Messages

1

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 Installed but not launching

« on: January 14, 2018, 08:55:49 PM »

Thanks Steve.
I'll sit tight for a while and keep an eye out on the official release of that version for Mach4 (hopefully not that far away). Once done, I may email you direct regards the compatibility of the 422 etc.
Cheers,
Marcus

2

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 Installed but not launching

« on: January 14, 2018, 07:10:15 PM »

Hi Craig,
That's interesting. Seems I need to do a little more research on the topic of THC and Mach4. Hmm... maybe it is a case that my trusty old THC300 is not yet supported by the Motion Controller PMDX 422 rather than Mach4 not being THC compatible...
I have viewed a few video's on Youtube that show guys running a plasma set up on Mach4 and also some suggesting that the proma Compact THC150 is a solution that works with Mach4, but as you said, its a case of the TH controllers working in with the motion control board (and that motion control board communicating with Mach4 right?) rather than the software as it is/was in Mach3.
Hmm... ok, so looks like I either need to chat with the team at PMDX to see if they have THC on the to-do list (no doubt they have and likely a case of when) or throw more money at my setup and get a Vital setup...
IT would be a pity to not be able to use the PMDX-422 board and the THC300 given that I already have the gear and in the case of the THC300, spare boards. But, if it ain't gunna work, it ain't gunna work!!!!
Cheers,
Marcus

3

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 Installed but not launching

« on: January 14, 2018, 06:22:17 PM »

Great to know that its still supported. I'm hopeful that Mach4 will have full THC capability before too long and I'll change it over.

4

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 Installed but not launching

« on: December 21, 2017, 09:01:36 PM »

Ok, so I had a play around with a few settings in Bitdefender on my laptop and it seems that specifically, there is a setting called, "Advance Threat Defence". once this is disabled, I can launch Mach4. The firewall and Antivirus were left enabled.
Cheers!

5

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 Installed but not launching

« on: December 21, 2017, 04:53:34 PM »

Hey guys,

Thanks for the feedback. I'll get into the bitdefender settings a bit deeper and see what I can see. I wanted to get it up and running on my laptop (I use it day to day for a variety of things) so I could get used to using Mach4, connecting it to the controller etc  in my office and generally familiarising myself with it as per the manual . I have 2 dedicated PC in my workshop for Mach3, so yes, I do not have anything other than the bear bones of WindowsXP, Mach3, SheetCAM and LazyCAM installed.
I was interested to see that I had no problems installing and launching Mach3 with no tweeks to BitDefender, but Mach4 is being held back with nothing in the bitdefender log suggesting that it was blocking it... but I'll get another look at it. Two computers with the same set up showing the same ailment points to the antivirus.

Cheers guys.. I'll report back what ever the case.

Shuey

6

Mach4 General Discussion / Mach4 Installed but not launching

« on: December 21, 2017, 03:47:09 AM »

Hey Team,
Its been a while since I've used any of my CNC gear (Plasma and Mill on Mach3). I decided some time ago (2015) to purchase a licence of Mach 4 and bought a PMDX 422 BOB (now obsolete!) along with a bunch of other stuff. Its all sitting in a box! Anyway, I downloaded Mach4, followed the installation instructions, copied a profile and then tried to launch the program as an Administrator. Windows asked for permission as usual and I click 'Yes', but nothing happens. Installed as an Administrator... Running Windows 7 64 bit... Bitdefender 2018 total security. I looked over the antivirus and it doesn't appear to be blocking the program at all.

I also tried it on my laptop with the same result... also running Win7-64bit with Bitdefender Total Security 2018.

I tried installing Mach3 and it all worked fine.

I'm sure it's an amateur mistake I'm making. Can anyone spoon feed me?

Cheers,

Shuey

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: Plasma Grounding Help

« on: December 02, 2009, 10:13:40 PM »

I did solve the problems in the end... I changed my plasma unit over to a Hypertherm. I tried to get out of it cheaply with a chinese unit to start with, but in the end, there is just no comparison to a true plasma unit.

Part of this was the hypertherm was purchased as a 3 phase unit rather than a single phase, which meant that I could have them on a separate curcuit for one and two, the Earth curcuit is also separate. yep, it cost me a small fortune, but in the end it was worth it.

My only issues that I have had recently is that me PC has died and the Mach Driver seems to slow the hell out my PC sometimes.... restart sometimes fixes it and sometimes not... I've optimised Windows XP, but doesnt fix it... apart from that all good.

I haven't needed to use the table for some time and I was thinking of selling it...

8

General Mach Discussion / Re: THC 300 and Sheet Cam... Touch off question.

« on: August 11, 2008, 09:09:12 AM »

Hey Guys,
My plasma table is working great, except for one painfull issue... Seems as though Mach3 is ignoring the G28.1 command. I see it in the code as Mach reads/runs the code. I watch for the Z switch to be triggered in the Diagnostic screen, but sometimes the torch travels down and doesn't quite reach the torch switch before it stops, then travels back up the correct peirce height setting... then fires the torch (too far above the workpiece to pierce and cut initially).

I don't see the Z LED light up as I would when it does travel all the way to the switch... i could be wrong... but could it be that I have noise my system (I'm running a normally closed limit switch arrangement, through a Transistor relay setup... in an effort to remove noise from my limit switches) and the noise is causing a Z switch trigger???

This issue has me stumped!

Interested to hear the thoughts of any and all.

Cheers,

Shuey
Perth, Australia

9

General Mach Discussion / Re: THC 300 and Sheet Cam... Touch off question.

« on: June 10, 2008, 08:16:57 AM »

Hmm...

I read up more on G28.1 z3.0 and it appears that the Z3.0 is to slow the decent of the axis down when it thinks it is getting close to the home switch. I thought it had some other effect.

I set up my milling machine about 18months ago and kinda had a average/good understanding of code back then. Since setting it up initially i've just been machining stuff up and forgotten setting up a machine correctly. I'll go back and do a refresher before asking silly questions.

Thanks for your input in any case.

Regards,

Shuey

10

General Mach Discussion / Re: THC 300 and Sheet Cam... Touch off question.

« on: June 09, 2008, 04:42:22 AM »

THanks.

I have looked at Mach 3 Config drop down menu, and I don't have a Referencing option in my list.

As a side note, when I open the G-Code once generated by SheetCAM the g28.1 Z3.00 is already in there... eg.

N0080 (Process: Plasma,  D22_PARTS, Plasma, 0.7 mm kerf)
N0090 M06 T2  (Plasma, 0.7 mm kerf)
N0100 G00 Z30.0000
N0110 X1655.8700 Y371.2800
N0120 Z13.7500
N0130 G28.1 Z3.00
N0140 G92 Z0.0
N0150 G00 Z0.0000
N0160 G92 Z0.0
N0170 G00 X1655.8700 Y371.2800 Z13.7500

Must be something in SheetCAM to adjust it... your thoughts?

Regards,

Marcus