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Author Topic: Missing steps at 10 ipm? Taig, Mach3, Xylotex  (Read 38142 times)

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Offline Hood

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Re: Missing steps at 10 ipm? Taig, Mach3, Xylotex
« Reply #30 on: March 06, 2008, 04:47:06 PM »
try and borrow a scope or even get one cheap on eBay, you dont need anything special so should get it cheap enough.
Hood
Re: Missing steps at 10 ipm? Taig, Mach3, Xylotex
« Reply #31 on: March 18, 2008, 08:54:09 AM »
Hey all,
Thanks for the tips.  Been tied up with other stuff (this is a hobby).  I've since changed stepper drivers, now I'm not losing the steps.  I think it was a resonance issue.  But the motors still have a slight tick in them.  The buzz they makes a slight repetitive pause on long straight runs, all three axes do it when they're all moving at the same time.  Seems like there's something in the pulse stream from the computer to me.

I have a computer with an AMD cpu in it that I can try, but that's it for other computers except the one I have with 64 bit XP on it which doesn't load the Mach driver.

Monte

Offline Sam

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Re: Missing steps at 10 ipm? Taig, Mach3, Xylotex
« Reply #32 on: March 18, 2008, 02:25:18 PM »
Mine do the same thing on every axis. I just thought it was natural. If were talking about the same little "tick" it will speed up/slow down if you adjust the acceleration.
"CONFIDENCE: it's the feeling you experience before you fully understand the situation."

Offline Chip

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Re: Missing steps at 10 ipm? Taig, Mach3, Xylotex
« Reply #33 on: March 18, 2008, 04:00:40 PM »
Hi, Guy's

Both of you seem to have similar problem's hear, Lets review some.

Have you tried Sherline 1\2 pulss Mode, In Ports Pins first page. (Gives longer pulse's)

Have you tried Changing Dir/Step Low-Active State's, Should be all the same Ether "Check" or "X".

(If an Axis runs backwards use Homing/Limits "Reversed" for the axis)

Are your Steppers 6 or 8 Wire, You may have a Coil winding reversed, Will Cause a Tic Tic Tic sound.

Please Review, Chip

Offline Sam

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Re: Missing steps at 10 ipm? Taig, Mach3, Xylotex
« Reply #34 on: March 18, 2008, 08:23:29 PM »
Never really considered mine a problem. It doesn't affect anything, at least not that I'm aware of. No lost steps or anything of that nature. I will hafta take a sound recording.
"CONFIDENCE: it's the feeling you experience before you fully understand the situation."
Re: Missing steps at 10 ipm? Taig, Mach3, Xylotex
« Reply #35 on: March 19, 2008, 12:47:06 AM »
Hi all,
If you can hold the stepper....RICH

Thanks for all that Rich, it's not mechanical.  It's from the PC.  I had a Xylotex board, now have Gecko drivers and they both sound the same for the most part.  Not losing steps like I was, but the weird interruption is still there, but I don't think I'm losing steps.  Could Mach be sort of burping, but still know where it is?

Monte
Re: Missing steps at 10 ipm? Taig, Mach3, Xylotex
« Reply #36 on: March 21, 2008, 09:31:57 PM »
Hi - this is my first post on this forum. I have converted a SIEG X2 milling machine to CNC and I am using Mach 3 on a decent PC (3GHz 1G ram etc). I am having the same problem as Monte - you sit the motor on the desk and just run it and you can hear it jolting a bit with a fairly repeatable pattern. Seeing his video on YouTube makes me convinced its almost an identical problem to mine.

Luckily I am an electronic engineer so I have looked at the step signals on a scope. The steps were all over the place - i.e. the signals generated by Mach 3 were not evenly spaced but had a *huge* jitter - for example sometimes gaps of a few times the correct spacing, sometime very little time between. Clearly this problem is coming from the software side of things. My guess is some process on the computer taking a higher priority and screwing things up. Anyway I read the text file on the Mach 3 website saying things you can do to improve the performance and I ran the .bat file it mentioned (I think it changes the timing method or something), which improved things. Now, I get regular spacing, and I do get jitter, but it is regular - i.e. its either a certain amount too long or a certain amount too short. There is clearly still something interrupting the low level thread. I cannot figure out what it is, but my bets are on something like the wireless device on the computer (although I have tried disabling it).

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

On a different issue - on my SIEG X2 there is a thrust bearing on at the opposite end of the x axis to the motor, which was the original bearing, and its not running smooth at all. Does anyone know where I can get a better bearing for this? The original is just a couple of cups and a ball race, not a sealed unit.

Cheers,

Reuben

Offline Sam

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Re: Missing steps at 10 ipm? Taig, Mach3, Xylotex
« Reply #37 on: March 21, 2008, 10:51:12 PM »
http://www.mcmaster.com
http://www.mscdirect.com
Everybody should have these 2 catalogs in there arsenal. If I were Judge Dredd, it would be the law.
"CONFIDENCE: it's the feeling you experience before you fully understand the situation."
Re: Missing steps at 10 ipm? Taig, Mach3, Xylotex
« Reply #38 on: March 21, 2008, 11:42:51 PM »
Regarding wireless devices may be causing "jitters."  My shop computer is networked with my office computer via a wireless broadband router (linksys wireless -g) and I have a wireless mouse connected to the shop computer.  Neither is causing any disruption or creating any "jitters."  Previously, a standard 110 cord running in front of the mill was creating a signal that interfered with both the Taig's motors and the wireless mouse.  The cord was coiled to reduce its length and the proximity of the coil to the motors and the mouse seemed to be the problem.  Once the cord was relocated the problems disappeared and haven't returned.

Bob @BobsShop - not an electronic engineer and I cannot afford to stay in a Holiday Inn
Re: Missing steps at 10 ipm? Taig, Mach3, Xylotex
« Reply #39 on: March 22, 2008, 01:45:57 AM »
try and borrow a scope or even get one cheap on eBay, you dont need anything special so should get it cheap enough.
Hood

I wouldn't know what to get, or how to use it.  I did buy a TPI Scope Plus 460 a couple years ago, haven't used it.  Don't know how, not sure if it would even work for this sort of stuff.  Can you give me an idea if it would work and how?  2 Channel, 20mhz.

Thanks,
Monte