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Author Topic: Z-Axis zero help!  (Read 2639 times)

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Z-Axis zero help!
« on: June 02, 2012, 05:15:56 PM »
Occasionally my Mach-3 will randomly reset the zero height of my z-axis in the middle of running a G-code--causing the bit to ruin my piece on the way to its next location.  This appears to happen when running a g-code longer than about 15,000 lines or so.  If I run the same code over again, the same thing happens, but in a different place...I don't see anything wrong in the code.  Has anyone else had this issue?  Thanks in advance.

Offline Tweakie.CNC

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Re: Z-Axis zero help!
« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2012, 08:06:11 AM »
Hi lxapilot,

No offence intended but are you certain that you are using a 'genuine' licensed version of Mach3 ??

Tweakie.
PEACE
Re: Z-Axis zero help!
« Reply #2 on: June 05, 2012, 01:07:26 PM »
Yes, it's a genuine, licensed copy.  As it turns out, it's not the z-offset that's changing, it's the machine coordinates.  As an example, the top of the piece in one of my projects is -2.3.  All of the suddent, the machine coordinate changes to +1.5, which moves the perceived zero and ruins the wood.  I would think this has to be a mechanical error, such as a motor binding, but I'm not sure.  I've changed the z-axis acceleration from 4.0 all the way down to 0.8, with the same problem.  I've also had this happen while in the middle of a long, straight cut with no programmed z-axis movement at all--all of the sudden my bit drops about a quarter inch further into the wood.  Any ideas?

Offline Tweakie.CNC

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Re: Z-Axis zero help!
« Reply #3 on: June 06, 2012, 11:54:19 AM »
Hi  lxapilot,

If you zip and post (as attachment) a copy of the code you are having troubles with I can run it here. This should prove that it either is or is not a GCode / Mach3 issue.

(I never actually use offsets / machine co-ordinates as each job or fixture is generally always positioned in a slightly different place on the work table but there have been reported cases in the past where certain subroutines and offsets can cause conflicts).

Tweakie.
PEACE