Messages

31

General Mach Discussion / Re: Understanding Mach3 pulses

« on: May 22, 2018, 07:43:19 AM »

 

32

General Mach Discussion / Re: Understanding Mach3 pulses

« on: May 22, 2018, 05:57:58 AM »

A word of warning, after fifteen years or so I wouldn't say that I had arrived yet 

33

General Mach Discussion / Re: torch stopped mid cut can't get it to fire

« on: May 22, 2018, 05:52:31 AM »

Dave - Assuming there's just one wire to trigger the torch arc/air then yes - kind of - but the OP reckons it will fire properly if it is triggered manually which is ... odd.
I wonder if not enough current is getting through that part of the circuit to trigger it fully?
I'm short on guesses, it's harder to get into the details of it without a schematic of some kind. Is one available?

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General Mach Discussion / Re: torch stopped mid cut can't get it to fire

« on: May 21, 2018, 11:49:37 AM »

Bad contacts in the relay? Try swapping it out for a new one.
If it will fire manually by triggering it downstream of the relay then suspect the relay. Do you have one contact for air, one contact for plasma or is it all on one pair of contacts?

35

General Mach Discussion / Re: X and Y Alignment

« on: May 09, 2018, 09:55:15 AM »

I stayed in Akaroa a few years ago, it's a lovely area.
Back on topic: I don't think I've ever used MDI. I'm making a new screen set and I may leave that page out altogether.

36

General Mach Discussion / Re: Strange hole problem

« on: May 09, 2018, 08:49:21 AM »

Strange. I haven't got a plasma unit but both toolpaths display just fine in my Mill profile.

One thing that I have seen happen is that mach3 can behave badly with full circles - Try redefining the G03 movement in line 190 as two seperate 180 degree arcs in order to force the thing to do a complete circle.

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General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting up limit switches, Mach3

« on: May 09, 2018, 08:24:17 AM »

^ Great reply from Joe as usual. It looks like your actual limit switch inputs are currently disabled so you'll need to activate that and run something into that pin.
Inductive proximity sensors are usual for home switches, and sealed NC microswitches are usual for limits. My machine is set up like this with the homes almost at the maximum + direction of each axis - The limits are at the absolute maxima.
I've used a series loop for all six limit switches so that all the switches trigger one pin. It makes very little difference operationally speaking and uses less wire.
Noise can be a problem on home and limit circuits so it's worth letting a nominal current through the loop (say 50mA) by fitting a decent pulldown resistor to the pin and 0V. This ensures that when the pin is held high by the power supply to the switch loop there is little enough loop resistance that any noise trying to pull the pin voltage down will make no difference, and when the limits are triggered the pin falls to 0V promptly and can't float up or be driven high by spurious signals. It's a common strategy in antenna controllers where long wiring systems may be subject to electrical interference, noise, microwave pulses and other mischief. How you implement this on the home switches will really depend on the sensor you use but it's just as important.

38

General Mach Discussion / Re: Time for a rip-out

« on: April 25, 2018, 11:42:39 AM »

They're some very interesting alternatives ... Thanks for the information on these.
Might have to re-think all this in light of new possibilities.

39

General Mach Discussion / Time for a rip-out

« on: April 23, 2018, 12:56:00 PM »

So it's been 11 or 12 years since I built my machine's control system. Since then it's followed me from one job to another, thrown numerous wobblies and been hacked and patched to kingdom come and I'm thinking ... I should buy an ESS.
This is looking even more promising now that I've got the hang of OEM inputs and outputs, those three ports will come in handy. I've got a long list of things I want the beasty to do, including being more operator friendly in service. Stuff like pushing a proper button to start a cycle rather than messing about with an increasingly gungy keyboard and mouse. Stuff you get on a proper machine. It's all a bit undefined right now but I'm getting places in terms of the ports and pins layout, panel layout basics and other conceptual level stuff.
Most of the limit sensors, contactors and relays were recycled from its initial build so they are a bit old. I think for reliability and a fresh start generally I'll just fit new.
I might even change the coolant this time. 
Anyway, wish me luck and I'll update when there's something worth a photograph.

40

Tangent Corner / Re: Super Kitten.

« on: February 27, 2018, 10:01:40 AM »

So cute! How big is he now? new pics needed