Messages

1561

General Mach Discussion / Re: reinstalling mach3

« on: September 30, 2008, 05:41:20 PM »

Thanks Ray for your help .I have been piddling with this for some time and still no joy . perhaps the installation from the start was not correct .Iam still having problems with mach mill . whhen I hit the icon I get a flash screen showing the mach mill introduction screen then everything just goes blank . If I do the same to the turn iconit brings that uo fine withe the lazycam icon I get a notice saying I have a mach2 version loaded.

I went back to the downloads section and loaded the latest version [I think of may this year] I still have the same problem .Now I dont know ifthw whole thing is messed up or not seems what I downloaded was not he complete system otherwise the mach3mill should have turned up when selected .

To complicate things even more I have indications that ,Lost "enable40.dll" as far as that is concerned I have checked and thayt folder is still in Mach 3 folder.Other things that do not seem to be in the path are c:\winnt\system32; c:\winnt\system.

In short I am totally out of my depth and need very explicit instuctions if anyone knows what is wrong..From an absolute bald headed [all hair removed] novice,by the way I have searcged for the "installer " and there is no file by that name on my hard drive regards mike hide

Mike,

    I'd suggest you backup your XML and license files, then go to ControlPanel->Add or Remove Programs, and un-install and Mach2, Mach3, LazyCAM, etc. you find there.  Then go into MyComputer and delete the directories, if the un-install left any of them lying around.  Finally, re-install Mach3, and copy the XML and license files into the new install directories.  Sounds to me like you've got a mix of Mach2 and Mach3, perhaps installed on top of each other.  The bext thing to do is just start clean.  It should be very simple....

Regards,
Ray L.

1562

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 Stepper motor Settings, Little help needed please!!

« on: September 30, 2008, 10:50:49 AM »

Darryl,

    It's really impossible for anyone to tell you what the correct settings for your machine will be - every machine is different.  Just start with a low acceleration - like 0.5, and crank the max speed up until the motors start stalling at the top end.  Back off perhaps 10% from where they stall.  Then start moving acceleration up, until it stalls on acceleration, and back off on the final acceleration setting.  Then, run the machine hard and make sure it really works reliably under more "dynamic" conditions.

Regards,
Ray L.

1563

General Mach Discussion / Re: Runaway Servo motors Gecko Drive 340

« on: September 29, 2008, 01:29:12 PM »

Flash,

     That appears to be a differential output encoder, which won't work with a Gecko, as the Gecko inputs are single-ended.  Unfortunately, your best bet is probably to toss those encoders, and buy some suitable single-ended ones from US Digital.

Regards,
Ray L.

1564

General Mach Discussion / Re: reinstalling mach3

« on: September 28, 2008, 10:41:49 PM »

Mike,

    Just run the installer again.  Rename your XML file, or do the new install to a different directory, then copy your XML over after the install.

Regards,
Ray L.

1565

General Mach Discussion / Re: E Stop and my new VFC and Spindle

« on: September 28, 2008, 07:00:18 PM »

Wayne,
    I can't help you with your Ascension - I never even heard of it before.
    If your equipment is all powered off a single 110/120V (or 220/240V)  line, you could use a magnetic switch, of the kind used on most stationary power tools (table saws, band saws, etc.).  They're inexpensive (US$30-50), and provide the necessary action.  Pressing one button, or a line power outage, and everything will shut down, and not come back up until you press a different button.  Here's one example:  http://tinyurl.com/4kdjxh

Regards,
Ray L.

1566

General Mach Discussion / Re: Runaway Servo motors Gecko Drive 340

« on: September 28, 2008, 04:52:37 PM »

Once I turn on the system and press the reset switch (Err/Reset and ENC+ ) The motors start by themselves I must have something wrong on the control side of the drive but I have no idea where to look. Any help would be appreciated.

Flash,

    Does the runaway occur when you power up the Geckos, or only when Mach3 starts up?  If it's when you power the Geckos, then it is almost certainly an encoder hookup problem.  If it's when you start up Mach3, are by any chance using "brains", or do you have a SmoothStepper?

Regards,
Ray L.

1567

General Mach Discussion / Re: E Stop and my new VFC and Spindle

« on: September 28, 2008, 02:24:14 PM »

Kabibble, no offense intended at all- you gave sound advice with the limited info you had, and I'm grateful. So, I have the C6 board. Does it have similar dedicated E stop port? That would be perfect.

If it doesn't, can I put the Estop in series with the Spindle on wire and shut the spindle off that way? I guess I'm imagining the Estop breaking the circuit to ground, and thereby triggering the relay in the VFD to shut off the spindle.

Can I also take the 'output' of the Estop switch to the limit switch input on my Ascension controller? Right now, if any of the limit switches are closed the controller shuts down the steppers instantly. I think its doing this thru the Mach3 software, but I'm not sure. If I put the Estop switch in series with this as well, it should trigger a stop just like the limit switches do.

If I do this, wire both circuits to the same Estop switch, will I have interfernce from one circuit to the other- i.e will the operation of VFD relay be affected by the presence of the limit switches and their cabling?

It must be obvious to all that I'm no electrical engineer. I appreciate your help to get me to understand this.

Wayne from White Salmon

Wayne,
    The C6 is only a spindle driver card, so it cannot effect the steppers and other parts of the system.  You really should have a full breakout board as the interface between the PC and the motor controllers - something like the CNC4PC C10.
   As for the solution you describe, that would have one very serious drawback - the machine would only be disabled for as long as you held the E-Stop button - not good.  E-Stop should be a momentary button that you need only press once, and the machine is disabled, and remains disabled until you explicitly clear the fault.  This could be done by using the E-Stop to open a latching relay - this is one that once de-energized, remains de-energized, even if power is restored, until some other switch is thrown to put it back in the energized state.  This can be implemented with a DPDT relay, and a separate switch to "enable" it, and the E-Stop to disable it.
I still think a good breakout board, with built-in E-Stop logic, is the best way to go.

Regards,
Ray L.

1568

General Mach Discussion / Re: Auto tool zero - touch probe - please help

« on: September 28, 2008, 11:34:59 AM »

Here's a pretty thorough explanation.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36099

Go to Config->General Config.   Near the top-left is a box labelled "Tool Change".  Check "Stop Spindle, Wait For Cycle Start".



That really helps a lot. I ran that script, and it works, exept I need MACH3 to WAIT for me to change the tool until I hit button ALT-S to go on. I am into trouble making MACH3 to WAIT. Not sure exactly how.

Thanks.

1569

General Mach Discussion / Re: E Stop and my new VFC and Spindle

« on: September 28, 2008, 10:16:48 AM »

Wayne,
    I have a CNC4PC C11 breakout board, which has a dedicated E-stop input that de-activates everything on the board - all outputs are turned off, all relays de-energized, etc.  I would have suggested that, but you didn't seem to have the hardware to do it.

1570

General Mach Discussion / Re: E Stop and my new VFC and Spindle

« on: September 27, 2008, 11:26:12 PM »

Wayne,

    It turns off everything - spindle, coolant, all drives, and shuts off the safety charge pump, which should turn off everything at your BOB as well.

Regards,
Ray L.