Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Mach 3 tripping the e-stop

« on: February 20, 2023, 09:56:09 PM »

Mach 3 ( R3.043.066) is tripping the e-stop. This has happened before and I was advised to check the connections because it was caused by a drop in power.
Could there be any other reasons?
I have RESET and pushed PLAY and it may continue at the same line or it may move to another line of g-code and ruin my work!

2

Third party software and hardware support forums. / lost steps

« on: March 01, 2018, 10:16:34 PM »

Further to my earlier post on my confused cnc I have an embarrassing confession to make.
My problem had nothing to do with software or the cnc hardware, but the operator's fiddling.
I have been building a dust shoe and in the process I raised the spindle in its clamp to try and get more z height. However, in doing so I also lowered the distance between the bottom of the z travel and so the spindle carriage was hitting the bottom of its reach and the stepper motor was put out of sequence.
When I realised that the problem was solved.javascript:void(0);

3

Third party software and hardware support forums. / z axis stepping inaccurately

« on: February 26, 2018, 04:59:15 AM »

My z axis is doing queer things. It will begin cutting a part and when it rises to the safe z height and plunges to the next cut it does not go to the material height but cuts air until it eventually counts down the passes calculated in Mach 3 and eventually reaches the material surface when it begins to cut again. It does not cut right through the material because it thinks it has stepped down to the right thickness.
Today it finished a cut and instead of raising to safe z above the material it cut a horrible groove across the material back to the origin point.
I went to SETTINGS in Mach 3 and configured the z axis again for steps. It was accurate. No problem with the stepper motor.
I then dismantled the machine (a 6040 from China with water cooled spindle). I did not find anything binding in the physical workings of the z axis and gantry and the coupling between the stepper motor and the ball screw was secure.
I can only think the problem is in the circuitry of the stepper drivers.

Any ideas out there?

4

General Mach Discussion / Mach 3 freezes during operation

« on: November 02, 2017, 09:21:52 PM »

Hi
I am reporting back on this topic of Mach 3 freezing.
I can't remember who advised me to install an earlier version of Mach3 to the one I was using.
This has worked. I have had no freezes since and I have been running some large files of several hours.
So, thank for the valuable help and all power to the forum!
Moonchpa

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 freezes during operation

« on: September 16, 2017, 05:28:02 PM »

Thanks.

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 freezes during operation

« on: September 16, 2017, 06:39:03 AM »

Okay. It might take a while to test Mach's stability.
By the way, I will have to reset all the config. in Mach 3 again after I install the other version?
Moonchpa

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 freezes during operation

« on: September 15, 2017, 06:15:05 PM »

Thanks very much. I hope you never hear from me again in this regard!
Moonchpa

8

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 freezes during operation

« on: September 15, 2017, 06:49:17 AM »

Nick. Thanks for following up on my worries.
I purchased Mach 4 from Newfangled solutions first and couldn't configure it (I was very new). Someone on the forum said it was like swimming in a pool of alligators! I then went on and bought Mach3 and had everything going within the week. I have version 3.043.066.
There are no messages. The g-code stops (or something stops the g-code and the cutter is left spinning on the spot. Nothing I have tried has set it going again from the same line. It won't even move from that line of code. Nothing, Zilch. Zero. Re-start Mach 3 and re-load, and begin again  from the zero position and let the cutter cut thin air until it gets back to where it left off. usually I can get the zero position accurately set because i make a mark or a hole in the material before I cut anything.
The strange thing is that it is totally random. I don't know of anything I do, or don't do differently to make it seize. Moonchpa

9

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 freezes during operation

« on: September 15, 2017, 01:34:26 AM »

Right.
There is an old post about the same problem. The recommendation was to alter the debounce to 200 and uncheck the watchdog in general config. It appears for that situation there was perhaps some interference from an erratic light (or something). I have no idea what that is all about but it looked good! Perhaps other machinery or the like interferes with the parallel port. I don't use a smooth stepper (again, not sure what that does other than what it sounds).
I did that on my Mach 3 and no problems today. However, it is erratic so I  cannot be sure I have fixed anything.
In answer to you post here are a few details.
I purchased Mach 3 this year so I guess I am up to date there. It is on a Windows 7 system and linked by parallel port to a 6040 cnc machine from China. It is stand alone in my workshop with no internet connection. The only other programme is Vectric software

10

General Mach Discussion / Mach 3 freezes during operation

« on: September 14, 2017, 12:59:45 AM »

Hi
I have no other problems with Mach3 other than during a g-code run it suddenly stops and I cannot use any feature to get it going again. I have to close down and re-start my job. It doesn't happen all the time but it is very annoying.
Any suggestions? Anybody else had this problem and overcome it?
Moonchpa