Messages

121

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 G-Code File Extension?

« on: April 01, 2020, 09:27:04 PM »

You can configure Mach4 to look for any file extension you desire, but the default install of Mach4 will show files with .nc and .tap extensions when using the File Open function.

122

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 homing

« on: March 29, 2020, 01:46:16 AM »

Mach3 and Mach4 are fundamentally different in how they treat the relationship of Axes to Motors.

In Mach3 axes each have can have only one motor and when two motors are needed for one axis, you can slave one axis to another in software. This results in a "phantom" axis that are not actually commanded in G code.

In Mach4 motors are a separate concept from axes. The relationship between axes and motors is defined by Mapping. One axis can have multiple motors. Home and limit switches are associated to motors, not axes.

This can be a bit confusing, but is more flexible.

123

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 homing

« on: March 28, 2020, 09:11:26 PM »

You stated that you have Motor 3 set up as a Slave to motor 1, but your config screen shows it as slaved to motor 0, which I assume is correct. You also have Homing configured for the A axis which has no motor assigned.

Do you have the input signal for Motor 3 Home configured?

124

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Configuring Mach4 with Hitachi WJ200 without Modbus

« on: March 21, 2020, 11:55:13 AM »

The Ethernet SmoothStepper (ESS) works reliably and is well supported. Just sayin'     

125

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Slow stepper speeds

« on: March 15, 2020, 01:59:22 PM »

It is probably time to ask Andy from Warp9 to connect into your Mach4 system using remote access and maybe he will spot what is wrong.

126

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Slow stepper speeds

« on: March 14, 2020, 08:25:40 PM »

Dang it, I had assumed that DRO showed the requested feed rate, not the actual.  8-(

127

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Slow stepper speeds

« on: March 14, 2020, 06:32:54 PM »

I must admit to not being very familiar with the details of setting up a SmoothStepper, especially with Mach4.

There was an option for "Controller Frequency" in the configuration menus for the Mach3 plugin and that could influence how the SmoothStepper generated pulses. It seems that is no longer present in the Mach4 plugin configuration, so it should not be an issue.

I am still curious if Mach4 thinks it is moving the motor faster than 500 mm/minute. In Mach3 there was an on screen DRO showing the current instantaneous velocity. Is there an equivalent in Mach4 that I am overlooking?

128

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Slow stepper speeds

« on: March 14, 2020, 04:55:52 PM »

If the motors keep running at 500 mm/minute but do not stall, then I suspect a configuration error, possibly in your ESS setup.

129

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Slow stepper speeds

« on: March 14, 2020, 04:04:53 PM »

While 3 mH is not great, neither is it that bad. With your setup I would expect 1000mm/minute or better, possibly even 2000 mm/minute.

When you state that 500 mm/minute is the best that you can get, do the motors stall or simply refuse to go any faster? If stalls are the issue, try running the motor with it not mounted to the machine and see if it will go faster unloaded.

130

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Slow stepper speeds

« on: March 13, 2020, 07:07:55 PM »

Try upgrading your power supply to 48 volt. Best case your maximum velocity could almost double.