Messages

4421

General Mach Discussion / Re: Scaling

« on: August 24, 2014, 03:40:02 PM »

That may explain it then  

Tweakie.

4422

General Mach Discussion / Re: Scaling

« on: August 24, 2014, 12:12:51 PM »

Hi Shadowmuis,

You need to contact licence support http://www.machsupport.com/contact-us/ to check that the Mach3 license you are using is genuine.

Tweakie.

4423

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: The Laser Project.

« on: August 23, 2014, 08:24:51 AM »

Hi Art,

In my mind, I know you are right but I will be interested to hear if you run into any issues with timing when changing the PWM duty cycle between low to high levels within a running Gcode.

Tweakie.

4424

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: The Laser Project.

« on: August 23, 2014, 03:46:19 AM »

Hi Art,

It’s all sounding very exciting and as you say, that system should certainly make greyscale working a lot easier to implement.

Just something, mentioned before and to keep in mind, which only affects laser operation and makes no noticeable difference to spindle operation…

Mach4 makes the changes to the S word (and the subsequent PWM output) considerably faster than Mach3 and as near as I can measure, changes occur up to 50mS before the completion of the preceding line of Gcode (the actual period in mS being dependant on the execution time of this Gcode line).

In the attached pic. of one of my earlier test samples, there are two changes of S word occurring when switching from an ‘engraving’ to a ‘cutting’ toolpaths and in both instances the increase in PWM pierced the work (shown by the arrows) at the end of the ‘engraving’ toolpath.
This fooled me a bit to start with but thanks to help by Craig and Scott adding a delay in the Mcode switching macro’s resolved the issue. Just how this can be resolved when using an axis direction pin for laser switching I have yet to discover but it is all part of the great learning experience.

I would just like to take this opportunity to offer a big “thank you” for setting such a low price for the Darwin pre-buy license. Keep up the good work my friend. 

Tweakie.

4425

Tangent Corner / Re: Changing stepping driver / controller

« on: August 22, 2014, 02:11:08 AM »

Isin't that just typical of the Chinese instruction manuals   

The negative (-) should go from the PSU straight to the spindle (-).
The positive (+) should go from the PSU to the M in terminal on the controller.
The M out terminal on the controller should go to the spindle (+).

(M in and M out are just the relay contact connections).

Tweakie.

4426

General Mach Discussion / Re: Possible Mach3 G-code interpreter error

« on: August 21, 2014, 01:16:06 PM »

I don't think those settings control the G-code. Changing feedrate override doesn't fix the problem either. I've been in direct contact with Newfangled and this appears to be a bug. Will be changing to Mach4.

You know best 

Tweakie.

4427

General Mach Discussion / Re: Possible Mach3 G-code interpreter error

« on: August 21, 2014, 06:04:54 AM »

Just a suggestion and I am sure your observation and opinion is correct, but try reducing your Velocity and Acceleration settings in Motor Tuning by 50% (don't forget to save the settings after they have been changed) and see if this cures the problem. If it does then experiment with the settings to find the fastest combination that works reliably.

Tweakie.

4428

General Mach Discussion / Re: Losing Y position erratically

« on: August 21, 2014, 02:01:59 AM »

Hi,

Just going on the problem as you have described it, my money is on it being heat related but I am only guessing because I have no proof.
Perhaps your way forward is to get some cheap MDF (or similar) and carry out a number of test runs (with the machine being left on all day) -  if and when the problem happens again check that the Mach3 DRO’s show the correct position when the tool has an incorrect position. This will at least eliminate a Mach3 software problem.

In the meantime you could check your machine to make sure all wiring, plugs and sockets etc. are sound and secure also that the ‘motor to shaft’ couplings are absolutely tight and secure.

If the problem is heat related, as I suspect, then it could be a faulty motor. Swapping the X and Y motors is one way of testing – if the fault moves to the other axis then it points to a motor fault. Alternately, it could be a faulty stepper driver. Swapping the X and Y drivers is a good method of testing and if the fault moves to the other axis then fitting a new stepper driver will most likely be the cure. Also check your PC to make sure it is not getting too hot (internal dust perhaps) and has adequate air circulation etc.

Sorry to be so vague about all this but when something actually breaks it is easy to identify but when something works but has an intermittent fault it is not that easy to be absolutely certain about the cause.

Tweakie.

4429

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions

« on: August 20, 2014, 10:09:37 AM »

Thanks Art for all the great work and effort you have put into sorting the software problems and educating us all on how to configure our systems and set up for using Mach4. You need to be getting on with that laser (and the grayscale plugin of course).

I am also very interested in following your CAM development for GM - it can't be far away now that the buttons are operational on the GUI. 


Tweakie.

4430

General Mach Discussion / Re: Steppers high vibration problem

« on: August 18, 2014, 08:53:12 AM »

Should I determine wiring by using a multimeter ?

Perhaps best just to check one motor - For those connections...  Red & Blue should show continuity and Green & Black should show continuity. 

Tweakie.