Messages

901

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Homing scripts

« on: January 15, 2022, 04:13:40 PM »

Hi,
 I am assuming you are using one of the supplied screensets, say wx4?

wx4 is a common choice for a mill, but as the name suggests it is for a four axis machine.....but what happens if you only have three axes? Then when a homing move or similar is called
the machine will attempt to move your fourth axis....but its not installed and therefore you get an error.

The solution is to, in the ScreenLoad script, remove or edit any instructions that reference the fourth axis, and then save it. What you have done is modified your original screenset wx4....and now
it's slightly different.

At some time in the future when you get the newest, latest and greatest build of Mach4 it will install a new copy of wx4...and your modified copy of a few months, also called wx4, will get overwritten.
and all your edits and tweaks will be lost. Bugger! The correct solution for this problem is to make a copy of wx4, as a good starting point, and call it something unique, like MyVesrion_wx4, and then
use that screenset. Any modifications you do on that screenset, like the homing modifications will happen on the copy. Thus when you get a fresh wx4 when you update Mach then your screenset will
not get overwritten.

The procedure is go to  C:\Mach4Hobby\Screens and make a unique copy of the screenset you like the most, in this example wx4. Now fire up Mach and in the View\Loadscreen menu you will be able
to choose your unique copy of your preferred screenset. Once you do so your profile will be updated so that every time you fire up Mach it will select this screenset. At the very lowermost right hand
side of Machs screen you will see the name of the screenset in use, and incidentally the name of the profile in use also.

Craig

902

General Mach Discussion / Re: Homing Machine moves over .500"

« on: January 12, 2022, 12:43:16 PM »

Hi,
Homing is a function that requires realtime, that is to say immediate response, and thus MUST be handled by the motion controller.
Many Chinese motion controllers handle Homing in a non-standard manner....your controller evidently does so and I doubt you'll ever
find a means of changing it.

Buy a US or European made controller like an ESS and you'll get industry standard behavior and manufacturers support.

Craig

903

General Mach Discussion / Re: Homing Machine moves over .500"

« on: January 12, 2022, 12:37:50 PM »

Hi,
does it really matter? Just because the machine coordinate zero is half an inch 'inside' the end does not prevent you
from using that extra half inch....its just that it would have a negative machine coordinate.....and that's no problem because you use
work coordinates....so who cares if the machine coordinate is negative.

Craig

904

General Mach Discussion / Re: Homing Machine moves over .500"

« on: January 12, 2022, 12:32:29 PM »

Hi,
that is the famed RnR motion board, I doubt anyone will own up to be the manufacturer let alone help.

Craig

905

General Mach Discussion / Re: Homing Machine moves over .500"

« on: January 12, 2022, 12:13:31 PM »

Hi,
I've got a car, it has a wheel at all four corners, its blue.....can you tell me what model it is?

Craig

906

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Output configuration check

« on: January 12, 2022, 12:10:14 PM »

Hi,
you can run the function either in Gcode just by writing the line:
m150
and the same in the MDI panel. If you save it in the macros folder it will save by default as a .mcs, ie a Lua source file.

Craig

907

General Mach Discussion / Re: Homing Machine moves over .500"

« on: January 12, 2022, 12:07:00 PM »

Hi,

I’m using the usb controller.

Which one, there are dozens of, most of them Chinese so who knows if you'll get any help.

Craig

908

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Can I use the mcMapSurface wizard in version 3481?

« on: January 12, 2022, 12:06:52 AM »

Hi,
re-reading your post:

I have the unlicensed version 4.2.0.4612 which has the mcMapSurface wizard but I want this wizard in my licensed copy version 4.2.0.3481.

Its not a build that is licensed but the PC. Thus if you download the latest build to a PC that is already licensed then the new and later build works seamlessly.
Additionally, each Mach4Hobby purchase allows up to FIVE fully licensed PC's.....so you could have an earlier build licensed one one PC and another later build
on another PC entirely, and also be licensed.

Licensing should not prevent you from having an up-to-date build.

Craig

909

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Can I use the mcMapSurface wizard in version 3481?

« on: January 11, 2022, 11:51:12 PM »

Hi,
this post be;longs on the Mach4 General discussion board. No doubt tweakie will shift it in due course.

The mc.Surface is a Wizard and it may therefore be transfereable to an earlier version....but why? Why not just download the current version and get on with it.
I have a sneaking suspicion that once the Wizard has run and the probe data has been established Mach's core uses that data to subtly 'modulate' the Z axis......and if that is
the case then the earlier version probably has different code in its core to enact that feature. Thus even if you  can successfully transfer the Wizard to the older build, the older build
may not have the code internally to take advantage of it.

Craig

910

General Mach Discussion / Re: Homing Machine moves over .500"

« on: January 11, 2022, 11:43:53 PM »

Hi,
when homing Mach advances to the switch in the programmed HomeDirection, at the programmed HomingSpeed until it hits the switch. It will then back off the ONLY as
far as is required for the switch to deactivate. Depending on your switches it could be that they have half an inch of hysteresis and you can't change that.

I use roller plunger snap action microswitches which have 0.05mm of hysteresis, and due to the mechanics of the roller plunger and the ramp against which they operate
they back up about 0.8mm. The home switches allow me to home to within 0.02mm every time and have done so for years.

What sort of Home switches are you using? Could they have 0.5 inch hysteresis?

Note that some motion controllers allow you to program a certain distance OVER AND ABOVE the normal back off distance, but only some controllers. What controller are you using
and does it have that programmable BackOff feature? If so it may be mis-programmed.

Craig