Messages

11

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Adding second driver or port to Mach 3

« on: January 08, 2016, 04:02:59 PM »

OK! I guess that can happen.

Is there any documentation on the LED's, on the diagnostics screen, for the second port that relates the LED to the actual pin number?  In particular when the second port is set for pins 2-9 as inputs.  I am assuming that the second row is port 2 as I can get them to go on and off by grounding pins on port 2.  There does not seem to be a one to one relationship as when I ground pin 13, the 3rd LED goes off for example.

12

Mach3 under Vista / Re: Adding second driver or port to Mach 3

« on: January 07, 2016, 08:22:09 PM »

Your post is almost a year old.  Did you get this resolved?  I think you were on the right track if you can get your second port working.  I am no expert, only been running Mach 3 for a year.

I have found way to many posts asking for input that are old and have never been answered.  That kind of worries me about support.

Good luck

13

General Mach Discussion / Re: Parallel Port (Pin 8 & 9) No response

« on: January 07, 2016, 08:09:30 PM »

Make sure you have A axis slaved to the corresponding axis and make sure you have them enabled in the home slave with...(I do not remember the exact wording)  I think it is the general screen in config about the middle of the screen

14

General Mach Discussion / Re: Parallel Port Tester. (Software)You can use to trouble your parallel port

« on: February 01, 2015, 01:38:22 PM »

Works great for testing the port.

15

Mach3 under Vista / Re: skipping blocks, random moves, lost communication P4 3.2GHZ Win7, R.066

« on: November 18, 2014, 08:33:52 PM »

After weeks of troubleshooting this and other problems, the problem with the skipping blocks and unexpected Limit Switch trips has been resolved.  It seems that the roller on my X axis LS was riding on the rail, and was tripping intermittently.  The problem actually had nothing to do with the router being electrically noisy, just when it was running it added to the total vibrations of the system, enough to cause the switch to activate at different points.  ( I put in a better router just the same)

As far as the skipping of blocks I am assuming that the read ahead, or look ahead of the program caused it to restart when I reset the machine, to begin some blocks further down in the programs.  It only happened when the system E-Stopped due to a limit switch tripping.

I am seriously thinking of getting better switches as even hitting the table with a block of wood would cause a trip, moving or not, router on or off.  In any case, the cause of this problem has been found and resolved.

16

Mach3 under Vista / Re: skipping blocks, random moves, lost communication P4 3.2GHZ Win7, R.066

« on: November 17, 2014, 10:59:04 PM »

I am having a similar problem, however, I am thinking that it is the noise (electrical) from my lousy (Harbor Freight) router. I never get the hiccups when dry running and not having the router motor running.  I get e-stops and am told that a limit tripped, but it does not show which tripped, I am convinced that the switches are not tripping as it take about an 1/8th In travel to actuate them and there are no items that would have done so when it trips.  The problem seems to only exist when the router is running.  Problem can happen within seconds of starting the cuts to 10-15 minutes into the program.

In trying to resolve this problem I went from quick dis-connects at the switches to soldering them.  I isolated all AC power, in particular I moved the routers AC to the opposite side of the gantry, all limit switches have shielded cables grounded at the BOB and kept inches or more from the stepper cables from each other.  Going to install a new router to see if the crappy one I am using is the problem.

When running a program that increments y about .25" and moves x 32 or so inches then increments y again and moves x in the other direction, some times it would skip 4-6 trips down the board and start somewhere 2-3 inches from where it should have been.  Multiple lines of code skipped.  

This is a home built CNC router, running win 7 with WiFi, but not running anything else while using machine.  As this has been built by myself, I am checking every connection, added a terminal block for the limit switch inputs, made sure the BOB is secure and connections tight.  
I will keep you updated if the router is/was the problem

Any thoughts or suggestions would be most appreciated