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Home/limits settings
« on: November 10, 2012, 06:17:28 PM »
Hi all ,
 Just joined this forum and I need help badly , I have converted my x3 mill to cnc using fusion kit etc, I am using a G540 and nema motors purchased from Peter Homann Designs   and all axis move ok , I have mounted x+ - y+ -  and z + switches and checked these for home as well , my problem is in diagnostics all switches work ok , I have also checked auto limit overRide Limits when I ref an axis it travels to the switch and stops wont back off , all limit switches are in series to ground all wired as per Homann diagram . I am very new to cnc and Mach 3 Any help would be greatly appreciated .  
 Thanks Brian  ???

Offline Hood

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Re: Home/limits settings
« Reply #1 on: November 11, 2012, 03:04:30 PM »
Do the LEDs at the side of each axis turn Green?
If you press the Machine Coords button do the DROs zero when you home?
Hood
Re: Home/limits settings
« Reply #2 on: November 11, 2012, 05:02:13 PM »
Thanks for the reply Hood ,
I am about to head out to work I will try that tonight or during the day in between jobs I will let you know. I must add when the switches are activated I get an emergency e stop situation.

regards Brian

Offline Fastest1

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Re: Home/limits settings
« Reply #3 on: November 11, 2012, 08:14:17 PM »
Brian, you should get the flashing reset upon a trigger. Or by "activated" do you mean enabled? Have you checked or unchecked the active low setting in response? Do you have any debounce? Maybe a 500 or so to get thru testing might help. This is a setting that allows a signal to be present for a specified amount of time before it is recognized by Mach. This is for dealing with noise that cause triggers in limit and homing switch circuits. IMO  100-500 is probably ok but any higher and there is underlying issue. I dont run any. But I have run a bit in the past.
I want to die in my sleep like my grandfather, not like the passengers in the car! :-)
Re: Home/limits settings
« Reply #4 on: November 12, 2012, 05:23:21 AM »
Hi Hood,
I got home late and had another look at mach3  x is red y & z are green and 4 is green ,in diagnostics I press ref y it zeros ref z it zeros ref x wont zero but x will move until the limit switch is enabled and I get e stop request .
When you suggested a 500 on the debounce is that the one in general config  ( debounce interval or debounce Index) . As I said before I am new at  mach 3 or any cnc program for that matter, when I press machine coords button all the dros go to zero except the x . I had to fiddle around a bit to get y z and 4 green , I closed down mach 3 reopen it and the axis x y z and 4 were red again , to be honest I have got no idea but on the weekend ( if the cheese and kisses allows) i will spend  most of the day on it to get my head around it all or some of it, with trial and error  to me its not easy , ( if you have had no experience with this type of thing ) i may not be the sharpest tool in the shed but between you and I we will get there.!!!!! Thanks again Hood I will keep you up to date.

Offline Fastest1

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Home/limits settings
« Reply #5 on: November 12, 2012, 06:46:57 AM »
Do not be ashamed for thinking Mach is complicated, it is. Especially if you are new to this. The mathematics, electronics, computers and then right when you think it is going to be easy, the difficulty of machining and materials jumps up. It is a challenge for sure.

Yes there are 2 settings for debounce. One is for spindle indexing. It is the interval setting you need. Place a number in the dialog box and press enter or it won't save. Though this setting will not cause a problem if you keep the numbers low as I suggested, the more I think about what you are saying. It appears more like the trigger isn't being recognized more than a false trip.

   Regarding the ref boxes being green upon restart. In my experience they  always are red upon start up, I then ref all ( in my understanding this gives a fresh point, removing any positional loss from previous runs and zeroes everything back out) then all turn green. I believe there is a setting on the general config page that will keep the settings constant when Mach shut downs but I have not had much luck yet. I in the name of safety and to minimize my tool loss find it easier to ref all at the beginning of the day and then proceed.

   When you hit the machine coordinates button after a ref command (remember the ref all command should make the axis move until it hits the switch, it then sets all of the dros to zero) pressing the machine coordinates button again should give you your work offset if you had touched a piece you were going to work on. Machine coordinates should always be the same as this is telling you  the limits of the physical machine. In truthfulness you can set this incorrectly but that is topic for later.

   You mention that 3 of the 4 axis do ref correctly. Do you have a 4th axis? Does it have switches? Anyway does it do anything different if you press the ref all button on the main or program page?

One other thing if Hood contradicts anything I said. Follow his advice as he explains much clearer and knows much more than I.
I want to die in my sleep like my grandfather, not like the passengers in the car! :-)