Messages

1

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: probing cycle only seeking 0.125" then gives up?

« on: April 02, 2021, 08:17:08 AM »

Not sure why, but booted up this morning and that command worked and then the probe/touch off screen started working too... so yah... weird, but working now.

Thanks for the suggested test!

2

Mach4 General Discussion / probing cycle only seeking 0.125" then gives up?

« on: March 31, 2021, 11:12:38 PM »

Does anyone have any suggestions as to where the setting is that might control the distance the probe will seek before giving up? its only moving .125" per seek then it gives up saying the probe didn't hit anything..  can get it to move further with prep move, but then it complains it hit something during the prep move..

Ideally when I start a probe routine it would move until it hit something or triggered... dug around and never found a setting that made since..

Thanks

3

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Spindle Accel/Decel wait times scale??

« on: November 18, 2018, 08:43:13 PM »

Tried that before posting...  Using your example, if I ask for 3000 RPM the PWM will go to 100% voltage but if I asked for 3001 rpm it will drop the PWM back down to near zero.. it doesn't scale the PWM across the ranges, it resets at each step.

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Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Spindle Accel/Decel wait times scale??

« on: November 18, 2018, 07:43:23 PM »

They scale with the commanded (S) speed..

So if you set it to 30 seconds for 0 to 20000 RPM, then if you do S2000 M3 it will wait 3 seconds (1/10th of 30 seconds because its 1/10th of 20000 RPM requested)..

I trust I can come up to speed inside 15 seconds regardless what speed I ask for.. I can't guarantee that that my acceleration is perfectly linear, in fact I know its not..

5

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Spindle Accel/Decel wait times scale??

« on: November 18, 2018, 07:23:56 PM »

I did not because I don't do anything that needs encoding and I got the "starter kit" which didn't have that option (so I didn't know to ask for it).. Either which way, I am just updating my Fusion Post Processor to add a Dwell for 15 seconds after an M3 or M5 and I am going to add a wait in the M6 macro when I write it to look for the 0hz command.

Still think its odd that there isn't a mach level setting for spindle dwell.. Seems like the use case for the spindle acceleration and deceleration settings are a bit too specific and pre-optimized.

6

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Spindle Accel/Decel wait times scale??

« on: November 18, 2018, 04:03:41 PM »

Sadly there is no good place to read RPM off of my spindle.. (Its a CNCDepot S30C).. And my VFD doesn't provide RPM either.

I am not so worries about tool mass given the weight of an ISO30 ER32 collet Not much I put in there is going to make a very big difference on total inertia of the tool/tool holder..

As I mentioned above Spindle at speed is flacky at best.. I guess I'll use my output pin as Zero Hz from the VFD.. .still not sure what do do about the wait because a scaled wait based on some max wait is not accurate or safe either.

7

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Spindle Accel/Decel wait times scale??

« on: November 18, 2018, 03:14:09 PM »

Spindle has 1 "intelligent" output and one alarm output.  I have the spindle breaking at 15 seconds and alarming so if it can't break in time I'll know..

I was looking at configuring the "intelligent" output as Spindle at Speed, as that seemed more useful given the resistive break in the VFD but I also get a weird bounce of that signal due to the Spindle forward happening for a tiny fraction of a moment before the PWM commanding a speed.. The result is that for a split second the VFD is at its commanded speed of Zero, then its not...   

All the little things..  If the time were a fixed value (always wait 15 seconds or something) then all of this would be mute and I would just live with the loss of 10 or 20 seconds per tool change.. Its a big table so its going to take time to get to the wine rack anyways..

8

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Spindle Accel/Decel wait times scale??

« on: November 18, 2018, 02:56:51 PM »

I am trying to avoid having to hand code dwells (G04) into all of my projects every time I command an M03 or M05..  (considering I am working on an ATC, having the spindle really not moving when I go to put a tool back is kind of important ;-)..

The problem is with the assumption in Mach4 that if I tell Mach to wait 15 seconds to get to 24k on the spindle page, then I want it to wait 1.5 seconds if I command 2.4k RPM.. Its a faulty assumption I just want a blanket 15 second wait..

9

Mach4 General Discussion / Spindle Accel/Decel wait times scale??

« on: November 18, 2018, 01:47:17 PM »

So I think I stumbled across something that is a touch confusing  the spindle settings for wait times for speed scale from 0 to 100% of the inputted time based on the commanded speed?  I have a VFD that has an acceleration time set that it will meet, wither its 2000 RPM or 24000 RPM it will get there in X seconds (or back to zero).. How can I tell Mach 4 not to scale the time.. when I say wait 15 seconds I don't mean 15 seconds at 24000 rpm but only 1.25 seconds at 2000 RPM, I really mean 15 seconds in all instiances where an M3 or M5 are happening..

Thanks

10

Mach4 General Discussion / Custom Error and stopping a program?

« on: November 13, 2018, 10:16:38 PM »

Howdy all..

  I am trying to figure out the best way to achieve the following...

I have several inputs that signify an error that are setup on various input ports  (High level feedbacks from my CLEARpath Servos, a Spindle alarm, and a low air pressure alarm)...  I would like to configure Mach 4 so that if any of these 6 (or 7 if I add a 4th axis)  inputs activate (high or low depending) its treated like an error and stops the program (like hitting E-STOP or a limit switch would)..  What is the best way to configure (or program) custom error trapping and error messages in mach 4 so I can alarm out if something goes wrong..

Thanks
Josh