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Author Topic: Mach 3 issues, just upgraded from mach2.  (Read 5810 times)

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Mach 3 issues, just upgraded from mach2.
« on: October 01, 2008, 10:32:32 AM »
Hey guys, Its been a while since I've been here, Its also been a while since I've used my CNC.

I tossed the old laptop that ran my mill because it did a crappy job and got a P4 2.8ghz machine to run it. I decided it was time to run Mach3.

Other than the screen(which I really don't like), theres been a few things that have changed and I have been unable to find the fix for.
First: Jog override, I ran this to set my jog at 10% unless I press shift and jog, this helps with a ton of things, using the jog to cut something quick, setup, etc. I cannot find this anywhere.
Second: Homing. The homing sequence homes onto the switch then backs off and sets zero. This causes problems because of maybe sticky switches or whatnot, they will always click at the same time going in but not always release at the same rate, I have sealed switches that are a little slow to release. I'd like this to home into and as soon as it goes, its done. For some reason i could get x axis to do this but none of the rest. All of the switches are normally open, all on different input channels.
I think there is a third question but I don't recall what it is at this time, I'll post it later.

Please let me know if there is a fix for these.
Thanks!
Jon
Re: Mach 3 issues, just upgraded from mach2.
« Reply #1 on: October 01, 2008, 10:47:15 AM »
John,

1) Are you asking *how* to set the jog rate to 10%?  Hit the tab key, and an on-screen "pendant" will pop up, that lets' you change all the Jog settings.

2) Homing works in the manner that is most reliable and conisistent, so no "fix" is required.  Your switches are the problem, so you need to fix those, rather than trying to band-aid the software to get around broken hardware.

Regards,
Ray L.
Regards,
Ray L.
Re: Mach 3 issues, just upgraded from mach2.
« Reply #2 on: October 01, 2008, 11:02:00 AM »
Ray, thanks for the reply, I forgot about the pendant thing.

I'm not sure if I agree on the reliability thing, Sealed switches(waterproof) have o-rings in them and the plunger doesn't move super fast unless its forced.

Jon

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Re: Mach 3 issues, just upgraded from mach2.
« Reply #3 on: October 01, 2008, 11:11:25 AM »
Jon, try slowing down the homing speed. Mach3 homes on the switch opening, there's no way to change that. But homing slower might help you out.
Gerry

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Re: Mach 3 issues, just upgraded from mach2.
« Reply #4 on: October 01, 2008, 04:07:05 PM »
Gerry, That will help I guess. I was just hoping for a cure-all.
I haven't had any real problems with it but I know that it could happen and I'd rather not have it happen.

Thanks,
Jon
Re: Mach 3 issues, just upgraded from mach2.
« Reply #5 on: October 02, 2008, 07:22:37 PM »
I've run into another thing that really bothers me..

Backlash compensation is acting really goofy! I have it all set up and backlash compensated for but rather than like mach2 did it, where it'd do it in the beginning of the move, this does it mid move.... It also trys to adjust backlash when it backs off of the home switches.

What it does, if it tell it to do a G0 move, it starts, makes it about .15", stops, adjusts backlash then keeps going. In mach2 it would adjust that before the move, like it should.
I know this aint right, I've never seen this. Any idea on how to fix that or is there something wrong with the newest(non development) version of mach3?

Jon
Re: Mach 3 issues, just upgraded from mach2.
« Reply #7 on: October 02, 2008, 09:38:08 PM »
Thanks! That fixed it but I had to change a few things from that. I did keep the backlash speed at 20% because it was really accelerating too fast and clunking, possibly loosing steps.
What it took was changing the shuttle accel to .01, I tried .05 but it wasn't good enough for me, it still moved about ,008" before adjusting backlash, now it takes care of that at about .001-.002"


Thanks!
Jon
Re: Mach 3 issues, just upgraded from mach2.
« Reply #8 on: October 26, 2008, 08:20:38 PM »
Another problem reared its VERY ugly head...

I was cutting some simple holes, using the G3 and G1 commands(properly). I cut about 12 parts and then suddenly mach3 started doing whatever it wanted. There are 2 counterbored holes in this part(using same end mill to cut them). The part is made of wood(which is carefully selected to have matching grain for left and right). All of the left ones turned out ok. The first hole came out fine, then when cleaning the burrs off one part while running another I noticed what it did to the second hole, its like it just wondered off, only about 1/4 of the counterbore was there, the hole was at an angle(each step was farther off where it should be) and it wasn't complete. I then saw the second one, the same thing happened, the counterbore worked but did the same thing but didn't finish the program, it skipped a couple of lines of code! The parts and the vice were very tight, they didn't move and I verified that.

When trying to diagnose this, I stuck the (carefully selected) parts back in since they were already ruined and ran it again, this time it ran and didn't wonder BUT it skipped the last depth and the plunge at the end.
I rebooted the computer ran two test runs with junk wood and those work so I ran the rest of the parts.

Now when I ran the test runs before the reboot, I watched the code and the machine very carefully the one that skipped a couple lines, I watched it highlight the line before then suddenly the mill went to the end of the program(I program it to return z to home (G53 Z0) then M30. I can post the code, but its basic hand written code, the code is copied and pasted two times and each level is copied and pasted. I also ran parts before this and after this with the same set of code.

I cannot have this happen while I'm not babysitting the machine NOR can I have it when I get some exotic expensive wood that a customer supplies Its gotta work the first time and its gotta work right.

What is going on?

Jon