Messages

521

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 some bugs - Help me.

« on: February 03, 2017, 10:40:16 AM »

I can answer number 2 for you.  If you choose Operator->Edit Screen then click on the XDro in the left side property box is an entry for 'Editor'.  I believe yours will be 'Read Only', change it to 'Keypad Extended'.  I'll be interested to hear the answers for the other questions.

522

General Mach Discussion / Re: Auto stop on spindle overload.

« on: January 10, 2017, 07:02:19 AM »

So Rich...what you're saying is that limit switches are unnecessary?  ;^)

Just kidding.  All I do is hobby stuff,so point well taken.  Always trying to push the limits. Just the way my mind works.

523

General Mach Discussion / Auto stop on spindle overload.

« on: January 09, 2017, 04:59:55 PM »

Sometimes on my lathe I get a little over aggressive on my cuts and overload the spindle in which case the board trips and the spindle stops.  When that does happen a light bulb is lit and I have to manually flip the spindle direction off and on.  All good except that Mach doesn't know that the spindle stopped and continues to go merrily on its way with the rest of the GCode.  Ouch!

Query, I'm sure that I can wire to capture when that light is lit and use it as a signal to EStop Mach.  I assume that is the correct way to stop movement as quickly as possible.  But, since I have a tach, I was wondering though if I could use a brain that checked if the spindle was supposed to be turning and if wasn't, issue an EStop?  Thoughts?  Other ideas?

TIA

RT

524

General Mach Discussion / Requested spindle speed versus actual

« on: January 09, 2017, 04:48:48 PM »

Well, I finally got my spindle tach installed and sending Mach3 speeds throughout my spindle range, nice!  My setup:

Seig 7x14
Gecko 540
UC100
Mach3

Silly me, I thought that when I got that done that Mach would automatically increase/decrease voltage to the motor to get the actual to match the requested speed.  My setup doesn't. 

I have a couple of questions now that I have an accurate spindle speed but I will post each in its own message.

First one, is it just my spindle board or is that the way Mach3 is designed to work, ask for a speed and then you can observe what your machine actually spins at and you request/ adjust to get what you really desire?  If it is supposed to auto adjust what spindle/other boards do you use or recommend?

TIA

RT

525

General Mach Discussion / Re: Spindle Speed Sensor Wiring

« on: January 04, 2017, 04:17:18 PM »

Disregard, I found a solution.

526

General Mach Discussion / Spindle Speed Sensor Wiring

« on: January 04, 2017, 11:13:00 AM »

I need help wiring an optical sensor for spindle feedback. I am
electrically challenged so any help is greatly appreciated. My setup:

Mach3

UC100

Gecko G540

FC-03 sensor -


http://qqtrading.com.my/motor-rpm-speed-counter-sensor-module-fc-03

I have a 5 volt 1200ma wall wart.

I have connected the 5v power supply to the VCC and Gnd pins. Both the red
and green LED's light and when I break the sensor the green LED goes out, so
it seems it is powered. If I put a volt meter to the DO and Gnd pin and
break the sensor I get 5.5 volts.

I thought all I had to do is connect a wire from the DO pin to the Gecko
input pin(12 for this, third connector on the Gecko), set the ports and pins
to 1,12, enable and should be able to get the signal. No Joy. No
indication that the UC100 or Mach3 is receiving any signal. I have check
the continuity of the wiring and it is good.

I have pin 10 set for probe, pin 11 set for limits and these work well. If I connect the probe
to pin 12 it does register both through the UC100 and in Mach3 so I believe it is
not a problem with either of those. I have also tried connecting the sensor
on pin 10 and it does not register on that pin either.

I have to be doing something wrong with the wiring. I thought using the
wall wart was the easiest way to go since the Gecko has 11 volts.

What am I missing?

527

General Mach Discussion / Re: Accurate Homing and the Boards that can do that, What is everyone else doing?

« on: December 15, 2016, 11:50:10 AM »

Okay guys, time for you to post some videos of your setups and process!

528

General Mach Discussion / Re: subroutine problems

« on: November 26, 2016, 05:59:09 PM »

try:

%
N001 O0001 (MAIN PROGRAM)
N002 G90 (ABSOLUTE POSITIONING MODE)
N003 G0X0Y0Z0 (RAPID POSITION)
N004 G01 X.875 Y.500 F83 (FEED AT 83 IPM)
N005 M98 P0002 (CALL SUBROUTINE 2)
N006 G0 X2.875 (RAPID POSITION)
N007 M98 P0002  (CALL SUBROUTINE 2)
N008 M30


O0002 (SUBROUTINE 2)
G91 (INCREMENTAL POSITIONING MODE)
M3 (TORCH ON)
G04 P1 (DWELL FOR 1 SECOND)
G01 Y-.043 F83 (FEED AT 83 IPM)
X-.060 (FEED AT 83 IPM)
Y3.043 (FEED AT 83 IPM)
X.120 (FEED AT 83 IPM)
Y-3.043 (FEED AT 83 IPM)
X-.060 (FEED AT 83 IPM)
Y.043 (FEED AT 83 IPM)
Z1 (FEED AT 83 IPM)
M5 (TORCH OFF)
G90 (ABSOLUTE POSITIONING MODE)
M99
%

529

General Mach Discussion / Re: subroutine problems

« on: November 26, 2016, 11:06:03 AM »

Not an expert but:

at N008
N008 M30

then at end of sub

M99

Also, at every sub call I add L1 or however many loops to be called


HTH

530

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: digital indicator serial port input

« on: November 04, 2016, 10:45:53 AM »

I too would like to know if this is possible.  I have previously read data from a digital caliper(cheap Chinese version)designed to take measurements from old bamboo flyrods.  Maryland Metrics has a kit that contains the necessary hardware.

http://mdmetric.com/mosale/spcsw.htm