Messages

1551

General Mach Discussion / Re: Using two concurrent ports

« on: April 10, 2020, 10:19:12 PM »

Hi,
Mach can have but one motion controller active at a time, in your case the CrossFire board.

You could have a second data input board but it will not be realtime.

Lets imagine the board you have has more capacity and had limits and home switches attached. If during
operation a limit switch activated the motion control board will cease movement IMMEDIATELY. It will also send
a signal to Mach so the screen is upadted.

If you have two boards, your regular CrossFire motion board and a second data input board then if a limit activated
on the second data board, it would send a signal to Mach, Mach would decide what to do and then send a signal (via the buffer)
to the motion board. So the delay between when the switch activated and when its gets enacted could be tens or even
hundreds of milliseconds, during which time your machine has crashed.

Limit and Home events need to be handled immediately, also said to be 'realtime', whereas relying on a second data
input board precludes ANY of the inputs to that board to be handled realtime.

You need another motion controller but with much greater IO so it can handle all the motors AND the limits/homes AND
the probe(s) AND the fans And the plasma machine controls, etc.

I would reccomend the Ethernet SmoothStepper, it has the equivalent of three IO ports for a total of 51 inputs and outputs.

Craig

1552

CS-Lab / Re: CSMIO/IP-A Mach4 lathe retrofit

« on: April 09, 2020, 04:17:24 AM »

Hi,
the CSMIO/A is an analogue controller and the ESS is a step/direction controller......how can you compare the two,
they are totally different solutions?.

If your happy to stick with CSLabs then I hope you get some satisfaction, I wouldn't hold your breath....anoxia is a bad
way to go.

Craig

1553

CS-Lab / Re: CSMIO/IP-A Mach4 lathe retrofit

« on: April 09, 2020, 01:40:09 AM »

Hi,
this is an on-going problem with the CSMIO/A controller and plugin.

Threading is by definition a realtime process and MUST be enacted by the motion controller, in your case the CSMIO.
The CSMIO/A cannot handle thread start synchronisation....it is up to CSLabs to fix....and they have gone right off the boil.
There is nothing Mach4 can do about it.

If you need analogue servo control then get a Vital Sytems Hicon, if you have step/direction servos get a Warp9 ESS....
it seems CSLabs just plain don't care.

Craig

1554

General Mach Discussion / Re: Machine setup problem

« on: April 07, 2020, 08:28:54 AM »

Hi,
so I am presuming that you are running Machs parallel port?
Have you installed it correctly with the mid-process re-boot as is required in the installation instructions?
If so what does driverTest.exe tell you...specifics here, not just good or excellent......we need to know the jitter.

Craig

1555

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3-Problem-New PC

« on: April 06, 2020, 11:17:09 PM »

Hi,

Its odd though as my old machine never had this problem, that's why I thought it must be the new machine config?

Yes, it probably is. The problem is that some PCs do a good job  with Machs parallel port and some do not, and often
without any rhyme or reason.

An external motion controller takes the variability out of the equation. It also means that you can use 64bit OS's
including Windows 10 and use laptops, neither of which are any good with Machs parallel port.

Craig

1556

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3-Problem-New PC

« on: April 06, 2020, 08:37:22 PM »

Hi,
Machs parallel port is adversely affected by any software loaded and certainly running on the same PC.

I use an Ethernet SmoothStepper abd have found among the advantages is that Mach and the ESS is MARKEDLY
less prone to problems you describe. I would recommend you consider it.

Craig

1557

General Mach Discussion / Re: N00b - DRO innacurate / calibration

« on: April 06, 2020, 04:23:45 PM »

Hi,

One thing I  have noticed when moving the table around is that you can hear the motor bug out occasionally. I was wondering if the pulsing from the computer could have anything to do with the axis' going out of calibration?

Very highly likely.

Craig

1558

General Mach Discussion / Re: Machine setup problem

« on: April 06, 2020, 06:58:24 AM »

Hi,
is your Windows 7 Home Premium a 32bit or a 64 bit OS?

Machs parallel port will NOT run on ANY 64bit OS.

Craig

1559

General Mach Discussion / Re: N00b - DRO innacurate / calibration

« on: April 06, 2020, 06:56:16 AM »

Hi,
without information about your machine and/or the components that make it up I can't tell whether
its plain faulty or just trying to operate beyond its limits.

All I can tell you from 57HD-15S is that its a NEMA 23 sized motor, what I really want to know is its inductance. Inductance
is a good figure of merit that will give you an indication how it will perform at speed.

The Chinese (and others) are famous for producing high torque stepper motors but with really high inductance so they
crap out at speed. They make and sell them because they are cheap and most first time buyers don't know any better.

If I had to guess I would say you have med-high inductance steppers (6-12mH) and 24V drivers, they will work OK
but very slowly only.

If you want to make your machine work properly get low inductance motors and high voltage drivers.
In 23 size look for 1-2mH, 1mH preferred and reject anything over 2mH. You want 80V drivers and an 80V, prefereably
transformer/rectifier type 80V DC supply.

Craig

1560

General Mach Discussion / Re: N00b - DRO innacurate / calibration

« on: April 05, 2020, 10:57:38 PM »

Hi,
your steppers are 'losing steps'. That means that at the speed they are being asked to run the torque
of the steppers is so low that ocassionally it misses a step or two.

It may be that you are demanding that the steppers try to go too fast, all steppers lose torque as speed increases,
consequently losing steps is less of a problem at low speeds than high.

It may also be that you have a low voltage (24V) for the stepper drivers and/or stepper drivers that can only handle
low voltages which make the 'losing steps' problem worse.

What drivers do you have?
What voltage power supply to the drivers?
What are the specs of the steppers, the inductance particularly?

Craig