Messages

1

Mach4 General Discussion / Change from Syntec 6MD to Mach 4?

« on: February 27, 2024, 01:36:38 PM »

Hi all! It's been a while since I've been here.
A buddy of mine just bought a used Chinese CNC router. It has a Syntec 6MD controller. Has any one here any experience converting from that to Mach? Does someone make a card or something that can take I/O from the machine and feed it through Mach 4? Or how else is it done?

Thanks!

2

General Mach Discussion / Re: Homing problem - Slave Axis stopped responding

« on: March 29, 2015, 11:23:05 PM »

Hey!

Nevermind, i figured it out :oP
 Here's what the problem was for anyone else that might stumble here with the same issue....
It was just the polarity on the A Axis Home switch... I somehow ended up with the switch polarity toggled for A and not for X. So MACH 3 thought A was already on the switch...

Cheers!

3

General Mach Discussion / Homing problem - Slave Axis stopped responding

« on: March 29, 2015, 10:57:31 PM »

Appologies if this is in the wrong forum...


I'm using Ger21's MACH3 2010 Screensets. The problem is with my X Axis, which is driven by 2 motors (one on each side of gantry - so X axis and A axis). A is the slave axis. I have been using the Auto Homing routine provided with the 2010 Screensets for a couple of years without any problems.

However, today... I hit the REF all home button and when it started to home my X Axis, the A motor didn't respond, but the X motor did. I tested it and the A Axis does work with both jogging and using G Code - Just not for Homing... 

I checked the Config settings to make sure that the A Axis is still correctly configured for homing, and it is.

Anyone come across this one before? I haven't changed any settings and it's been working for years...

Please and Thanks!

 

4

General Mach Discussion / Re: Problem with 2 stepper motors on one axis and Home switches

« on: November 17, 2011, 04:18:29 PM »

Newline,
Did you solve this one yet? From your post, I'm not entirely sure exactly what is happening. Is it your Y axis that is dual drive? Is the second drive slaved in software (mach) or hardware? If it's slaved in mach then you have to make sure that both axes (primary and slave) are set to home in the correct direction in Homing and Limits. If you are referencing both axes (home switches on both drives) then you have to uncheck the config setting "Home slave with primary" (sorry I may have that config value name wrong but it's something like that). With this unchecked you can home both sides of the gantry and thereby square it every time you reference to home (provided you have two switches on the axis - one for each drive).
Hope this helps!

5

Finished Screens / Re: Mach3 2010 Screenset - Now available

« on: November 08, 2011, 09:18:19 AM »

Hi Gerry,
I just installed the screenset last night and it looks great. One question: When I use the ref all home button does it have the same functionality as the normal mach 3 ref all home? Like, do I have to do anything different to make it ref both x axis motors (X and A) independently (to square the gantry)? Or does it just use the X axis home switch?

I have this function working in the normal mach 3 screen - just wondering if it is a different macro or not?

I'm looking forward to getting the probing working! Great screen set.

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: Homing problem

« on: November 08, 2011, 12:06:29 AM »

Hi Gerry,
I think I got it. I had the switch on the x rail configured as the A axis home and the A switch as the X home. Backwards! I corrected that and now with the 'home slave with master' unchecked I can clearly see that both motors are being homed independently.
Thanks!

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: Homing problem

« on: November 07, 2011, 11:43:08 PM »

Hello Ger,
I just downloaded the Mach3 2010 screen the other day. I haven't installed it yet. I'm hoping to get the homing done then I'm looking forward to getting the probing working.

I've tried it both with 'home slave with master' checked and unchecked. That's what I was trying to say in the original post but I had the terminology wrong. Sorry about that. When I have it checked, does it still use both limit switches? I have one on the X and one on the A (it's dual drive). I want it to square the gantry when it is homed. My read on the homing functionality was that if I wanted both motors homed independently then I needed that unchecked. I have it checked now. The homing works in this state - I just didn't think both axes (X and A) would be homed in this configuration....The XML is attached.

Does that aspect of config get saved in the xml? I've played with ports/pins, general config a lot in the past few days but the last date modified for the xml says 1 NOV.

Thanks for having a look.

8

General Mach Discussion / Homing problem

« on: November 07, 2011, 09:08:16 AM »

Hello,
I have a dual drive stepper system and am using micro switches as home/limit switches. I have them set up as active low on my X and A axes. Homing works if I disable the A axis switch (in mach3 ports/pins) and check home A axis with X axis in config. When I uncheck that and enable the A axis switch the machine runs both axes toward the switches as expected but when the switches are engaged the X axes backs off and stops as expected but the A axis keeps backing off, stalling the motor. Any ideas on why the A axis might fail to stop when its home switch is disengaged?
Your thoughts appreciated.

9

General Mach Discussion / Re: Rapids not reaching max speed

« on: September 28, 2011, 09:23:09 AM »

Hi Hood,
I appreciate your help. My experience with the Mach software has been fantastic and it is great value at the price they are asking.  I realize that that's probably not what caused the issue at hand but I'm going to do that first and come back to the Rapids issue if it persists.

I wonder if I have to start over with all the settings after I reinstall or if I can use info from the old XML? I suppose it's mostly just the Ports/Pins and motor tuning but there are some other minor setting tweaks along the way that I had to make on order to make it work well and alas, I didn't take good notes!

Thanks

10

General Mach Discussion / Re: Rapids not reaching max speed

« on: September 27, 2011, 03:35:35 PM »

Hello!
Yes here it is..