Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: loosing steps

« on: March 20, 2023, 11:34:26 AM »

  The HLFB, as I understand it, is the stepper driver.  I don't think there is any programming that can be done with the C62 bob as it is only a communication and signal processing board.  What Craig is wanting you to do is to force a fault on the driver by deliberately overloading the axis motor to see if the fault shows up in Mach.  I am guessing it will but I can understand your trepidation at deliberately causing your motor to overload.  Don't worry about that as the system is designed to protect its self.  Another trick might be to swap drives to see if the problem follows the driver.  If so, then you have a faulty drive (HLFB). Just swap the X and Y Rj45 outputs on the C62, swap the motor and encoder terminal plugs and program a simple circular motion and see if the lost steps goes to the Y axis.  If it does, then you have an issue with the HLFB.

Ed

2

General Mach Discussion / Re: loosing steps

« on: March 19, 2023, 07:04:35 PM »

  I just went through the Clear Path user manual and a following error, Tracking Error Limit as they call it, does shut the drive down when activated.  There is no capability to disregard the encoder input or, oddly enough, the ability to change the tracking error window (whatever it is).  So, if the system really is losing steps, it SHOULD shut down hard.  Given that, I think it safe to say that the HLFB is not seeing a following error; the motor is moving exactly as it is commanded as far as the HLFB is concerned.

Ed

3

General Mach Discussion / Re: loosing steps

« on: March 19, 2023, 06:03:15 PM »

  His breakout board uses Rj45 connections to the servo drives so he is definitely wired correctly.  If a servo drive produces a fault, would it not shut down regardless if Mach is made aware?  I'm just wondering out loud here.  Even if I had not wired the fault signal output from the servo drives to the breakout board, the servo drive shuts down when the following error is exceeded.  My servos will not run without an encoder feedback but is it possible that there is a parameter in the HLFB that turns encoder feedback off and on?
  He could still disconnect the motor and push the axis back and forth by hand to pick up on any noise, roughness or drag just to eliminate that as an issue.  In my opinion, V roller bearings on V tracks and rack and pinion drives are not on my list of good ideas.  The up side is that both are usually adjustable to compensate for wear and backlash.  The down side is that, you need to do that occasionally.  Also, a little Vactra 2 goes a long way toward making things work smoother longer.

Ed

4

General Mach Discussion / Re: loosing steps

« on: March 19, 2023, 04:53:49 PM »

  It just occurred to me that the system may not be loosing steps but rather the positioning error is happening as the result of a loose coupling on the ball screw.  Is the motor direct coupled to the lead screw or is there a pulley involved that might be slipping?  If the system was working for three months without issues, what changed?
  All good points Craig.  I would think that electrical noise interference is an equal opportunity problem that would affect all axis' but with that said, are the encoder wires shielded and grounded appropriately? 

Ed

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: loosing steps

« on: March 19, 2023, 04:26:25 PM »

  Ah, I didn't realize his motors are servos.  My question then is why doesn't the system shut down for a following error?  Where is the encoder signal going?  I have an integrated stepper servo set up and the encoders report to the stepper drivers.  When there is a following error the offending axis drive shuts down and sends a fault signal to my control board setup.  Mach does not enter into the picture at all and has no concept as to why the fault occurred; it only knows that the C94/UC300ETH control setup is not happy.
  However, this does not answer why the axis is loosing steps.

Ed

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: loosing steps

« on: March 19, 2023, 03:35:11 PM »

  Unfortunately I don't know of any way to monitor the motor load with Mach or any other stepper driver/control set up.  But that doesn't mean one doesn't exist, I am just not aware if there is.  AC and DC servo setups often, but not always, have the ability to monitor servo motor loads.  I would take the X axis motor off and try to turn the lead screw/ball screw by hand to feel for any drag, roughness or bind along the entire travel window. Is the lead screw and axis guides or linear ways protected from the environment?  If not, regular cleaning and lubrication is in order.  With that said, being 3 months old does not mean that you don't have an issue that might still be under warranty.

Ed

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: loosing steps

« on: March 18, 2023, 09:50:14 PM »

  You might try to go into motor tuning and reduce the acceleration/deceleration parameters but I don't think that is your problem.  Check for a mechanical bind which can be caused by lack of lubrication, bearing failure or contamination.  Barring that, I am not sure what your issue could be but I don't believe it is a Mach problem.

Ed

8

General Mach Discussion / Re: TRIGGER SWITCH

« on: March 18, 2023, 02:08:22 PM »

  I see this is a month old already and I suspect you have worked out a solution by now.  Going into "over travel" and activating a limit switch can be handled by going into config-ports and pins-inputs-and then turning off the offending activated switch temporarily.  Then you should be able to reset and move the axis off of the switch.  After that is done, go back into the config menu and reactivate the limit switch.  I don't believe there is an override button you can activate/deactivate but it would be a nice feature.  On many industrial machine tools I am familiar with, there is a temporary override button that you can depress so you can jog off of the switch.  One could wire a normally closed temporary push button switch into the limit switch circuit in order to interrupt the activated limit switch if you wish.  Then when you release the push button the switch will become active again.

Ed

9

General Mach Discussion / XHc pendant set up

« on: March 17, 2023, 08:58:07 PM »

   My old XHc wireless pendant had a built in macro selection menu option that allowed me to individually zero my work offsets for each axis from the pendant.  Unfortunately it gave out and I replaced it with a newer 6 axis version.  However, the drop down menu for the macro assignments for the macro buttons no longer has the ability to zero individual axis, only zero all.  Can I use the "custom" macro options in the setup menu to program the macro buttons on the pendant to zero individual axis'?  If so, how? 

Thanks, Ed

10

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 not saving fixture settings

« on: March 17, 2023, 01:35:35 PM »

Thanks, TPS.  Persistent offsets is checked.  Persistent DROs is not checked.  Optional offset save is checked.  I guess I'll check/uncheck until it works.

Ed