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Three Questions from a Newbie - please help!!
« on: February 21, 2015, 07:37:32 PM »
hello all,

I am the proud owner of a self designed and built CNC machine.

Apart from tweaks the hardware part is done and I've been playing with the software bits while I have been sorting out the clamping and was ready to make sawdust today.

I have however run across 3 apparently unrelated issues that show how far out of my depth I am.

I have watched the tutorials a number of times, as well as other helpful FAQs and videos and I got the motors all hooked up and tuned, and I have the limit and home switches all working.

I have homed the machine many times now and up until this afternoon it worked perfectly every time.

As I got braver I loaded up the roadrunner and set the machine up in the centre of the table and rezeroed everything, then I had it recalculate the tool paths and I watched as it happily drove around my table until I got bored after 10 minutes.

Now however . . .

three things, as I have messed about, any time something - me or gcode - drives the machine onto one of its stops It triggers the the limit switch and the estop.  All well and good, but then I have to physically disconnect the wire from the switch, clear the estop, drive the machine off the stop and reconnect the switch - I MUST be missing something here . . . that can't be the best way to deal with this.

Next, except for the once that the roadrunner seemed to work, every time I try that, or one other piece of gcode I downloaded the first thing that happens is that the machine gets driven onto its stops and gets estopped, and this seems to be by a line that 'prepositions' the machine to some bizarre set of coordinates.

Finally, apart from the above two noted issues all else seemed well until this afternoon when my wireless keyboard batteries died and seem to have sent some spurious signals to the program, and now the x axis thinks its moving the machine, and the DRO updates as if ti were but the motor doesn't turn.  The Y and Z axis turn, and when I move the motor controller from the z to the y it still turns when it thinks its the y.

I am using a Gecko G540

any help on any or all of these questions would be most welcome.

Any Mach III users in the San Anotonio area that would be willing to hold a newbie by the hand for a while?

Thanks all

Mike
Re: Three Questions from a Newbie - please help!!
« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2015, 02:34:15 AM »
Firstly moving off stops by jogging activate the icon on the Settings page, enable Auto Limit Override
Second problem could be numerous things, however remember stopping a program half way through means Mach software will remember your program setting unless you have cancelled them so incremental steps could still be active along with several other commands sending the cutter off in unexplained directions.
Finally did you assign hot keys as replacing the battery on your keyboard might have reset the keyboard default, sometimes electronic noise from your machine will interfere with wireless signals. best to use wired keyboard till you are familiar with your system. Hope this helps. Jim
Re: Three Questions from a Newbie - please help!!
« Reply #2 on: February 22, 2015, 08:23:39 AM »
Thank you for this.  I am happy to report that problem number one is now solved :) It didn't make sense to me that there wouldn't be a solution just as this to fix it.

I would like to focus on my third problem now if at all possible.  I had assigned hot keys to move the x axis - in this case the left and right arrow buttons on my keyboard.  Y and Z axis also have hot keys assigned which move the machine as expected.  Just the X axis buttons don't.  What consternates me is that the DRO updates as if the machine is moving when it stays still.  Is there a simulation button or some such that may have gotten triggered by accident?

Anybody have any other ideas?

Is there an easy way to reset to factory defaults short of un installing and re installing the whole program?

Thanks again

Offline RICH

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Re: Three Questions from a Newbie - please help!!
« Reply #3 on: February 22, 2015, 05:36:42 PM »
Are you sure that the hot key for the X buttons are not being used  somewhere else?

Just a Thought,
RICH
Re: Three Questions from a Newbie - please help!!
« Reply #4 on: February 22, 2015, 09:27:07 PM »
I think not, but I can't say for certain so i will change them to something else and try that and report back

thanks for your thought.