Messages

291

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 - driving beyond soft limits ?

« on: April 08, 2018, 03:36:44 AM »

I would discount opt3 straight away really - Mach has been going too long for there to be a bug which can cause this loss on such a simple procedure - its a facing cut, the simplest of code routines, probably only a few lines long.

My money would be to concentrate on 1 & 2

The big question is - is it a one-off or does it do it every run?

If its a one-off occurrence then it may never be found.

292

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 - driving beyond soft limits ?

« on: April 08, 2018, 02:46:29 AM »

Losing 170mm really sounds like a loose motor coupling - any possibility??

293

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 - driving beyond soft limits ?

« on: April 07, 2018, 11:18:45 AM »

Maybe check your PSU voltage too, maybe it dropped while running and the motors just lost steps.?

294

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 - driving beyond soft limits ?

« on: April 07, 2018, 08:44:31 AM »

As you explain that the machine coordinates had shifted it sounds very much to me like something had jammed the router and caused the machine to lose position - this would explain the soft limit failure.

I would check/clean/lubricate all motion and bearings etc then run some tests to see if it does it again.

295

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 and Setting up a plasma system, help.

« on: April 07, 2018, 03:23:15 AM »

If you have the CPC port on the Hypertherm then yes, two of those wires will fire the torch but there is likely an interlock to defeat as well IF you have a hand torch fitted instead of a machine torch - that you will have to work out

I "modified" my PM45 slightly so i can use hand trigger OR CPC port trigger but note this can be dangerous so i won't say how i did it.

296

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 and Setting up a plasma system, help.

« on: April 06, 2018, 02:42:57 PM »

The torch is fired by relay / BOB

IIRC the floating head switch is wired as the PROBE input - it will probe downwards until the torch hits the metal and the switch trips, there needs to be  a switch-offset in the math to give correct pierce height

If you use a Sheetcam POST that has plasma and top of material sense written in then yes this can all be done in CAM

297

General Mach Discussion / Re: Probing - what would i need?

« on: April 05, 2018, 10:49:00 AM »

Yep.

I have a probe now, hope to test it this weekend.

I'm also writing some probing macros to play with, no idea what i need until i try it out really, I'm using the CS-Labs M31 code - seems better to keep as much as possible within the motion controller I think.

298

General Mach Discussion / Re: Probing - what would i need?

« on: April 05, 2018, 10:23:42 AM »

Getting there now

BTW on my setup the Z DRO does not change when tools are changed or called - the File load routine comments out all the G43 H.. lines because they are read direct from my tool table and sent to knee not the Z axis. It works very well in practice and means i keep 100% of my quill travel.

As far as Mach3 and the Z axis are concerned ALL my tools are 100% the same length

299

General Mach Discussion / Re: Homing operation does not pulls back enough to get away from switch?

« on: April 04, 2018, 04:42:25 PM »

Interesting, no, i have never seen a sudden shift like that, especially going past soft limits.

300

General Mach Discussion / Re: Homing operation does not pulls back enough to get away from switch?

« on: April 04, 2018, 03:10:02 PM »

" ... forget limits they are not needed on a stepper drive".
the simplification you are proposing presents the advantage of simplicity. How do you motivate this choice ?

Unless you are running geared reduction or high reduction belt drives, i.e. an unusual setup, the steppers do not have the power to do too much damage if they run away or you jog into the end stop.

I would always go for a home switch on each axis, correctly set soft-limits on each axis and thats it, simple and easy. When set correctly soft-limits are the perfect answer - less wiring, less hardware, less hassle.

On a servo drive then no, hard limits AND soft-limits all the way - theres some awesome destructive power in a servo of reasonable size and you really do not want that smashing the ends off your mill table etc.