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Author Topic: This might be useful to anyone chasing an intermitent fault and stop grey hair!  (Read 7892 times)

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Hi all,
 I have just spent a very frustrating month chasing an intermittent Estop/limit problem. (after a machine rewire).  Mach3 would stop at anytime during executing a cut file. I have tried everything known to mankind  to try and fix the fault. Each time it occurred, the diagnostic screen did not indicate that a limit or estop had occurred. But the machine still stopped! Checked wiring, removed all plug in connectors in the limits and estops and soldered the connections, checked Power Supplies, checked shielding, checked vibration of switches, checked earthing, checked usb cable between Smooth Stepper and PC,
changed inputs to Port 2, checked dongle, checked all connections for power and earthing, changed to another PC, checked earthing of dust extraction, checked if i was still sane? whilst configing the new PC I noticed 2 little check boxes in the top right hand corner of the general config screen. "Input signal debounc/noise rejection"  I put  a 2 in each box and voila' the machine didn't stop!!!
I don't no where the noise is coming from but having to wait 80 microseconds for a limit or an estop seems like a fair compromise? 

Hope this might help someone keep some of their hair from turning grey.

Merry Christmas

Bruce
This is a good post for "DID YOU KNOW THIS"
maybe rich can move it there, and while he is there, remove the non relevant post to keep it real
Friedrich

Offline Fastest1

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Was that that your first time to read about the debounce settings? That should have been the first thing you tried. I bet it will be next time.
I want to die in my sleep like my grandfather, not like the passengers in the car! :-)
Yes it will be the first thing I would try next time.  One of the good things about Mach 3 is it is very flexible and does heaps of stuff that may not be useful to some users. Trying to sift through all the settings and understanding what is relevant is challenging sometimes.

Bruce

Offline Greolt

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Bruce

I am glad you found a solution to your problem and am sure you will not forget it.

However the other lesson here is to make use of resources like this forum. 

That exact same issue comes up almost every day and looking here would have saved a lot of time and many grey hairs.

Greg
greg
the problem with this forum is its a bugger to find what ur looking for, thats why i think the administrators shoud start a new sticky and call it solutions, remove all the woffle and post the problem with a solution
just a thought ;)
Friedrich
I read this forum all the time and this is the first time I've noticed this problem. I had this problem and this thread solved it. I guess I don't understand what I'm reading. I agree this should have been addressed in the setup doc. if it is a common problem.

Dave

Offline Greolt

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I did a quick search on Debounce and it listed seven pages of threads.  Believe me this comes up all the time.

However electrical noise is a result of a multitude of  possible causes.  All to do with design and implementation of electrical and hardware.

It is not caused by Mach3.  Debounce is a feature to help when other build factors are less than perfect. 

There are many better designed/built machines that do not use or need a debounce setting.

Greg
I just did a search on intermittent stop and only came up with one thread, this one. I believe you that this must come up all the time, and you can find an answer to the problem if you know what to search for. All I'm saying is, that if it comes up all the time, then it should be somewhere a newbe, me for instance, should be able to find it. I had absolutely no idea to look for debounce.

I thought then and still do think that it was not a fault of Mach, but my equipment or wiring. It was a pain in the back side, but I lived with it. I had no idea that Mach had a way to overcome my parts or workmanship. I'm glad it does.

Dave

Offline Fastest1

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Was that that your first time to read about the debounce settings? That should have been the first thing you tried. I bet it will be next time.
BTW I didnt mean for this to sound as rude as it appears here. I too experienced similar issues and experienced plenty of frustration trying to find out why.
I want to die in my sleep like my grandfather, not like the passengers in the car! :-)