Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: 3 -> 4?

« on: January 11, 2023, 11:35:30 PM »

Thanks!

This is very useful info.  FWIW, I'm no Mach3 sycophant.  I've spent a lot of time on Haas/Matsuura machines in different environments and I fully recognize the limits of Mach3.  Just trying to figure out if there are things that make Mach4 substantially better enough to justify the $/Cursing involved in migrating.

-Ben

2

General Mach Discussion / 3 -> 4?

« on: January 11, 2023, 11:06:23 PM »

Hello, folks.

I'm currently torn between two deeply held tenets:
1. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
2. Stay close to the bleeding edge of tech, or you get left behind.

I've got a mill and a router currently - happily - running on Mach 3.  It's obviously not gorgeous, and it's obviously a little clumsy, but it works well and allows me to make the parts I need.

But I've got the itch (see #2) to transition to Mach 4, just because it's there.  Should I?  What do I get?  I have a 3-axis mill and a 3-axis router that I use to cut parts posted from various CAM solutions.  The posts all work.  The machines are all dialed in.  Nothing is really lacking. 

Apart from the visual changes and generally-more-modern underpinnings, what would justify spending the time and money to make the move?

Thanks,
-Ben

3

General Mach Discussion / Re: Spindle speed help

« on: December 09, 2018, 09:27:36 PM »

Figured it out.  Upon a more thorough RTFM session I realized there's a trimpot on the PMDX-107.  This was turned all the way down and was limiting the current output.  Once adjusted properly, everything is working as it should.

4

General Mach Discussion / Spindle speed help

« on: December 09, 2018, 01:10:15 AM »

Hello!

I'm in the final stages of rehabbing an old full sheet router with new electronics & Mach3.

I have an ESS, a PMDX-126, and a PMDX-107.  The 107 is wired up to a Delta 7.5KW VFD (VFD075A23H) which is connected to a 7.5KW Colombo spindle with a nameplate rating of 230V, 600Hz & 36000RPM.

I'm no wizard when it comes to configuring VFDs, but I think I got the parameters all done right.  In particular, both the PMDX-107 and the VFD are configured for 10V signal, and the VFD is set to 600HZ for max output freq and max voltage freq.

When I attempt to spin the spindle at max speed in Mach3, the freq display on the VFD stops at about 300 Hz.  And, frustratingly but encouragingly, while voltage measured across the 10v ref to common terminals on the 107 is right around 10V, the signal-to-common voltage is at about 5v.  That suggests to me that the VFD is interpreting the signal correctly, but something in my Mach/ESS/PMDX setup isn't right.

Can anyone suggest a likely starting point for debugging this?  I'm running out of ideas.

Thanks,
-Ben

5

Mach SDK plugin questions and answers. / Re: Load G-Code Behavior

« on: December 05, 2018, 12:13:08 PM »

Heh.  Okay.  I'll bite.

What about Mach4 makes it better suited to my needs?  At this point I haven't found a shortcoming in Mach3 that justifies buying / configuring / learning a new piece of software. 

6

Mach SDK plugin questions and answers. / Load G-Code Behavior

« on: December 04, 2018, 06:26:38 PM »

Hi,

I'm contemplating the idea of building a machine control panel for my mill to make it a bit more like an industrial-class machine.  Most of it seems fairly straightforward, but I'm struggling to figure out how to load a new program without having a mouse/keyboard since the Load G-Code command opens a windows filesystem browser.

Anyone already solved this problem?  Or failing that, anyone have ideas on how to make the Load G-Code function default to listing programs from a pre-determined folder and/or a USB key if inserted using the same UI as the Recent File feature?  I figure I can set up a central folder in DropBox and put files there from my CAM machine.

Then all I'd need is arrow keys and an enter key to navigate.

-Ben

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit switch false triggering in mach3 potential interference issue?

« on: December 04, 2018, 12:12:06 PM »

Ok interesting.  I'm using a single set of switches for home and limit, but I think what I'm hearing is that I can just configure Mach so that it's not aware it HAS limit switches, at which point it will ignore the switches unless it's in the process of homing.  Then I just config soft limits.

Coooooool...

8

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit switch false triggering in mach3 potential interference issue?

« on: December 03, 2018, 07:50:59 PM »

You may have to consider using home switches to reference your machine and use soft limits thereafter. Occasional noise glitches
on your home switch circuits will do no harm. The plasma will not be operating at the time of homing and therefore the only time when
the machine is vulnerable to noise impulses the 'noisy' bit is not operating.

This is a really interesting concept that, for some reason, never occurred to me.  I have phantom limit switch issues from time to time and I'd love to do this.  Is this something that's easy to configure in Mach3's parameters?  How would I go about employing this approach?

Thanks,
-Ben

9

General Mach Discussion / Forum Search Broken?

« on: December 03, 2018, 03:00:48 PM »

Whenever I try to search the forum or follow a google link to a specific forum page things break.

The Google links just redirect to the primary forum page, and then when I try to search for the page I was after I get:

2: pspell_new(): PSPELL couldn't open the dictionary. reason: No word lists can be found for the language "en".
File: /var/www/vhosts/machsupport.com/forum.machsupport.com/forum/Sources/Search.php
Line: 700

Is this just me or do others have this issue, too?

10

General Mach Discussion / Re: VFD Enable Question

« on: March 23, 2016, 07:27:35 PM »

Got it.  Yes.  On further inspection I do need a relay.  Actually, if I want to get fancy and support forward and reverse I guess I need two relays.  The VFD has its own logic voltage source that you route through a relay.  Easy peasy.

Thanks!