Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: EStop Request when nothing is moving

« on: December 13, 2012, 05:15:56 PM »

First off, thank you all so much for your input and ideas.  Here's some new info which I just discovered.  When I tried to reset the switch on the G540 and reset my original ports and pins setup, the red fault light on the G540 lit and the RESET button on mach stayed flashing.  I never could get the fault light to go off on the G540 with chargepump switched on.  

I then set G540 chargepump switch to OFF.  Ports & Pins - chargepump is X'd (off).  General Configurations - chargepump on estop is checked.  With this array, I was finally able to get the G540 out of fault and get it's green power LED to light on the unit.

Machine ran for 28 minutes perfectly, then stopped... or so I thot.  I realized for the first time, when I thought the axis motors had come to a complete stop and g-code was still running, I was wrong.  All three axis WERE still moving, in their correct positions as g-code was showing it was suppose to be, but moving at 1" every 98 seconds!  Tad slow.  That's why the horrible sound coming from the motors and heat build up.

Before trying to get another computer set up and test if it is possibly a parallel port issue, does any of this make sense to anyone why it started giving this issue all at once, and could it still be a parallel port issue which I need to check by setting up a complete different computer?

2

General Mach Discussion / Re: EStop Request when nothing is moving

« on: December 13, 2012, 01:53:16 PM »

I disabled chargepump in ports and pins.  RESET button flashed and would not reset.  I next flipped the chargepump switch on the G540 itself, to the off position.  Closed and reopened Mach and all seemed to work properly.  Did a test with a G-code cutting air.  The machine ran for 14 minutes, which was longer than before, without any issue.  At 14 minutes it stopped.  RESET was not flashing, G-code was still running on the screen as if it were still cutting, and all 3 axis motors were making a grinding/chattering sound, plus I noticed they were heating rapidly.  Diagnostic screen was clear.  

I hit stop button on Mach, and the g-code quit running, but motors still made horrible noise as if they were being jammed into something, even tho the router was sitting in mid air.  The only way I could find to stop the motors from making the noise was to close the mach program completely.  I restarted mach, and everything was quiet and worked perfectly.  Tested again, and in about 10 minutes, same result of g-code still running, but motors halted and grinding/chattering.

3

General Mach Discussion / Re: EStop Request when nothing is moving

« on: December 12, 2012, 07:23:22 PM »

Sorry, but I have no idea by what you mean when you ask if the Gecko has a fault input to Mach.

Attached is the xml you asked for.  Thanks in advance.

4

General Mach Discussion / EStop Request when nothing is moving

« on: December 12, 2012, 05:52:13 PM »

I am having a problem where the "estop was requested" thing shows up somewhere between 3-9 minutes of Mach3 being active.  If I have mach3 active, but have NOT MOVED OR TOUCHED anything on the machine, somewhere between 3-9 minutes, the RESET switch starts flashing.  The only way to deactivate it is to close the mach3 program and start all over.  If I am cutting an item, within 3-9 minutes it stops mid cut and says estop was requested.  To reset I have to close mach3 and reopen the program. 

The machine is a Probotix V90, and has run flawlessly for six months.  All wires are shielded, sturdy switches used for limits, requiring 1-1/2 lb of force to activate.  Have tried debounce with no difference.  Had it always set on 0 before, without issue.  Can NOT set estop to ACTIVE LOW, as some people do, because RESET will just flash all the time, no matter what.  I've left ACTIVE LOW off for the past six months and system worked without issue. 

When estop is activated for unknown reason, the diagnostic screen shows the estop with a red "LED", but no other lites are lit on the diagnostic screen.

Gecko G540
Windows XP (CNC dedicated PC)
4 GB Ram
Dual Core 3GHz Processor
All Wiring is Shielded
APC 1500VA Power Back-Up