items - still the same.

This machine is not on the web and is pretty much dedicated to Mach3 - I have Cut 2D on it and AutoCAD LT but these have been on for years with no issues.

Does anyone have any ideas I could try - something has changed somewhere - but what?

Ian

4
General Mach Discussion / Re: Driver watchdog triggered
« on: September 21, 2012, 05:50:40 AM »
Hi,
Strangely, my machine has just started giving "driver watchdog triggered" errors out of the blue. The machine to date has been very stable running for a number of years, no new software and not connected to the interent, so I can't imagine that anything has changed. The watchdog errors can occur whilst the machine is executing a program but also when it is standing idle with nothing going on.
I have just disabled watchdogs in general config - and so far so good. Bigger test coming on shortly.
What exactly have i disabled?
Watchdogs sound like good things - is it really ok to disable them?
Ian

5
General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 Turn Problem - any pointers please
« on: January 20, 2012, 03:38:19 AM »
Wow,

This is turning out to be quite a journey - so that is both the Mach 3 Turn manual and Rich's guide out of date. I suppopse in some ways this demonstrates the dynamic nature of Mach 3 but it does make it a bit more challenging to get up and running and eat into your time heliping folk along. I wonder how the manuals are updated - do I know enough to help out?

Ian   

6
General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 Turn Problem - any pointers please
« on: January 19, 2012, 06:54:11 PM »
Hi again,

Bit more testing tonight - no PC crashes and I ran the same thread multiple times. Looking pretty good although I am not sure I would trust it with a proper job yet. Ran the TurnDiags plug in and noted nothing untoward as far as I can tell - highest spindle variation 0.41% although I feel the need to run this again with some steel stock in the machine to find out what really happens under load. The ORAC is only a small machine, not a lot of horsepower available and no back gear to help out.

I have two more objectives - get Bobcad CAM talking to the machiine then get the autotoolchanger working!

Ian

7
General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 Turn Problem - any pointers please
« on: January 17, 2012, 05:31:18 PM »
Hello again,
Well I have modified the machine to have a single slot and loaded the latest lock down version of Mach 3. It is now 043.022 - was 042.020. I recycled the .xml file and reconfigured input singnals - disabling "timing" and putting the spindle input on "index".  Once I set the input to active low and set the index debounce to 10 (was higher for some reason) I managed to get the "S true" reading something like the set speed. I then ran a spindle auto callibration cycle.
Tried a quick first threading run and it looked a lot better. Pitch looked consistent and passes got progressively deeper, unfortunately toward the end of the program the PC froze - charge pump stopped and lathe stopped.
At that point I decided enough was enough for tonight and came out of the workshop and put the kettle on!
The PC is my wifes old office machine recycled....seemed like a good idea at the time but if it is going to start crashing then maybe I should replace it?
Once again your advice has been great - thanks very much for this. I will give you a further update when I get another chance to test it.
Ultimately I am hoping to get Bobcad CAM to generate code for the lathe.....
Thanks again
Ian
 

8
General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 Turn Problem - any pointers please
« on: January 16, 2012, 02:28:26 AM »
Hello again Hood - Thanks for this. I will change to a 1 slot disc (might take an evening or two - band parctice tonight!) and upgrage to the latest lock down version. I do have a license so should be no problems there. I will report back....
By the way I have done a number of proper 3D machining jobs now with Bobcad CAM and have had a lot of success. It is a bit quirky on the drawing front but generally can do everythig I want - it is a just a cse of finding the appropriate functions. 3D modelling is not as good as Solid Edge but there are often workarounds you can use although I tend to use Solid Edge and import files.

Thanks again
Ian

9
General Mach Discussion / Mach 3 Turn Problem - any pointers please
« on: January 15, 2012, 05:08:10 PM »
Hi,
I have just come back to a Mach 3 conversion of my Denford Orac after a longish break.
Running a number of the turning wizards and everything seems to work fine (limited testing but I have done some radii as well as plain turning and facing) but when I try screw cutting I have a problem. The G code looks fine and the first pass looks fine, the second pass though misses the work (looks good in Z but inadequate X), the third pass, again looking good in Z takes a deepish cut at the start of the pass but as it progresses towards the chuck there is some X movement and the tool progressively comes out of the job -  like a taper thread. I am not convinced about the pitch either on this pass. I have been stopping the job at this point as there is clearly something amiss.
Critical line of code is G76 X0.192 Z-1 Q1 P0.05 J0.001 L45 H0.005 I26.5 C0.025 B0 T0 which seems ok to me.
I have calibrated the spindle and it is showing 4 pulse per rev which is correct. Can anyone suggest a next step please to diagnose and solve this - where should I start exploring?
Thanks
Ian 

 

10
General Mach Discussion / Re: Multipass - Changes...
« on: March 15, 2011, 04:46:52 PM »
Hi again - just turned off auto screen enlarge and it is perfect! Thanks very much indeed for your assistance in this - I am very grateful indeed.
Ian

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