I've posted this in the CNC Zone forum and got a pretty limited response so I thought I would try this forum.

I have a laser welder that I added a motion system to. Gecko steppers and 540 box, Mach 3 and a lot of machining to get it all together and working. Everything worked fine, but the mouse and keyboard were pretty bad as input devices.

I read some good things about the pendants that Vista CNC sells and ordered their P2S because it has the ability to command "cycle start", "stop", "rewind", etc.

The pendant is pretty nicely made. The housing is plastic but sturdy, the switches work nicely and the MPG works just like the ones on $100K cnc machines.

But I've run into a glitch that REALLY needs to be fixed before I can use it.

I have a program to laser weld a part that requires the use of filler wire. This means that stop points (M1s) are needed in the program to get the wire in place before it starts the feed move.

If I don't use the pendant it feeds as it should through the whole program whether optional stop is on or off.

If I use the pendant while optional stop is on, it works as it should until I use the pendant cycle start to restart the program after an optional stop. That's when the feed moves become rapid moves. Once this happens it stays that way regardless of whether the commands come from the pendant or keyboard. The only way I've found to restore it is to exit the program and re open it.

If I use the pendant with optional stop off, everything is fine. It seems like the combination of optional stop in Mach 3 and cycle starting from the pendant is where the trouble is.

It also does this with M0 stops.

Has anyone else encountered this problem?

I sure hope that someone has an answer!

Mike

OK  so what do you have going on AFTER the M01 ? Is there a macro used to feed in the wire ?  Something is switching the Modal G01 to a G00 . I have never seen Mach3 do that on a cycle start call.

IF you use the keyboard Cycle start or screen Cycle start  instead of the pendant Cycle Start does it do the same thing ??

(;-) TP

Thanks for responding.

There is no macro. The wire is fed by hand.

Using the keyboard or mouse works fine. No problem.

A typical program segment is:
G0G90G17G54X-.102Y0.Z0.A0.
M01
M8P.4 (argon on)
M3P.4 (laser on)
G1X.102F2.5
M5
M9
M01
(on to the next weld)

IF it works OK without using the pendant then it sounds like the problem lies with their PLUGIN software. HAVE you contacted Vista about the problem

(;-) TP

I'm waiting to hear from Vista. They were initially unable to duplicate the problem.

Here is what has happened since my last post. I'm hoping that somebody (please) will be willing to try to duplicate this problem. Tech support at Artsoft doesn't seem to be having much luck so far.

The Vista P2S pendant requires that you toggle through "pause" to get to "start". On a whim, I decided to do the same thing while operating from the Mach3 screen. The same problem occurred!

So does Mach3 have a bug that causes this problem that I happened to trip over because of the way that the pause/stop feature works on the pendant, or did the plugin for the pendant corrupt Mach3? I don't know because I never tried that stop/start sequence before installing the pendant.

Would somebody be willing to try to duplicate my problem on a version of Mach3 that doesn't have a Vista plugin so that I can tell where the problem is?

The program is below. Note that it uses G54, 55 and 56. They should all be set the same.

%
O0001;
(uprod to end housing)
(no filler)
g0g90g17g54x-.102y0z0a0
m8p.4
m3p.4
g01x.102f2.5
m5
m9
g0a180x-.102
m8p.4
m3p.4
g1x.102f2.5
m5
m9
g0a218x0y-.025z.02
m8p.4
m3p.4
g1a326f2.5
m5
m9
g0a37x0y-.025z.02
m8p.4
m3p.4
g1a150f2.5
m5
m9

(use filler)
g0g90g17g54x-.102y0z0a0
m1
m8p.4
m3p.4
g1x.102f2.5
m5
m9
m1

g0a37x0y-.025z.02
m1
m8p.4
m3p.4
g1a150f2.5
m5
m9
m1


g0a180x-.102y0z0
m1
m8p.4
m3p.4
g1x.102f2.5
m5
m9
m1

g0a218x0y-.025z.02
m1
m8p.4
m3p.4
g1a326f2.5
m5
m9
m1



g0g90g17g55x-.102y0z0a0
m1
m8p.4
m3p.4
g1x.102f2.5
m5
m9
m1

g0a37x0y-.025z.02
m1
m8p.4
m3p.4
g1a150f2.5
m5
m9
m1


g0a180x-.102y0z0
m1
m8p.4
m3p.4
g1x.102f2.5
m5
m9
m1


g0a218x0y-.025z.02
m1
m8p.4
m3p.4
g1a326f2.5
m5
m9
m1



g0g90g17g56x-.102y0z0a0
m1
m8p.4
m3p.4
g1x.102f2.5
m5
m9
m1

g0a37x0y-.025z.02
m1
m8p.4
m3p.4
g1a150f2.5
m5
m9
m1


g0a180x-.102y0z0
m1
m8p.4
m3p.4
g1x.102f2.5
m5
m9
m1


g0a218x0y-.025z.02
m1
m8p.4
m3p.4
g1a326f2.5
m5
m9
m1


g0g90g54a0x0y0z0
M30
%

IF the pendant is actually CYCLING THRU those functions THAT is a BAD thing. It should move to another function THEN select that function.

To test it I need your M3 and M8 macros as those do not appear to be standard macros and may effect the outcome. Also do yo have the Return FUNCTION turned ON or OFF ? That also can effect the outcome.



(;-) TP

I just tested the Gcode and it ran fine all cycle starts to continue acted as it should it followed ALL the modal values of the code perfectly.

When you stop on M1 do you MOVE off position at any time? 

(;-) TP

When a program stop (M1 or M0) comes up, the pendant displays "Stop?". The only way to get past it is to click through with the pendant button. It then displays "Start?". You must then click through again, at which point the program resumes. My problem is that all feed moves from then on are rapid moves.

So, it sounds like your feed moves did not turn into rapid moves like mine do. That points to an issue with the plugin corrupting Mach3. Does that sound right?

M3 is generally spindle on, forward.
M8 is generally coolant on.
For my laser welder it turns on the beam and shielding gas respectively.
M5 and M9 turns them of.

I'm not moving during the stop commands.

Thanks for responding!

Your M3 M8 macros have parameter calls attached so they are NOT standard M3/8 macros (;-)

It is pointing to a problem with the  pendant/plugin functioning.