Can some one tell me why i keep losing zero reference while cutting.  I zero my system then while cutting a various pionts i lose zero and Mach3 starts cutting in the wrong place.  I just set up Mach3 on a small CNC router have i set something up wrong?

Scott

You say "cutting in the wrong place" - could you be more specific, where abouts is it cutting in the wrong place ??
A picture of the problem would be good.

Tweakie.

While cutting at what seems to be random times i lose reference to my zero location and my CNC cuts in totally the wrong place.  When i stop the unit and do a GOTO zero command it returns to totally the wrong place.  It does this at random times while i cut, and is just so frustrating because i don't know where to look for a solution.

Scott

You are still not giving me much information to go on. 

Try reducing your Velocity and Acceleration settings (in Motor Tuning) by 50% then save the changes for each axis. See if this solves the problem.

Tweakie.

I already tried that, i though that was also the problem but it still does the same thing.  I will reduce it some more and see if it helps.
Scott

Tweakie ... what information would be helpful for you to see so i can get it to you?
Scott

Hi Scott,

I am sorry that did not resolve the problem. A few questions for you...

Which axis is going wrong and in which direction ?
How much is it wrong (approx.) ?
Do the Mach3 DRO's show the correct position ?
Does the machine make any unusual noise when the error occurs ?
Have you thoroughly checked all mechanical parts, in particular for loose couplings / grub screws etc. ?

Posting a picture of the work, showing the problem, would be helpful (use Additional Options)

Tweakie.

Which axis is going wrong and in which direction ? Ans: both x and y forsure, but z i did not pay that much detail to.[/color]
How much is it wrong (approx.) ?  Ans: For example i was cutting a profile that is 7 ich long when it went bad i lost 4 inch in x and 2 inches in y.
Do the Mach3 DRO's show the correct position ?  Ans: The DRO i belive are showing up properly but zer in x, y is shifted.  Note z might be also but i deed not note it.
Does the machine make any unusual noise when the error occurs ? No unusual noice
Have you thoroughly checked all mechanical parts, in particular for loose couplings / grub screws etc. ?  Ans: This i did not do, I did however manualy turn each axis by hand full strok to see if i had any binding and did not notice any on any axis.

Posting a picture of the work, showing the problem, would be helpful (use Additional Options)  Ans: I will do this as soon as i get to office.  Right now i beeter keep my wife happy so i wont get this this till Monday!

Note:  This mill i have had for 5 years its a small panther-210 and has work flawlessly for all this time.  I did however switch it to a new computer that was a 64 bit machine and i loaded 32 bit version of windows 7 on it.  Would this have any issues that you would know of?  Is it possible that i have a bad parallel port on this machine?  The CPU is a Dell

Scott

Scott

Hi Scott,

From what you describe it sounds like the problem may all be down to the PC.
Run the DriverTest.exe (Mach3 folder) and see what results you get.

Tweakie.

I will do that this morning first thing  ... FYI I want to thank you for being so helpful and patience!

Scott