Messages

11

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 aggressive motor movement stalling the motor

« on: June 09, 2019, 04:57:40 PM »

I'm having what looks like a similar problem right now... G0 moves stall my X-axis at somewhere between 35-50 ipm no matter how low the acceleration is set, while the Y and Z are just fine. G1 F10, X is fine. Not sure why the Y axis (which has to move the X axis and the table) is fine at the higher speeds while the X (which only moves the table) is not.

Thinking maybe I ought to try the Mach 4 demo, just to see if that fixes it.

12

General Mach Discussion / Re: Probe is triggered, but movement doesn't stop

« on: February 28, 2016, 05:04:42 AM »

Yes, I know that the G540 can theoretically output a 0-10 signal.  Mine, however, seems only able to put out a .032 to .209 signal.  After about 18 hours or messing with it, I gave up and put the SPID on port 2.  I have perfect, spectacularly accurate control in a range from 4995 to 5007 rpm.  By contrast, PWM straight to the SPID from port 2?  Took five minutes t set up, and it works flawlessly.

13

General Mach Discussion / Re: Probe is triggered, but movement doesn't stop

« on: February 28, 2016, 03:37:27 AM »

I'm pretty sure that I figured out what the problem actually was.

Let's just say that when Warp9 says not to screw around with using multiple monitors, they're really not kidding.

Anyway.  That was the least of my frustrations today.  I had a lot more fun getting PWM to work.  It went far more smoothly once I decided to go through port 2 of the ESS and just use actual PWM instead of dealing with the G540 and it's VFD output signal.  By 2330 on Saturday I was able to finally start the first cut on a part that should have been finished by about 0730 on Friday.

14

General Mach Discussion / Re: Probe is triggered, but movement doesn't stop

« on: February 27, 2016, 06:01:54 PM »

Yep, it's definitely .062, as recommended in the setup instructions for the ESS.  (The ESS is a recent addition to my system.)

Not sure what happened, but the situation seems to have resolved itself.

15

General Mach Discussion / Probe is triggered, but movement doesn't stop

« on: February 27, 2016, 04:31:34 PM »

Over the past couple weeks I've noticed that occasionally when I'm probing something, the light showing the probe as active comes on when it makes contact, but the machine doesn't stop moving in that direction.  This happened with increased frequency until yesterday, when it started happening every time.  This happens when probing on any axis, not just Z.  

I use Big Tex's probing screenset and also the ProbeIt wizard.  Neither has been edited.

Yes, I have limit switches, and yes, they work correctly.

I have already gone over the entire wiring setup from start to finish.  I replaced every piece of wire going to the probe, and made sure that the new wires are properly tinned and all terminal connections are tight.  None of that was the problem.  (I didn't expect it to be - the LED on screen lights up correctly, but the wires were a little ratty.)

I've already started a new profile from scratch, and it exhibits the same behavior.

I've already tried changing the probe to a different pin.  Didn't help.

I have an ESS and G540, with a SuperPID spindle controller.  Mach is version 3.043.062.  XML file is attached.

If anyone has any suggestions to offer on this one, I'd be incredibly grateful.

16

General Mach Discussion / Re: My circles are in the wrong place?

« on: July 23, 2015, 04:50:35 PM »

Yes, I understand that.  I checked the code as well.

What I was hoping was that there was something in Mach that might be causing this.  IJK absolute / relative or something.

I simply can't see anything in the machine that would make drilling operations go to the right spot but make circles go to the wrong place.

17

General Mach Discussion / Re: My circles are in the wrong place?

« on: July 23, 2015, 02:19:07 PM »

Actually, waitaminute.  I've got a perfect example of a situation where the circle was offset and there were no rapids, no tool changes, and only a single operation / single program.

The other day I had a sprocket that I needed to cut the teeth off in order to use it as a flange instead of a sprocket.  (Taper lock flanges are stupid expensive, sprockets far less so.)

Zero on my program was center of the sprocket bore, top flat of the thing.  Only operation was a circle cutting the teeth off, no rapids or anything.  It was offset in the same way.  Part is round, but not concentric with the bore.  At the time I thought I'd made an error with the center finder.

18

General Mach Discussion / Re: My circles are in the wrong place?

« on: July 23, 2015, 01:58:02 PM »

(;-) Those are famous last words it can't be the machine (;-)..  Did you run the test? does it show ANY offsetting in the the Gcode  toolpathing ??. You could be losing steps ONLY on a rapid not on G1/2/3 move.  There are a HOST of things that can cause a machine to gain or loose steps only in certain circustances. it seems you have found one of those circumstances (;-)

Just a thought, (;-) TP

(;-) TP

Good point.  No, I haven't had time yet to run the test.  I'm actually trying to figure out how to do it without needing a tool change.  (I don't have a tool changer or enough toolholders for it to be worth figuring out how to set up offsets.)  I guess a piece of wood would be okay - I can drill through that with an end mill.

19

General Mach Discussion / Re: My circles are in the wrong place?

« on: July 23, 2015, 01:39:20 PM »

Ok here is teh test. Take the first program and add teh second program to the end of it  then do the 3rd. Next take OUT the m30s Then load the total program Do you see the offsetting in the toolpath ?? NO then it your machine loosing or gaining steps.

(;-) TP

The machine can't be gaining or losing steps - when I do the final cutout on the part, I'm cutting that circle out in about 50 passes.  If I was gaining or losing steps, then I'd be seeing a stairstep effect on the walls of the part and the remaining stock in the direction of the lost steps, and that's just not happening.  The walls are completely vertical.  This behavior is consistent through all the parts where I've seen this happen.

20

General Mach Discussion / My circles are in the wrong place?

« on: July 23, 2015, 12:09:53 PM »

So, first off, this isn't a problem with backlash.  My circles are still round, they're just ... not where they're supposed to be.  They're consistently offset by about .08 inches in -X and +Y.

For instance, in the part whose g-code I've attached below, I have zero set at the inside left corner of the fixed jaw on my vise.  I've got a piece of 1/2x6 hot rolled steel clamped up.  

I drill out the center with a 1" bit, then a 5-bolt pattern around it with a 1/2" bit.  This goes as expected.

Then things go a little abnormal.  

The next operation takes a 5/16 end mill and bores the holes out by a few thousandths for clearance, then cuts out the whole thing.  The boring operation is offset away from the center of the actual hole.  So's the cutout.  Everything is round ... it's just not centered.

This has been a problem for a while now, but I've never really done anything where the precision mattered as much as it does here so it wasn't quite as obvious.  When I saw it happening with thread milling, I figured I was stuck on stupid with something in my operation and never put any more thought into it since I was just experimenting, but it's showing up everywhere else.  If I am just milling my whole part everything's fine - the offset takes care of itself because everything is shifted ... but when I'm working with something where I have to index off an existing hole, or where I have tool changes, then there's issues.

Anyone got any ideas what's going on?