Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: ARROW KEYS DON'T WORK

« on: May 26, 2011, 08:09:08 PM »

I'm new at this CNC stuff, and have had the arrow keys not work too, only to find I was trying to use the arrow keys when I was typing in the MDI, and they will not work when the MDI box is open.

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Sieg Machines / Re: Help with controlling coolant pump on KX3 w/ Mach 3

« on: January 21, 2011, 08:20:43 PM »

Tweakie,

Okay, in your mail you said output 1 and I said output 3. Little did you know you already resolved my problem. I turned on 1 and turned 3 back off and now it seems to work fine. I'll play with it tonite and give an update if I have any more troubles. Thanks for stating the basics, I'm new at this.

The on-delay timer I mentioned is a little electronic device that will, after it gets 120 volts, wait a preset time before closing a set of contacts. I will set the timer so it gets it's power whenever the mill is turned on, not when the pump should be on. So after the initial start of the mill (where it now has the flood going for 2 seconds), the electrical outlet on the mill that goes to the pump will now have to wait 3 seconds before it gets power. But after the initial start, it will instantly start and stop with the program. I could see how a flood system turning on for 2 seconds, especially if you had it turned off, when you turned the mill on could be quite a heart stopper. There must be someone here that has gone through this. I wonder if there are any dip switches on the mill control board that controls that relay function...

Thanks again!
Don

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Sieg Machines / Help with controlling coolant pump on KX3 w/ Mach 3

« on: January 20, 2011, 07:23:29 PM »

I am going to add a flood coolant pump to my KX3 and I have some questions I hope someone can help me with:

1. To see how it works, I plugged a small lamp into the 120 volt "coolant pump receptacle" in the back of the machine. The lamp worked in reverse - when supposed to be off it was on. So I looked and found the "motor outputs" had output #3 active low. I set it to high and now the lamp works as it should when hitting the manual coolant button on the front page. Did I correct the problem the way I should have, or (like usual)did I screw something else up I'll be sorry for later? And can you tell me what output #1 is for?

2. When the KX3 is energized, the lamp is energized for about a second, and then goes off. Is this right, and is there an easy way to not allow it to do that without adding a separate "on delay" timer or even power switch? I wouldn't want the coolant flowing each time I turn the mill on.

3. Is M8 (turns on) and M9 (off) the right codes to use in a program to turn it on and off.

Thanks!

Don

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Sieg Machines / Re: Brand new KX3 owner - I have some (hopefully) basic questions

« on: January 11, 2011, 09:17:11 PM »

kf2qd,

Thank you for the reply and all the comments.

You cleared up the profile issue, that makes sense.
 
I tried the motor tuning and got it down real close, but ended up setting the native units to mm and it started working in inches when I put the "settings units" to inches. Now I tell it to go 1" and the DRO and table go 1". I'm like you, I prefer inches, because I don't have to one more calculation in the process.

My machine was received 12-24-10 so unless they stock tons of them I guess it's pretty new. The spindle does top out at 5K, so there must be other software. My instruction manual is difficult for a beginner like me, because it shows things I don't have,, and doesn't show things I do have. Right now I am trying to figure out how to understand and set all the different offsets and coordinates because messing around with them I got the dreaded A.B. Normal box flashing and the message shows "Axis are not Refed to normal condition..."  So I'm off to the search topics here to see if I can get that figured out. Thanks again for your help,

Don

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Sieg Machines / Brand new KX3 owner - I have some (hopefully) basic questions

« on: January 06, 2011, 08:45:15 PM »

I just received my KX3 and I have some problems trying to run the Mach3 software.
1. The mill will not work at all if I chose the Mach3Mill profile, but it works when I open the SIEG KX3 3500 US or the SIEG KX3 US profiles. Is this normal?

2. Isn't there an easy way to make the machine work in inches? I read another post and tried the motor tuning and that got it close, but other problems arose - when I went through the calibration process of telling it to move .1 inch, it moved .039", so I told it and it did the calculations. Then, when I jog it to move .1", it moves .1003". Then I tell it to move several more .1" and they come up .2003, .3003, .4003, etc. This is after zeroing it several times over and over. Odd, the Y and Z axis both move .0003 too. So it's not reassuring at all. I have the box checked in the GENERAL LOGIC SETTINGS screen that says "G20,G21 Control - lock DRO's to setup units" and the box on the SETTINGS screen set to INCHES. I've toggled and tried everything I can think of.

By the way I'm brand new to CNC and this is my first post, so any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!