Messages

1

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Serial Outputs Working, Inputs Not

« on: January 05, 2015, 05:59:58 PM »

Thomas,

Yes, I checked everything and downloaded the driver from Lava.  It still didn't work.  I finally gave up and installed an Ethernet Smooth Stepper and everything is now back up and running properly!

Thank you,
Hylan

2

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Serial Outputs Working, Inputs Not

« on: December 28, 2014, 02:49:32 PM »

Thomas, you are right and I went back in and there are no bios settings for the parallel ports.  I guess this makes sense since the mobo doesn't have any parallel ports on it.  I have a old parallel port installed (not sure of it's make or model) and this one is the one I'm using and running the machine with.  It outputs but doesn't input.
I saw others posting that the Lava dual PP boards work really well.  So I bought one and installed it.  However, I can't get it to work at all.  I think it's a setting issue, but I can't get any of the utility software to run on my computer.
Any advice on how to configure the Lava board on a Win7-32 machine?
Thanks,
Hylan

3

Mach3 under Vista / Serial Outputs Working, Inputs Not

« on: December 27, 2014, 04:22:15 PM »

I just built a new computer Windows7-32bit and installed Mach3.  My machine is running using a db25 parallel port and is outputting and controlling the machine fine.  However, I have no inputs.  My E-stop is on pin 12 and it worked fine on the older XP computer that died.  Now I can't for the life of me figure out why it's not working.  I had to change how it was setup just to clear the estop.

I had seen that I might need to change my bios for the serial port to ECP+EPP from bidirectional.  However, this isn't an option in my bios (see attached picture).

Any suggestions are welcome.  I'm wondering if I don't need to add a Smooth Stepper to the system and not use the serial output?  Thoughts on this?

Thanks,
Hylan

4

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Input not working on Parallel Port

« on: December 21, 2014, 10:27:20 AM »

One other thing I noticed is that there are two I/O numbers listed under the driver.  I used the top one as the hex name for the port.  Is one the input and one the output?  Just thought about it and I'm not at my CNC to test more so I thought I'd ask.

5

Mach3 under Vista / Input not working on Parallel Port

« on: December 21, 2014, 02:20:34 AM »

I'm almost done building my new cnc and was just starting to dial it in and get used to the new machine and software.  Then my refurbed Win7 32 bit computer died a horrible death.

I built a new computer also Win7 32 bit.  Only real difference is that the parallel port is a pci add on board and not a native component built into the motherboard.

I was able to save a machine config file off the old computer and have everything reinstalled now and the machine is running, BUT!  I have no input on my parallel port. 

Currently, I only have the estop set up so it's my only input signal.  It worked on my old computer but not now.  The odd thing is that I have it on pin 12 and the auto setup doesn't see it.  However, I had to go in and change it and check active low or it would let me reset the estop.

So it won't react to the estop being pressed, but I had to flip its state to get it to work.

I'm hoping this is something silly I'm missing here.  I'm nervous running the machine without the physical estop working.

Thanks,
Hylan

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: ESS vs Automation Technology BOB, stepper controller

« on: December 01, 2014, 11:00:39 PM »

I finally made it into the shop to check my settings. My Z axis is 20000 steps per inch. I'll go back and do the math to see what my max speed should be.

Thanks again,
Hylan

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: ESS vs Automation Technology BOB, stepper controller

« on: December 01, 2014, 08:17:20 PM »

Great feedback.  My cnc is definitely not underpowered.  However, it is consistently my Z axis that misses steps which is my highest revs per inch axis.  Therefore, it does make sense that it might be trying to spin to fast relative to my other axis.  My X axis has two 960 oz in motors, Y has one 960 oz in motor and Z is 1 640 oz in motor.  I need to look at my settings and slow my Z rapid down.

Thanks,
Hylan

8

General Mach Discussion / ESS vs Automation Technology BOB, stepper controller

« on: December 01, 2014, 03:20:09 PM »

I finished building my 2nd CNC machine but my first using Mach3.  It's running well except that it occasionally misses a step and then my feelings get hurt (if I'm not quick enough on the E-Stop).

I'm currently going straight from parallel port to gecko drives to motors.  

If I slow things down, it works okay and I can optimize the computer (it's dedicated to the CNC) but I don't fully like either of these solutions.  So I'm looking for a stepper controller to offload the motor controlling.

After reading a bunch of posts, I've generally narrowed it down to:
ESS- Ethernet Smooth Stepper http://www.cncrouterparts.com/ethernet-smoothstepper-p-229.html
or
XHC-MK4 from Automation Technologies http://www.automationtechnologiesinc.com/products-page/breakout-boards/cnc-mach3-usb-card-xhc-mk6-4-axis-motion-control-card-usb2-0-interface-wshell

They're basically the same price and appear similar in features.  I've seen a few posts on each individually but no single thread with opinions weighed in on the two.  So I thought I'd get opinions from those that have been there before.

Thanks,
Hylan

9

General Mach Discussion / Re: Need some advice on new CNC

« on: June 21, 2014, 05:18:14 PM »

Gerry, yes I'm speaking in terms of how Kcam handles things so it's a little apples to oranges.  In that system, you can import a dxf file and it generates the G code using preset cut speeds.  Then you also set up in the machine configuration what your travel and jog speeds are.  I think it is like having Lazy Cam built into the program.
What I can tell so far is that Mach has a lot more flexibility and so I'm going to chop up a serial cable and wire it in on at least an axis or two and give it a whirl.

10

General Mach Discussion / Re: Need some advice on new CNC

« on: June 19, 2014, 10:30:01 PM »

Gerry,

With my current configuration I was finally able to get the Z up to a decent speed but I have to lie to it and it's not really usable.  I set my max Z speed to 2000"/min and at which point it would move smoothly and quickly around 35"/min.  Which is good but it creates a problem in that I don't currently have independent control over my travel, cut and jog speeds per axis.  (This is using Kcam).

My X and Y are direct drive and I debated during the build whether to go belt or direct.  The direct is working smoothly and I'm happy with it.

So I was just watching the initial training video on the set up of Mach3 and correct me if I'm wrong.  But I saw that you can set up different ramps and velocities for each axis.  But can I also set different cut, jog and travel speeds per axis?  I guess that could potentially cause problems in 3D cutting but I'm not sure.

Thank you,
Hylan