Messages

1

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

« on: February 14, 2011, 09:29:15 AM »

My name is Matt R.. I am currently working with a CNC Router. I will try to get on this site to share information about
how to continuously improve parts quality.

2

General Mach Discussion / Re: Why does my A axis motor not work?

« on: December 22, 2010, 10:10:51 AM »

I swapped the pin assignment and there was no change to the system.

My healthy hunch is that is a problem with the driver board.  I am hoping someone from Rockcliff will assist me in diagnosing what is probably a problem with the board.

3

General Mach Discussion / Why does my A axis motor not work?

« on: December 21, 2010, 10:43:39 AM »

Hello,

I am having a problem which could be either hardware or software.  My CNC is a 4 motor set up (X&A, Y, Z) running on a Rockcliff board.

Currently the X, Y, and Z motors work, while the A axis motor does not.  I even hooked the motor up directly to the Rockcliff board to test it.  However, when I check the trim pot voltage on each of the 4 axes, each one reads 2VDC as they should.

The Keling motor does work, in fact, we went ahead and ordered a new one (only $40), before discovering that the motor wasn't the problem.  (It is probably a good idea to have a spare on hand, so I don't mind the expense.)

I am not an expert on how the Rockcliff boards work, but ours appears to be normal, yet the A motor does not function.  I am also posting this message to the Rockcliff forum to get help there.

Is there something I did in Mach3 to cause the A axis to not work properly?  Is there something I can test to find out?

4

General Mach Discussion / Re: Switching to a "new" computer

« on: October 21, 2010, 12:46:58 PM »

Thanks, that helped a lot.

Once upon a time I set up our computer with a list of roughly 20-30 steps for configuring our computer to make it more "Mach 3 friendly."  I think we need to do that again for this new computer.  Does anyone know where I can find the list?  I am having trouble locating it on this site.  Thanks.

5

General Mach Discussion / Switching to a "new" computer

« on: October 19, 2010, 04:31:44 PM »

Hello,

The motherboard on the computer I was using went bad, so I am switching Mach3 and VCarvePro 5 to a "new" used computer.  The switch is like-for-like, I am going from a computer which ran Windows XP to a computer which runs Windows XP.

Our old computer's hard drive is A-OK, so I downloaded all the Mach3 and VCarvePro files I could find to a flash drive and then installed them on the new computer.

So far, I only have the Mach3 folder which was located in "Program Files" on the C:\ drive.

There are probably files I am not bringing from the old computer to the new one, so I would like to have the experts here advise me on what I am missing.

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: Changing from Bipolar Parallel to Bipolar Series

« on: January 13, 2010, 03:51:51 PM »

To answer your question, the board does have a regulator.  The manufacturer in his infinite wisdom set them to the maximum setting.

Motors that draw 4.2A + regulator set to max + board rated for 2.5A according to manufacturer = fun!

Putting them in bipolar series will bring the draw down to 2.1A.

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: Changing from Bipolar Parallel to Bipolar Series

« on: January 13, 2010, 01:48:47 PM »

Yes it does, but the advice to change from bipolar parallel to bipolar series came from the board manufacturer.  Apparently bipolar parallel draws more amps than the board can handle.

I personally don't mind switching to it, because I don't run the motors very fast anyway.  I like to stay down in the 45 inches per minute area.  My main concern is precise and accurate cuts, not fast cuts.  Slow and steady wins the day.

8

General Mach Discussion / Changing from Bipolar Parallel to Bipolar Series

« on: January 13, 2010, 01:01:55 PM »

Hello,

My CNC arrived here from the factory with the motors wired bipolar parallel.  After about two and a half happy months, the system decided it didn't want to work anymore.  After consulting with the maker of the driver board, I discovered that the motors in bipolar parallel setup draw too many amps compared to bipolar series, and this likely damaged the driver board.  He recommended that I rewire things to run in bipolar series.

That is all fine and good, but what I am wondering is, once I get this new board and drop it in, do I need to change any settings in Mach3 because I have now switched from a bipolar parallel to a bipolar series setup?

9

General Mach Discussion / X,Y,Z axis do not work, Spindle does work

« on: December 11, 2009, 10:46:45 AM »

Hello,

I run a CNC with Mach3.  I have 4 axes, with the X-axis a 2 motor setup (A axis slaved).  Usually everything works great.

I was changing bits manually one day when all of the sudden, Mach3 stopped talking to my X, Y, and Z axis motors.  Left/Right/Up/Down/Page Up/Page Down do not work.  The Mach3 screen shows that they should be working, because the screen responds as if the motors are running.

The odd thing is that the F5 key still turns the spindle on and off.  So Mach3 now only has partial control of my CNC.  What the heck happened??