Well... Mach3 with a Galil is not the same as Mach3 controlling a stepper system. Mach3/Galil is a closed loop system! The servo PID loop is closed on the Galil. And there is another important distinction; Mach3 gets its position from the Galil!!! This is in contrast to a stepper system where Mach3 has it's own notion of where it thinks the table should be. What is displayed in the Mach3 DROs comes from the Galil (which comes from the encoders). This can be verified by disabling the servo drives and turning the motors by hand. You will see the position updated in the Mach axis DROs.
So something is amiss here... Are your motor tuning counts set right?
While all of the issues you described above might throw a stepper system for a loop, I have never seen any of them get my Galil and servo system out. I can hit e-stop, escape, hit a limit, stop and everything in between and Mach always knows where the motors are. I find it VERY repeatable and reliable. If I set a part zero, then slam into a limit, all I have to do is hit GOTO 0 and I'm back to my part 0 with amazing accuracy. If I hit e-stop and blow my axis reference away, all I have to do is home the machine and hit GOTO 0 and I'm right back at my previous part 0. Again, with amazing accuracy. (I do use index homing.)
What you are describing sure sounds like a mechanical issue to me. Another fellow just had similar issues and he found his slip. (
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,25998.0.html) It may work in Galil Tools for a bit and then start acting up. My advise is to take a hard look at the motion system. Because I have never seen what you are describing come from any other source. Mechanical issues can be tricky. I have seen a slip in one direction and not another. Inconsistent slips. Slips more on direction sometimes and then reverses, etc... Very frustrating. But I really think this is your problem. For several reasons...
1) I don't experience what you are describing at all.
2) There are a LOT of Mach3 Galil users and they are not experiencing this (or else I would be flooded with complaints!). We have a customer that sells engine block boring machines that use Mach3/Galil. If things were not as they should be, there would be a bunch of ruined engine blocks laying around.
3) I have solved a LOT of mechanical motion issues in the past that were deemed "impossible".
I'm not ruling out some strange occurrence though. Also, hacked versions of Mach3 do strange things. So make sure your license is valid. Some users have gotten bilked by purchasing Mach through less than ethical people. They may have a bad license and not even know it!
Good luck hunting. Seek and destroy!
Steve
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