Messages

31

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit switch issues

« on: December 27, 2015, 11:57:09 AM »

You can have home werever you want it, if you want it mid travel, that's fine, you just need to tell Mach3 were your zero is, not Mach3 telling you were it should be. You define your parameters how you want them, how you want your machine to behave, you just need to give Mach3 all the details and it will work how you want it.
Have you thought about a little generator set to power the workshop if your supply is as fragile as that, for a few hundred $ it should pay for itself very quickly....................just a thought.

32

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit switch issues

« on: December 27, 2015, 11:06:06 AM »

Good we now have the link working, thanks Stirling and an attachment to download..............:-)

33

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit switch issues

« on: December 27, 2015, 10:15:07 AM »

trying to add as an attachment

34

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit switch issues

« on: December 27, 2015, 05:04:06 AM »

Simple innit..................Work through it slowly and methodically, one step at a time, take pictures or make drawings of bits you are going to alter so if it is wrong you can put it back to how it was, check, check and check again and if you are unsure double check......................good luck with it, will catch up later.

35

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit switch issues

« on: December 27, 2015, 04:55:01 AM »

That's what it shows on the PDF. Have you a multimeter at hand, so you can check voltages and switches as you work through each switch. What you are looking for (and I am sure someone more experienced than me will correct me) is 5v between +5v and pin 10, when a limit switch is pressed this should drop to 0v, then return to 5v when the switch is released i,e, a low signal, which is what Mach3 is looking for if configured correctly.

36

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit switch issues

« on: December 27, 2015, 04:41:55 AM »

Google C10 PARALLEL PORT INTERFACE CARD and the first result is the PDF for your board, your answer is there................................It does say connect to +5v and corresponding pin. But again read the information, it will help you understand how it all works.

37

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit switch issues

« on: December 27, 2015, 04:13:05 AM »

By all means move the switch, by all means rewire them so they are in series, just remember to wire them to the correct terminal on the board and set the pins correctly, (10) for your limits and (13) for your E stop, in mach3. There is no danger of magic smoke being released if you do this, unless of course you decide to wire it to mains voltage, but that would be just silly......................................but we all do silly things........................................especially when we are tired!!!!!!!

38

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit switch issues

« on: December 27, 2015, 03:00:09 AM »

Yes I don't understand it, but as I said just type in google - mach3 tutorial pdf select the one that has the title mach3 tutorial not the one that has mach3 as manual, it is only 16 pages and is concise and clear.

39

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit switch issues

« on: December 27, 2015, 02:55:35 AM »

The breakout board/parallel port board looks fine, just follow the instructions in the pdf and you should start to see light at the end of the tunnel.

Off for some shut eye.

40

General Mach Discussion / Re: Limit switch issues

« on: December 27, 2015, 02:47:27 AM »

Try not to get confused, these are both homing AND limit switches. In the homing sequence you are correct, each axis 'homes' itself and backs of by x, now x has no set value, all Mach3 does is monitor the pin 10 state until it sees the circuit made i,e, the axis has come off the switch. Now during normal operation Mach3 will see the 'homing' switches as limit switches and thus if actuated stops the machine in an out of range state and requires the operator to bring the machine out of that state by manually jogging the effected axis back in range, the same goes for the soft limits which are set up in Mach3 via a numeric value to allow full travel of each axis, this is set up by you when you set the homing limits etc as described in the dreaded manual.

I will try and have a quick look at the board but I have just finished a night shift and have to have a few hours kip before I go to my Mother in laws for new year.

You are getting there, don't forget to read and re read that dreaded manual copy and paste this into your browser (google chrome), page 14   ftp://machsupport.com/Docs/Mach3%20Setup%20Tutorial.pdf

Heaven knows why that link doesn't work, but type in Mach3 tutorial pdf, look for smaller version, not the full blown one.