Messages

11

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 and/or ESS has my Y AXIS running backward.

« on: August 06, 2022, 09:26:35 AM »

Thank you, Steve. It seems that its a very specific issue. After some G code tweaking, we discovered thatM4 is changing the Y direction at the outset of a file run. It holds true for old files that we've run many times before the new setup and new files that we created to see if there was a difference. For instance, the G0 line of code that normally would read G0 X -20.3583 Y 22.0912 Z0.2000 would cause the Y axis to run back into the home position. Conversely, adjusting the same line of code to G0 X -20.3583 Y -22.0912 Z0.2000 (note the Y change to -Y) made it run correctly I tried to tweak pin setting for some time last night but nothing made a difference. I can't help but believe that its some very minor tweak somewhere but its elusive.

12

General Mach Discussion / Re: Should we re-install Mach 4

« on: August 06, 2022, 08:10:54 AM »

Hi Craig,
As it turns out, our Smart Bob 411 had gone belly up. PMDX is graciously repairing it. We uninstalled and re-installed the latest Mach 4. But, we bought an ethernet Smoothstepper to avoid USB connections. Anyway, after a lot of struggle and paying a company to set up the ESS with M4, our Y axis runs backwards when we try to run a file. New files or files made before the switch. When we hit execute G code, Y crashes into the home switch. It homes and jogs properly but the Y is mirrored during an actual job run. I tried a bunch of things that I thought would reverse the issue but so far to no avail. Do you happen to know why Mach 4would change the code like that?

Thanks, David

13

Mach4 General Discussion / Mach 4 and/or ESS has my Y AXIS running backward.

« on: August 06, 2022, 07:54:35 AM »

Howdy. So we were having issues with M4 freezing. We uninstalled and re-installed the latest. As it happens, our PMDX Smart Bob 411gave up the ghost about the same time (PMDX is graciously repairing it). But, we bought an ethernet Smoothstepper to avoid USB connections. Anyway, after a lot of struggle and paying a company to set up the ESS with M4, our Y axis runs backwards when we try to run a file. New files or files made before the switch. When we hit execute G code, Y crashes into the home switch. I tried a bunch of things that I thought would reverse the issue but so far to no avail. If anyone has any ideas, we really need to hear them. Thank you.

14

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: mach 4 and Smooth Stepper homing with limit switches

« on: August 02, 2022, 09:22:05 AM »

I can't figure it out. I reloaded the ESS profile to no avail. I'm not getting any support from the Warp 9 outfit. Maybe they don't know either. I've tried all kinds of different pin settings. Good grief. How hard can this be?

15

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: mach 4 and Smooth Stepper homing with limit switches

« on: August 01, 2022, 09:14:17 PM »

Will do. Thanks.

16

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: mach 4 and Smooth Stepper homing with limit switches

« on: August 01, 2022, 08:28:23 PM »

No. I wasn't even aware of it. It may be that it is the default when M4 is i stalled. Where do I check that? We had no problems with the limit switch before we re-installed M4. Thank you.

17

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: mach 4 and Smooth Stepper homing with limit switches

« on: August 01, 2022, 11:39:00 AM »

And yes. I read through the getting started. It might still be something in M4.

18

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: mach 4 and Smooth Stepper homing with limit switches

« on: August 01, 2022, 11:38:18 AM »

The switches all show activating when we manually hit the limit switches.

19

Mach4 General Discussion / mach 4 and Smooth Stepper homing with limit switches

« on: August 01, 2022, 09:14:33 AM »

I just got a smooth stepper to replace a PMDX smartbob 411 (just trying to avoid possible USB issues) and its communicating with the Gekko 540 drive okay. I can jog anyway. But it doesn't stop when it hits the limit switches. It just crashes until I hit the e-stop. I've watched videos and reviewed the pin settings in both Mach and ESS. It worked with the 411 until the 411 went bad. Does anyone have a suggestion as to why it doesn't stop and home when it reached the limits switches? I'm sure its just a setting that I can't find.

20

General Mach Discussion / Should we re-install Mach 4

« on: July 23, 2022, 11:55:04 AM »

Hi,

Our cnc is stopping in random places throughout a job. We are having trouble with Mach 4 recognizing the Smart Bob (PMDX) and when we try to restart it, it errors that there is another instance of M4 already running. We then need to restart the computer to fix that. It sure seems like Mach 4 is having issues. Would it be a good idea to uninstall Mach 4 and reinstall it and how would be do that? We've done dry runs with the same results which would seem to indicate that static is not the issue. Thank you.