Hi, when upgrading to the latest Mach4 numerous probing issues have arisen. I have narrowed it down to that the likely cause is the Mach4 software. I have done clean installs with two different Mach4 versions, all other configuration and plugins are identical – one version works OK and the other does not.
I am using Mach4 with an ESS SmoothStepper;
- Mach4 version 4.2.0.4612 works OK.
- Mach4 version 4.2.0.4809 have issues with probing.
- ESS SmoothStepper uses plugin version 278.1 for both Mach4 versions.
- The Machine.ini is the same for both Mach4 versions.
I have seen other people reporting the similar problems, but have seen no solutions. Here are two examples of reports of similar problems;
https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=46141.0https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=46052.0Here is one short example for one of the probing problems. I am hoping that they all have the same underlying cause. It does a probe action (with a touch sensor to measure the tool length), followed by a short relative retract up from the touch sensor.
G91 G31 Z-50 F300
G91 G1 Z3 F100
The problem is that instead of going upwards after the probe action, it continues down into the table, resulting in a damaged touch sensor.
The problem is 100 percent repeatable, so I have recorded some logs when running the above Gcode;
Diag-Machine-4612-ok.txt – this is a log from version 4612 that works OK.
Diag-Machine-4089-nok.txt – this is a log from version 4809 that fails and continues downwards.
Note that I use my finger to press the touch sensor in the above logs, since I cannot let it run down in the table again. Therefore the timings of the press/release of the touch sensor (=probe) are different, but it should not make a difference from a real situation.
If anyone could help with this I would appreciate it very much, since I cannot get any clues from the logs myself.
The logs, and the Machine.ini, are attached to this post.
Best regards
Henrik