Recent Posts

1

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 – Z Axis Limit Switch Not Triggering During Homing Cycle

« Last post by Dean448 on September 17, 2025, 12:30:47 AM »

I had that happen today when setting up my Pokeys57cnc on Mach 4
It went right thru the Z upper limit switch.  It was due to the pokeys plug in settings.  Let me know if you’re still having the issue. 

2

General Mach Discussion / Z issues and Gremlins

« Last post by Luke Carter on September 16, 2025, 02:23:36 PM »

Hello all, new to forum so apologies in advance for anything out of sorts.

When conducting a pocketing operation with a .25 endmill the machine changed depths (.015 to 0.25) on its own whilst still displaying set depth (.015). I doubled checked the setup software (aspire 9.519) with nothing being off, I then flipped the material to side b, ran the same program/same setup, same X/Y/Z, and same endmill and it came out flawless.

New material, same program & setup and same error occurred, depth error whilst display did not change.

New material, all new program (aspire), same error occurred yet on a different toolpath (profile cut) and different endmill (.125).

Owner said it was salvageable so flipped to side B, same program. After selecting G code and program start, gantry moved from set X/Y to X-2" (on its own) and proceeded to cut the program and ruin the material.

Auto-Z has been off-broken-disabled for a while (previous cnc tech) so I have been doing it by hand/eye/flashlight but this error occurs after initial Z has been set and locked into Mach-3

3

General Mach Discussion / Re: step motor tuning

« Last post by Vincenales on September 16, 2025, 12:18:15 PM »

It sounds like a steps-per-unit mismatch after switching from mm to inches. Try recalculating the steps per unit in Mach3 based on your leadscrew pitch and motor steps, then run the calibration again to see if the movement matches.

4

dspMC/IP Motion Controller / Re: Mach4 + HiCON (Step/Dir spindle): M3/M4/M5 mapped outputs behave inconsistently

« Last post by Chris3185 on September 16, 2025, 10:57:48 AM »

Hi everyone,
to address the problem in more detail, M3 and M4 activate the outputs correctly for the spindle servo drive (Indramat Ecodrive DKC 1.1 070.FW).
Only the M5 macro is causing problems and won't reset the two outputs. I always have to manually reset the two outputs via the Hicon Status diagnostic window. What's wrong with the M5 macro? Does anyone have any ideas?

Regards
Chris

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: CV not CV-ing on A axis...

« Last post by JohnHaine on September 16, 2025, 02:04:38 AM »

Does it work in xza?

6

Brains Development / Z Home auf einen OEM Trigger Input legen

« Last post by Schuschterrus on September 15, 2025, 01:33:48 PM »

Hallo zusammen,
ich möchte meinen Z Home Sensor auf einen OEM Trigger Input legen da meine regulären IN1 bis IN4 bereits belegt sind. Ich habe meinen Ultraschallsensor mit +24V und GND versorgt und die Signalleitung mit dem 1. OEM Trigger verbunden, ich bekomme aber kein Signal angezeigt. Ich habe in Mach3 den OEM Code 1024 zugewiesen und es tut sich nichts. wäre super wenn mir jemand dabei helfen könnte

Lg Markus

7

Third party software and hardware support forums. / Re: STB5100 and spindle control

« Last post by alanr on September 15, 2025, 11:12:39 AM »

I gave up on the STB board.  Most things work, but a critical piece (critical to me) was the 0-10v spindle control, and I just could not make that work.

I went with the POKEYS 57u board.  It's significantly more expensive, much more troublesome to config and WAY more work to interface. 

The STB includes optoisolated inputs and "powered" drivers.  The 57u has  none of these, and so I had to build a PCB to add them.

Even so, I'm extremely happy I did.  The driver functionality is an order of magnitude more sophisticated than the RNR style boards.

8

General Mach Discussion / CV not CV-ing on A axis...

« Last post by Gyro RV on September 15, 2025, 09:43:48 AM »

Hallo All,

I`m chasing an error for some time now that makes me bashing my head against the monitor when watching CV settings in Mach3.
Please help, my forehead is already flat due to the amount of bashing.

Machine works perfectly with Mach3 when I mill on XYZ.
I can set up every CV setting perfectly, no issues what so ever.

However when I mill on YZA (rotary A is parallel to Y) CV works weird.
Weird: CV distance and CV feed rate works fine but CV angle is playing up.
If I set an angle between 0 and ~6deg, CV characteristic behaving as expected but not above ~6deg.

Example: Even if I set CV angle to 90 degrees, machine mills in exact stop mode if toolpath angle is higher than ~6deg. Mach3 disregards the CV angle if it is higher than ~6deg.
Under ~6deg, CV works perfectly.

I have tried to turn all CV settings off/on/set and all permutations. CV is def on and G64 is called in gcode and G1/G2 is showing at the beginning of each line. Have played with motor tuning a lot and settings for A axis are fine.
When milling in XYZ every CV setting is working error-free, the issue only exists when milling in YZA.

Is there a hidden CV setting for A axis somewhere?

If this is a Mach3 spec bug, do we have better control in Mach4? I`m willing to move on to M4 but I really would like to be sure as this error is the ONLY issue I have with Mach3.

I do appreciate everyone`s input.
Thank you in advance.
Best regards.
 

9

Third party software and hardware support forums. / Re: STB5100 and spindle control

« Last post by riporeno on September 15, 2025, 02:10:45 AM »

Hi.
I'm working on it these days.
I haven't tried it yet.
I'm building an MPG to move the axes with the handwheel.
I measured the signals on the 15-pin socket because the ones shown in their schematic aren't accurate.
As soon as I'm done with this work, I'll connect it, then I'll see how to make the 0/10V output work for FWD.
Hi

10

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 XAxis Motor only vibrates and does not move - suggestions welcome :-)

« Last post by fullmoon on September 14, 2025, 10:33:29 AM »

Thank you.