Messages

1

VB and the development of wizards / Re: Tool zeroing macro help

« on: March 15, 2013, 11:38:18 AM »

Did you find out how to do this?  Should be very easy, I have written macros to set tool zero using a probe and it's trivial.

Thank you John.
Hood gave me some help on this. It was a pretty simple code actually. Now I save some time on zeroing.

2

VB and the development of wizards / Tool zeroing macro help

« on: November 08, 2012, 08:01:40 PM »

Hi everyone,

I need some help on writing a macro for zeroing the tool. I always zero the tool by the center of the work piece, so I touch one side of the piece with the tool or edge finder, then zero it, go to the other side and touch the piece again; then I divide the DRO value by 2 and that's it. same procedure for both x & y axis.
So, here's my idea: a macro that would get the DRO value, divide it by two, move the axis to this new value and zero the tool.
Can anyone help me writing this?

Thanks

3

General Mach Discussion / Re: Homing Macro?

« on: March 21, 2012, 11:16:45 AM »

Hi folks,

I'm trying to set ref combination but it's not working. Any code there I try gives me the same result: only one axis move and nothing happens after. I've tried the ref combination comands listed on this thread, but no joy.
I've read something about that might be an issue with the SS board related to the ref combination. Could anyone confirm if this?

4

Post Processors / Re: Solidcam 2006 Rev10 to mach2-mach3 post pro

« on: February 15, 2012, 11:34:37 AM »

Don't know what was causing the scaling, even if I commanded a G50. I updated the postprocessor, so the max feed and rapids doesn't cross my machine limits.
Mach3 is working OK now.
Thank you for your help Overloaded.

Now, I'm fighting against another problem. My router doesn't accept feedrate updates during gcode running. Neither feedrate overwrite.
Some times, in the gcode, there are some Fx... commands,like ones on toolpath linkage, and my machine servos jerks when these commands lines runs.
As if they were jammed or something, giving just small "punches" instead of the right movement.
Any clue how to solve this issue?

5

Post Processors / Re: Solidcam 2006 Rev10 to mach2-mach3 post pro

« on: February 09, 2012, 06:49:48 PM »

Thank you again.
I've built it from scratch, every single part. It is being a great adventure. Everything modeled in Solidworks.
I'll post the XML tomorrow after I get back to my working place.
There are some brains, like the ones for the aqua screen and for the MPG Pendant.
I'm using the smooth stepper too, but I don't think its plugin is causing this.
You said about the G50 to cancel the scaling and I tried editing the Gcode, but as soon as the program jumped to the line below the scale on the X axis turn on again, on an eye blink.
I'll load a XML from the last week and see what happens.

Best regards

6

Post Processors / Re: Solidcam 2006 Rev10 to mach2-mach3 post pro

« on: February 09, 2012, 03:56:21 PM »

THANK YOU SO MUCH, MAN!!!

You are an expert for sure!
If you don´t mind to help me with something more, I have a question about the scaling factor.
Everytime I run a gcode, my X axis goes automaticaly to scale factor of -1.000. Do you know if this is related to the gcode? Is there any configuration in Mach3 that I could disable it?

In fact, what is it for? I couldn't notice any difference...

Thank you

7

Post Processors / Re: Solidcam 2006 Rev10 to mach2-mach3 post pro

« on: February 09, 2012, 02:43:02 PM »

Hey everyone,

I just downloaded the postprocessors for solidcam, but when I load the toolpath in mach3, I get the tollpath inside of erratic G2 and G3 movements that shouldn't be there. I've tried other postprocessors but any of them gave me the exact toolpath as it's shown on solidcam screen.
Can anyone help me? I don't know if it has something to do with solidcam itself and can't be modified or if it has something to do with the postprocessor.
I even tried different machining strategies to see if it was something related to that, but the results are the same.
I've attached the gcode, so you can understand me easier. The blue lines (toolpath in mach3) are the correct code and the pink are the wrong movements that shouldn't be there.

Please, any expert, give some help!

8

SmoothStepper USB / Re: Help setting up my electronics - noise problems - SOS!

« on: January 28, 2012, 08:45:02 PM »

Hi Billbob,

Thank you for your answer. I'm using a smooth stepper board combined with a C11G. There are some settings for debounce on the smooth stepper plugin control, but can you tell if it works together with mach's debounce settings or does the SS ignore it?

9

SmoothStepper USB / Help setting up my electronics - noise problems - SOS!

« on: January 28, 2012, 08:51:57 AM »

 Hey guys,

I'm having some problems setting up my electronics. The configuration is: SS, C11G,  G320X, KL2200 spindle, keling VFD22, 72V 20amp power supply.
I've pre assembled everything on a MDF sheet, just for testing the motors, drivers, bob and VFD. Everything seemed to be fine on these tests.  I could even  calibrate the spindle and the VFD  didn' t cause any interference that I could notice. 
Now my machine is assembled and I started to wire limit switches and everything else for testing. I could tune motors and put the limit switches to work, but when I tried to run the spindle the system crashed. As soon as I gave a M3S*********x command I got the following message:

Error returned from USB function FT_write
Error: FTDI USB DRIVER ERROR

ERROR = FT_IO_ERROR

Bytes requested: 192
Bytes written: 0

I couldn't run the spindle for 1 second cause in the moment the CW relay turned on, the SS crashed. When this occurs the red led on the SS stops to blink and I need to switch it off and restart Mach3.
I unpluged the spindle cable and gave the M3S*********x command again and got no problem, so the VFD itself is not causing the noise to SS board. I figured out that the spindle is causing the noise, somehow it is throwing interference through its cable.
I'm powering the analog 0-10v spindle speed control with an ATX power supply that I took from an old computer. The C11G was being powered with a 5v regulated power supply, so I tried using the 5v output from the ATX instead and got the spindle to run, but still crashing after a while. 
After all the testings I presume it is a grounding problem and need help solving this. 

Does anyone experienced this ?
I've read somethings about ground loop but I don't know much of electrical theory. Can someone explain me what it is, how it occurs and what should I do to avoid it?
Which is the best way to ground everything?
I've disabled the mechanical limit switches because I think they were making things worse. Is there a way to ground or shield them against noise?
Does anyone know if a wrong wiring of the UVW inputs on the VFD could cause noise issues?

Please someone help me! I really need to get my machine to work. 

Thanks

10

General Mach Discussion / Spindle speed fine tuning

« on: October 19, 2011, 05:04:42 PM »

Hi everyone,

Today I finally got the C11G analog output to "talk" to the VFD, but I still need some help with spindle speed fine tuning.
I've followed the steps of the support doc available in the forum and got a good result on the high rpm settings, but accuracy gets bad as I low the rpm...
If I give a max speed command, I get 10,03V at the output, which makes the VFD to run at 400Hz, but if I command half the speed I get 197Hz when it should be 200Hz and that difference get bigger as a low the speed. If I set the speed at 10% of max I get 35Hz instead of 40Hz, and in this case, the difference is about 300 rpm.
So, the linearity is kind of OK but a little displaced at its botton.
I wish to know if is there a way to fine tune this.

Can anyone help me with this?

By the way, I'm using a KL-2200 spindle with the KL-VFD22 (Huanyang VFD), C11G bob, SS, G320X drivers.
Here is a picture of the components pre-assembled for testing and configuring:
Thanks.