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Messages - joeaverage

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6161
General Mach Discussion / Re: Backlash on X axis changes to A axis
« on: October 25, 2017, 01:44:48 PM »
Hi,
I see now why you had all those outputs set, the instruction tell you so. Note that ouput#2 and output#3 the port for both is zero and the pin for both is zero.
Clearly the manufacturer had something in mind, unfortunately I don't know what. My guess is that all those outputs, enable and outputs#1-3 are to activate
the four drivers. SW1 on page 6 controls the activation mode for each driver. The pic shows it set on Auto (L), may I suggest changing it to Manual (H). So change
SW1 only.

The microstepping is set to 2, that 400 pulses re rev. 400 ppr/10mm pitch =40 'steps per'. So the setting recommended will work. Half stepping (microstep=2)
is pretty course and may at a later date be changed but it should work as it is.

These Chinese controller/driver boards have a poor reputation, many of the most experienced CNCers on the forum don't bother responding to requests for help
with these boards. If one or more of the motor driver chips fail then the whole board will need to be replaced. There is a high probability it will happen.
If you do replace it don't buy more Chinese junk. Do some homework BEFORE you buy.

Craig

6162
Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Lines in the tool path window
« on: October 25, 2017, 06:26:59 AM »
Hi,
Quote
The problem is not in color, but in the thickness of the lines
you can't change the thickness of the lines in Mach4, that is a property of the graphics unit of your PC. If you cant use colour contrast to improve visibility
then your stuffed.

Quote
Mach3 shows thick lines ... Mach 4 is not.
Mach4 IS NOT THE SAME as mach3, in fact its a completely new package


Quote
What of "API toolpath" , where about it to read?
The Application Program Interface is the collection of instructions and functions that you can control and interface with Machs Core. The complete
list is in the Help Docs button of the File Ops tab or Help/Documentation Folder as Mach4CoreAPI.chm. Theres a lot to read! You will find the toolpath
API calls in the GUI section.

Quote
Its development. In the screen editor, the Tool Path Display for all screens are the same.
No they are not all the same, for instance the wx4.set has much better colour settings than whatever screen set you are using. At the lower right of the Mach screen
there should be an entry Screen:******************x. What is it?  Maybe consider using the colour data from the wx4.set to improve the visibility of the screen set you are using
because mach4 DOES NOT CONTROL THE LINE WIDTH.....your PC does.

Craig

6163
General Mach Discussion / Re: Backlash on X axis changes to A axis
« on: October 25, 2017, 06:04:49 AM »
Hi,
I think we may have to revisit some of those settings. A two phase stepper has 200 1.8 degree steps per revolution. A conventional driver set to 'full step'
when pulsed 200 times the motor will turn one revolution. Most drivers offer microstepping which subdivides each full step into commonly 4,8,16 and sometimes
more microsteps. For CNC routers microstepping allows a very much smoother motion than full stepping which can be quite harsh. Most use 8 and sometimes
16 microsteps per fullstep. Do you have any documentation for your controller? You will need to set the dip switches for 8 microsteps.

With 8 microsteps now the driver will be pulsed 1600 times for the motor to complete 1 revolution, I'm going to guess that your ballscrews have a pitch of 5mm
per rev and that the steppers are directly connected, ie no belt reduction, 1600/5=320. That is to say that 320 pulses would cause the motor to turn 1/5 of a
revolution and the axis to travel 1mm. You might consider that the resolution of your machine is 1/320=3.125um. That is an optimistic assumption, for a number
of reasons the practical resolution will be about 12.5um, just a bit over 0.01 mm, pretty damn fair!

Stepper motors lose torque in a big way the faster they go. Probably fair to consider their max speed to be about 500 rpm. You can of course make them go faster
but unable to drive an axis with authority, ie it will lose steps or stall and be generally hopeless for CNC. 500rpm x 5mm pitch=2500mm/min, so your velocity setting
sounds about right. A general rule of thumb for acceleration is about 10% of velocity so 250mm/s/s.

Unfortunately the rewiring did not result in testing the drivers as I'd hoped. You changed the wires from the output of the drivers to the motors. I was hoping you
could change the inputs to the drivers and so establish whether the A and X axis drivers are good and the same. Because the inputs to each driver are determined
by the copper traces of the circuit board you can't realistically change them.

Can you take some close up pics of the board, I want to see if there are any markings which would indicate the microstepping available with different DIP switch
settings? Can you also check or measure the pitch of the ballscrews. Turn one by hand 1 turn and measure how far the axis moves. Be accurate. The difference between
0.2 inch, a common imperial pitch and 5mm, a common metric pitch is only 0.08mm, ie not much between them. Can you post any manual you got with the
machine?

Craig

6164
Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Lines in the tool path window
« on: October 25, 2017, 03:59:30 AM »
Hi,
what screenset are you using? I use a somewhat customised version of wx4.set. The customisations have nothing to do with the toolpath display.
It doesn't matter if the toolpath is for plasma, laser or mill, it is displayed indentically.

There are 29 API calls to do with the toolpath. Have you investigated any or all of them? These are the only way for ANY screenset to generate a toolpath,
that's why its called an API. If none of these calls help you, and to be honest my inspection and reading of them suggests not, then you must address the line
width issue in your PCs graphics.

My feeling is that your background colours are too dark too offer contrast with dark traces. Use a light background with dark traces OR a dark background with
light traces. The previous screenshot is plainly visible but needs be expanded to seperate the detail.

Craig

6165
PoKeys / Re: Emergency reset
« on: October 25, 2017, 03:40:36 AM »
Hi,
I'm guessing that because you have no switch that noise is getting onto the pin and telling Mach to Estop. I suggest loading the pin so that it is less susceptible
to noise.

Craig

6166
Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Lines in the tool path window
« on: October 25, 2017, 02:51:08 AM »
Hi,
the toolpath shows very nicely on my machine. This is a PCB toolpath for instance.

Craig

6167
Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Lines in the tool path window
« on: October 25, 2017, 02:29:30 AM »
Hi seregius,
that blue is way to dark, I'm talking light blue.

Craig

6168
PoKeys / Re: Emergency reset
« on: October 25, 2017, 01:32:19 AM »
Hi,
depends on whether you've set Estop as Active High or Active Low. 400 Ohm to earth will be fine for Active High.

I can't help but think you should hook up an Estop switch, so if your machine goes crazy or your Gcode is faulty you can switch it off real quick. In most
countries an Estop is a legal safety requirement. You may have seen the switches, big red button in a yellow surround and the button latches down, hit it
and the machine stops.

Craig

6169
Hi,
I double checked and there is a 'run from here' button in Mach4, I've never used it! Will have to experiment with it to see if it behaves as Mach3 did.

Craig

6170
Hi,
there is no 'run from here' function in Mach4. There is all sorts of API calls that you can use to make it happen
but Artsoft have very wisely left it to each user to program how they want their machine to operate.
'Run from Here' must have just about caused more complaints to Artsoft than just about any other and
this is a perfect way of avoiding all that rubbish.

Craig

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