Messages

6731

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

« on: June 01, 2011, 02:19:42 AM »

Hi Thys,

Welcome to the forum buddy - It is nice to see that you are already helping others to get their machines working.  

If you click on Reply (not quick reply) enter your message then click on Additional Options you can Choose File to select your picture, attachment etc.

Tweakie.

6732

General Mach Discussion / Re: Probe wiring

« on: June 01, 2011, 01:53:28 AM »

I think you need to return to what Terry said earlier;

"From the MDI screen type G31 X-2 F10 (followed by return) . The machine should start moving in the X- direction then trip the probe with your finger to see if it stops".

If the machine does not move, then we need to establish why.
Does the X Axis DRO indicate the move ?

Tweakie.

6733

General Mach Discussion / Re: motors not turning - please help (newbie)

« on: May 31, 2011, 08:15:45 AM »

Brian,

If you are measuring the voltage output from the computers parallel port then connect the multimeter between GND (0 Volts) and an Axis direction pin. The voltage should change between 5 volts (or 3.3 Volts) when the axis is jogged in one direction and 0 Volts when the axis is jogged in the other direction.
(the C10 can accept 3.3 Volt or 5 Volt inputs).

Tweakie.

6734

General Mach Discussion / Re: Probe wiring

« on: May 31, 2011, 04:21:22 AM »

The problem you have at the moment is that the Digitize LED is defined on the Mach Screen as OemLED 825 and the Ajax instructions say that it writes the 'point of contact' to DRO1999. As it stands this will not illuminate any LED's on the Mach screen.
Somewhere there is an Ajax probing script (or routine for using a probe) which translates this DRO1999 into something that Mach recognises as the point of contact.

Tweakie.

6735

General Mach Discussion / Re: Spindle probe and edge finding

« on: May 30, 2011, 02:04:35 AM »

I have not used it but it May be worth taking a look at this http://www.razordance.co.uk/probe25D.htm

Tweakie.

6736

General Mach Discussion / Re: Probe wiring

« on: May 29, 2011, 12:22:26 PM »

I think you are right Terry, even the guys on the Ajax forum don't really seem to know the answer to this one. This is why I would like to see the probing routine to find out how it interprets and applies the DRO 1999.

Tweakie.

6737

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 problem with new cnc

« on: May 29, 2011, 12:16:42 PM »

I am a long way from being a computer expert in fact a long way from being an expert on anything but I think the onboard graphics makes the processor multi task with a different priority to what Mach requires so everything gets screwed up.
Here in the UK we have Car Boot Sales every weekend and second user PCI graphics cards cost peanuts so it is cheap to try and if it doesn't work well nothing lost.
A plug-in graphics card  usually works as long as the onboard graphics can be disabled in the BIOS and it can be as old as you like (as long as it matches the slot voltage) because it only has to provide an 800 x 600 display as minimum - surely you must be able to borrow one to try ?

Tweakie.

6738

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 problem with new cnc

« on: May 29, 2011, 11:23:55 AM »

Sorry Buddy, looks like you need a different PC.
Alternately, you could consider using an external motion controller such as Smooth Stepper et al.

Tweakie.

6739

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 problem with new cnc

« on: May 29, 2011, 07:17:48 AM »

Jimmy,

Under motor tuning there are no graphic or DRO updates so your computer doesn't get overloaded. When you return to the main screen your computer cannot keep up, the Mach pulsing suffers and it all goes pear shaped.
Assuming you are running XP then you could try the optimisation routines here http://www.machsupport.com/downloads/XP_Optimization.txt
Failing that it is another PC, without onboard graphics, that is required.  

Tweakie.

Addition: ( Using the optimisation and disabling the ACPI enabled my old Dell Inspiron to work OK )

6740

General Mach Discussion / Re: Probe wiring

« on: May 29, 2011, 02:12:39 AM »

Can you post (or email me) the probing script you are using within Mach.

Tweakie.