Messages

6751

General Mach Discussion / Re: Unusual stepper issue on lathe

« on: September 03, 2017, 07:50:09 PM »

Hi,
the filtering settings are good but by then the noise has already 'got in', best to arrange it that either it doesn't
'get in' the first place or reduce a signal lines sensitivity if it does.

Craig

6752

General Mach Discussion / Re: All the Gear and No Idea (as to why nothing happens)

« on: September 03, 2017, 06:28:32 PM »

Hi,
you will need to learn the absolute basics of Gcode in order to do any useful work.

Go to the Artsoft website and download some of the manuals, they work best when you actually read them!

Are your units inches or metric?

If metric:
G0 X100 <enter>
G0 x0 <enter> should move the X axis 100mm and then back again.

If inches:
G0 X4 <enter>
G0 X0 <enter> should move the X axis 4 inches and then back again.

If the manual jogging is enabled, a button on the main screen, then on MDI page hit <tab> and a flyout should appear
with arrows for manual jogging. As to what all the different options are you need to RTFM.

Craig

6753

General Mach Discussion / Re: All the Gear and No Idea (as to why nothing happens)

« on: September 03, 2017, 05:07:41 PM »

Hi,
that looks OK.

Next test is to go to the MDI screen and issue a few manual commands and see if the DROs reflect the instruction.
You also want to check that you can jog. Both of these tests can be done without the machine plugged in, in
fact may be better without it. All you are doing is testing the imediate mode of Mach.

Craig

6754

General Mach Discussion / Re: AC servomotor calibration problem

« on: September 03, 2017, 04:43:50 PM »

Hi,
kool, I thought you might have a smile.

While it may be a bit agressive at start up and slow down you really want all that torque at other times. When cutting
the cutting forces slow the spindle sown and you want the torque of the servo to bring it up to speed again.
The last thing you want to do is imasculate it stop the chuck from coming off.

Remeber under step/dir control the speed up and slow down will be controlled by Mach that you set in Motor Tuning
and when at constant speed the drive and servo can utilise max torque to do it, perfect.

My servo doesn't have a brake. My understanding is that the brake is normally on so that if the power is suddenly
removed or the drive goes into emergency shutdown then the brake comes on. You need to power the brake coil in
order to release it and spin the spindle. A simple test is remove the input power to the drive, does the brake activate?
If it does then you will have to permanently power the brake coil in order to avoid the brake from interfering.
Look in the brake section for the circuit diagram, I'm at work and don't have the manual here.

Craig

6755

General Mach Discussion / Re: AC servomotor calibration problem

« on: September 03, 2017, 03:01:13 PM »

Hi,
when you get your ESS and get it set up in step/dir mode per your original plan then all of this becomes meaning less. You will not have to disable
the drive to get it to stop...just have Mach stop iussing step pulses and the brake will never come on. Likewise you will be able to jog from Machs
screen, you won't have to go anywhere near the drive.

The point of setting it up in analogue it simply that you could experiment and learn something about your drive and servo. Have you learnt some
new stuff?. I bet you have and if so the hobby is succeeding.

Craig

6756

General Mach Discussion / Re: AC servomotor calibration problem

« on: September 03, 2017, 02:54:11 PM »

Hi,
look at 'Torque Limits' on page 10.7. You can set the max torque by setting or you can use an analogue setting per fig 10.8.

The analogue setting could be under Mach PWM control which would allow you to have variable torque limits depending on current requirements.

Craig

6757

General Mach Discussion / Re: All the Gear and No Idea (as to why nothing happens)

« on: September 03, 2017, 02:28:18 PM »

Hi,
now you have to get it to work....

Run DriverTest.exe from the Mach3 folder an report the results or better still post a screenshot. This tests the parallel port on your PC, you don't even
need the machine hooked up, in fact probably better not to.

Craig

6758

General Mach Discussion / Re: AC servomotor calibration problem

« on: September 03, 2017, 02:21:06 PM »

Hi,
when you disable the servo it stops at its max acceleration. You can set that....although why you would set it less than its capable of...you have
paid for all that luvly grunt and now you don't want it?

The offset must be perfect if you expect it to stop. In your lathe you will use the disable pin under Machs control to stop.

I think you can program the brake so that it doesn't come on when the drive is disabled. When disabled you should be able to jog, when enabled
it is in primary control mode and it ignores jog which is its secondary control mode as per previous post.

Craig

6759

General Mach Discussion / Re: AC servomotor calibration problem

« on: September 03, 2017, 07:42:16 AM »

Hi,
nice of you to say but you haven't met me...easy to be nice over the internet...but you may want to shoot me in real life.

Craig

6760

General Mach Discussion / Re: All the Gear and No Idea (as to why nothing happens)

« on: September 03, 2017, 07:39:09 AM »

Hi,
welcome aboard.

The very first picture you posted shows a parallel printer port and a USB port. I suspect the USB port is just a means for your PC to power the input
circuits of your breakout board but the signals are communicated over the parallel port. Do you have a DB25 cable?

Given that your machine requires a parallel port to communicate have installed the parallel port driver? Have you run DriverTest.exe to see
whether its running OK?

You may need to go to the Artsoft website an get a copy

Mach3 CNC Controller
Software Installation and
Configuration

You need to read section 2.1.3    and then read it again   and again!

2.1.3 The Vital Reboot
You must reboot Windows before running Mach3. This reboot is vital. If you do not do it, you will get
into great difficulties which can only be overcome by using the Windows Control Panel to uninstall the
driver manually. So please reboot now.

Craig