Recent Posts

61

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 and fc300 VFD

« Last post by arturod on September 08, 2025, 11:38:57 AM »

If the relays are clicking as expected, then it is a VFD configuration issue.  Check the manual.  You may need to adjust the setting.

62

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 and fc300 VFD

« Last post by jamescnc on September 08, 2025, 11:35:25 AM »

I meant I had the pins setup in pin configuration, I set it to US, thank you for the explanation of what that actually does, the Manuel was a bit vague for me, but that fixed the issue of the M4 and M3 commands activating the right relays, but now I just have to access the vfd to configure it, its connected to X1 and X2 but it still turns the same direction for each command. X2 is supposed to be reverse by default but it may have been changed by the last person.

63

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

« Last post by Cbyrdtopper on September 08, 2025, 08:58:40 AM »

I do not use Pokeys, I use the HiCon.  I have had this issue happen once before; my homing inputs were plugged into my plc and communicating with Mach4 over modbus. 
For the HiCon, the homing and probing inputs MUST be plugged into the hicon itself. 
I don't know how you have yours inputs physically mapped, but for me that was my issue.

64

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 - is there a parameter to indicate inch/metric?

« Last post by JohnHaine on September 06, 2025, 02:47:58 AM »

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

65

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 - is there a parameter to indicate inch/metric?

« Last post by Tweakie.CNC on September 06, 2025, 01:49:22 AM »

You could read Led 801 - if active you are in INCH Mode or read Led 802 - if active you are in MM Mode.

I cant remember if it is just GetLED (801) or GetOemLED (801) to check if you are in INCH units - try it and see.

Tweakie.

66

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

« Last post by patrickdam on September 05, 2025, 11:39:42 PM »

Hi everyone,

I’m currently facing an issue with my Z-axis homing routine in Mach4 and was hoping someone here might have some insight.

The setup:

Controller: Pokeys57CNC

Mach4 (latest build)

Limit/Home switches wired normally-closed

Diagnostics window shows inputs changing correctly when switches are pressed

Here’s the problem:
When I run a homing sequence, the Z-axis starts to move upward but never stops at the Z home switch. The diagnostic panel shows the switch toggling, but Mach4 doesn’t seem to register it as a “home” event. Instead, the axis just keeps moving until it faults out as if no switch was ever triggered.

What I’ve tried so far:

Swapping the Z switch with the X-axis switch → the physical switch works fine as an X home.

Checking input assignments in the Mach4 control configuration → they appear correct.

Verified with the Pokeys plugin diagnostics → Z switch activation is detected.

Tried reversing homing direction → no change.

So, the hardware and wiring seem fine, but Mach4 isn’t treating the Z home input as a valid homing signal.

Has anyone run into something similar with Mach4 not linking the home input to the actual homing routine? Could it be a signal mapping issue inside the plugin or something I’m missing in the homing/limits configuration?

Any advice, suggestions, or troubleshooting steps would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

67

General Mach Discussion / Re: Pokeys57cnc M11/M10 Issue

« Last post by fpm007 on September 05, 2025, 07:37:57 AM »

The equivalent Mach4 commands are M62/M63 but you would need to check with Pokeys technical support to confirm if they are implemented in the plugin.

An alternative Mach3 or Mach4 fast switching solution is to use an imaginary axis Direction Pin. This is demonstrated in my short video linked here;  https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=12444.msg254635#msg254635

Tweakie.

Okay so to do this all I need to do is take my direction pin and plug that into my relay to be triggered right?

Is there a wiring diagram for this? I was not able to find one.

Got it figured out and working. This was so much more simple then trying to get M10/11 working (tried that for two days). I guess I did not need to buy the pokeys57 board either to get this working lol.

I appreciate your help and the laser welded tubes are going to have a lot nicer end point now.

Thank you for suggesting this.

68

General Mach Discussion / Re: Pokeys57cnc M11/M10 Issue

« Last post by Tweakie.CNC on September 05, 2025, 07:10:45 AM »

Okay so to do this all I need to do is take my direction pin and plug that into my relay to be triggered right?

Nothing is ever that simple. 
The Direction Pin is unlikely to source sufficient current to drive a standard, coil operated, relay but it could drive a dc solid state relay (which only draws a few mA).

Tweakie.

69

General Mach Discussion / Re: Pokeys57cnc M11/M10 Issue

« Last post by fpm007 on September 05, 2025, 06:40:43 AM »

The equivalent Mach4 commands are M62/M63 but you would need to check with Pokeys technical support to confirm if they are implemented in the plugin.

An alternative Mach3 or Mach4 fast switching solution is to use an imaginary axis Direction Pin. This is demonstrated in my short video linked here;  https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=12444.msg254635#msg254635

Tweakie.

Okay so to do this all I need to do is take my direction pin and plug that into my relay to be triggered right?

Is there a wiring diagram for this? I was not able to find one.

70

General Mach Discussion / Mach 3 - is there a parameter to indicate inch/metric?

« Last post by JohnHaine on September 05, 2025, 06:27:14 AM »

My Novamill is a native metric machine with a homebrew Mach3 controller.  Most of my machining is done in metric but occasionally I have a component to make with native inch dimensions.  Examples are PCB layouts for isolation routing, and recently a replacement clock movement plate with precise whole inch dimensions which would have been a pain to convert to mm without. I generate the g-code using for example CamBam set to inches.  A G20 command at the start of the code sets the machine to inches (or G21 to switch back to mm).  Everything just works except that tool height setting is tricky.

My tool setting macro is derived from several examples on here and generally works fine but key parameters in it are defined in mm.  What I can do is set the tool height using my touch plate with the machine in mm; then type a G20 in the MDI, and the reference tool height (which is 50mm above the table surface) appears in inches (1.9685) and all then goes well. However if I have to change the tool during a run, I have to set the machine back to mm, run the macro, and switch back to inches which is awkward and error prone.

So to my question: is there a parameter accessible to a macro in Mach 3 which will tell it which mode the machine is in please?  Then I could modify my tool height macro to read this and use the appropriate parameters.  If I want to do a job in inches I could just give Mach3 a G20 in the MDI and carry on without issues.