Topics

1

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

2

General Mach Discussion / Settings and configurations back up

« on: June 08, 2008, 11:36:43 PM »

Hey guys,

Is there a simple way of printing off a settings list of all items configured in Mach? Why??? So when I reformat my PC it makes life easy for adding them back in.

Just a thought... if no solution, I'll get my pen and paper out and start writing.

Regards,

Shuey

3

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

« on: June 08, 2008, 10:15:21 PM »

Hey Guys,

New to the forum and new to SheetCAM.

Question:

I've have my table running for a little while now using a Hypertherm 1000 and everything is great except one thing... the torch is not touching off on each cut. Is there a way to get it to touch off and trigger the Z-Home switch at the start of each cut?

It seems to touch off the first cut, then attempt to touch off on the second and subsequent cuts, but doesn't quite get all the way down, then travel back up the switch travel (pierce height and cut height) amount before firing the torch.

As each piece is cut the amount the torch travels down seems to get less and less, does not trigger the Z-home switch, travels back up the amount of the switch travel (pierce height) then fires the torch... eventually, it fires the torch to high from the Job for it to pierce, then the THC has to adjust down to cut.

Hope some can give me some assitance.

Regards,
Marcus

4

General Mach Discussion / Plasma Grounding Help

« on: April 21, 2008, 08:34:46 PM »

Hey Guys,

I'm having an issue eliminating the HF noise out of my Plasma table. I'm using a Jim Cullin's THC300 system and a cheaper Chinese type plasma machine (at the moment anyway) and have followed the guidelines outlined in the Campbell Designs user manual, but still seem to have a a problem.

Hoping someone may be able to give me a few tips on what I should be doing.

This is my current configuration:

Plasma table is grounded to the body of the Plasma Machine then grounded to an earthing stake driven into the ground (1 meter into the ground measuring 1/2" Dia). the cable linking this is 5mm.

Interestingly, the system works sometimes and other times the PC simply freezes up.

I'm considering buying a Hypertherm PowerMax 1000 or 1250 should someone be able to convince me that the HF noise is alot less.

Any comments or solutions are welcomed...

Should I isolate the earth to the plasma machine and run it to the earthing stake? Feel free to describe the fix like you are talking to a 2 year old, so I get your point.

Marcus

PS... I have just re-read the Grounding section of the installation anual again and I wonder whether the earthing lead inside the Plasma machine box should be removed from the power cable and re-routed to the grounding rod???

I have tested the DB9 Shell and have an 0.00 ohm reading from the plasma machine box and the DB9 shell.

5

Newfangled Solutions Mach3 Wizards / Reclangular Pocket positioning question

« on: November 26, 2006, 08:14:04 PM »

Hey Crew,

Finally finished off my mill conversion and was cutting a reclangular pocket on the weekend to try out the wizards.

Question I have for you is am I meant to  allow for the dimension of the radius of the cutter I am using for the X & Y coordinates when locating the pocket?

I entered tooling information in the table in Mach 3 and it appeared in the tool page.

For the record, I was cutting a pocket 35(l) x 32(w) x 26(d) mm in a billet 60 x 40 x 150 mm using a 10mm 2 flute carbide end mill. I wanted a 4 mm perimeter around three sides so I originally set the X & Y to 4mm and nominated the "Set Position" to the corner I wanted. But when it cut the first pass it was clearly 5mm out. I adjusted the X&Y to 9mm from the same "Set Position" and it came out fine.

Am I doing something wrong here? Have I got the tool set up incorrect? The pocket came out to the exact dimensions and therefore must be allowing for the cutter diameter...so hmm any hints or is it a case of allowing for the radius of the cutter in the X&Y positions?

Any clues would be a great help and cure my curiousity.

Cheers,

Marcus