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  #391  
Old Tue 16 April 2013, 17:57
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
Danilo,
I have to say you are a wealth of information. All the time I looked for noise solutions I never stumbled on that. I am usually good at finding info on the web. I will definitely start decreasing it by 100s now after I set it to 2000 to find the sweet spot.

The only benefit of having the limit switch triggered is being able to learn how to restart mach3 efficiently.
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  #392  
Old Wed 17 April 2013, 00:54
danilom
Just call me: Danilo #64
 
Novi Sad
Serbia
No problem I spend most of my free time reading. Finding solution to problems that other guys are having if they are in your branch of business is like doing yourself a favor. As there will be a time when the lesson learned from others will be a plus for you in solving problems.
It's like learning on other ones mistakes.
Keep us posted.
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  #393  
Old Wed 24 April 2013, 18:32
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
Okay, I think I might know what the problem is. I don't want to put my foot in my mouth before I try it. I can tell you it is not the power supply. Running 58VDC with same issues showing up. I will not get to it for a couple days or maybe a week but I will let you know.
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  #394  
Old Thu 25 April 2013, 17:03
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
Well as far as I can tell, I think the problem is solved but this brings up another issue to investigate. What I did was I had to format and reinstall windows xp again. I did not have the automatic updates disabled before. I have it up and running. Have not had an over run of the steppers yet. Temperature of X and B is 132°F Y is 103°F and Z is 101°F after 1 hour running sign with 3d model extruded border.

The other issue to work out is on the motor tuning dialog the X, Y Z axis will not run smoothly at any setting. They start and stop in a jerky manner when you use the up down arrow key to test and it is a constant pattern with it. This was the same as before I reinstalled windows. That was why I did the reinstall. I have no idea on this one but as long as it is working I am not going to complain. Running the driver test, I am good up through 60K, I did not test higher as it I only use 45k. No spikes only smooth ripple. Now I am using the same profile as before so it may be a setting but I do not know.
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  #395  
Old Thu 25 April 2013, 18:32
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
X and B crossed the 150°F at 2 hours. Decreased the resistors to 27K from 33K on X Y B for the 296A2A motors. Z is the 296-F4.5A with a 390K but it never got above 135°F.
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  #396  
Old Fri 26 April 2013, 03:01
Surfcnc
Just call me: Ross #74
 
Queensland
Australia
Oh no the saga continues Pete !!

One positive is that power supply upgrade won't hurt anyway.
The worst thing when chasing down problems is when absolutely dead money or time goes into it for no result or worse still a degrading in performance.

If you are even slightly suspect of the PC or its operating system, add on PP card, onboard port etc etc etc, swap it out with another PC.
It is a quick reality check and might save you spending more huge chunks of time chasing the gremlins.

Given the amount of time you have put in now, you deserve a machine that works well.
Sometimes that last mile can be just a bit longer than what might be "reasonably" expected.

Ross
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  #397  
Old Fri 26 April 2013, 05:51
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
Hey Ross,

The tale will always be told, unless I am all told....

I cannot complain. There is no PERFECT machine. There is always a little problem somewhere.

I can say that I ran it for 6 hours last night and not one hiccup. This could even be something with the keyboard or PS2 connector. I ran all the programs that would cause problems. I will double check today.

I was only happy to find the motor tuning issue and that led to a google search that brought up a machsupport forum question about jerky motor tuning and the result was reinstalling the operating system. That is something easy to do that requires only 1 hour of time and work.

The power supply was not a loss of anything except money I did not want to spend. I have enough power now for the addition of the 4th axis A. I have the added benefit of having the extra torque to achieve the higher cut speeds.

I already have a Rosewill 304 pci parallel card that I am using. I could switch the two cables and switch the addresses so the motor pins are run on the Rosewill card instead of the onboard card. I am not much concerned about it now.
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  #398  
Old Sat 27 April 2013, 22:13
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
Just an update.

Have been repairing my mother's aluminum roof and why did the old home builders love 9-12 pitches on 2 story homes (early 1800's). Slick, steep and thankfully the rope did not break. I just wish the guys that put the aluminum roof on would have went in a straight line with the nails. Some sections were every foot spacing. Most popped on the sun side so I had to pull all of them and replace with screws and sealant in places needed.

In the time available the machine has been cutting air for about 10 hours combined. Still no hiccup. So I think the clean install did correct something. I think I am going to create a new profile with just the step and dir and see if the motor tuning issue goes away. This will give me one to experiment on and do what Ross recommended while just being able to swap the cables back for the existing profile.
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  #399  
Old Sun 28 April 2013, 09:41
smreish
Just call me: Sean - #5, 28, 58 and others
 
Orlando, Florida
United States of America
...and don't forget to save this installation XML file of MACH to a safe place for a good restore later.
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  #400  
Old Tue 30 April 2013, 20:31
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
I did find one time I loaded Mach that it did stall but also the dwell was not working either, I just closed Mach and reopened it and it worked fine.

In the meantime, I was working on better dust collection. The setup I have now works fine except when I am cutting a sheet that is about the same size as my spoilboard which is 49x97. My crossbearers are located slightly before and after the maximum cut area I had planned for (48 x 96). The problem is with the shoe being half over an open area I have dust that is unmanaged. My solution, until I have to replace my spoilboard, was to use 1x6 on the sides screwed to the crossbearers with T-nuts added for additional holddown locations. For the front and rear, I utilized a removable leaf concept. Using a 1x12 with two pieces of aluminum and plastic receivers I can slide then into place when they are required for adequate dust collection. Next time I will split the spoilboard in the middle to cover the entire area with the crossbearers but for now this will serve the purpose. I have not marked the spoilboard yet so I am assuming to get a long life out of it thanks to my Z zero input.
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  #401  
Old Thu 02 May 2013, 18:16
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
Upgrade to latest lockdown version of Mach corrected the Motor Tuning problem.
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  #402  
Old Thu 02 May 2013, 20:12
sailfl
Just call me: Nils #12
 
Winter Park, FL
United States of America
What version were you using before you upgraded?

Thanks
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  #403  
Old Fri 03 May 2013, 03:48
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
Originally I had 3.042.022 when this whole fiasco started, then I upgraded to 3.043.057 and that is when I noticed the motor tuning not working correctly. Now I am using 3.043.066. I would be willing to bet that if I would have put in 22 I would have not seen the motor tuning glitch because I actually used motor tuning up down arrows to set up in 22. I did not in 57, I only changed the numbers but not try to use the up down arrows. It was just by chance that I checked it the one day. I think I have read the mach install config manual 10 times these past 2 weeks.

Our maybe it did not install correctly. I only know it did not work right and now it does.
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  #404  
Old Sat 04 May 2013, 03:49
Robert M
Just call me: Robert
 
Lac-Brome, Qc
Canada
Send a message via Yahoo to Robert M Send a message via Skype™ to Robert M
"I think I have read the mach install config manual 10 times these past 2 weeks. "
So...can this mean you're are new MACH tech guy ....
Robert
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  #405  
Old Sat 04 May 2013, 04:03
KenC
Just call me: Ken
 
Klang
Malaysia
only 10 times??? You are a fast learner!!!
I recalled I read the manual twice a day for weeks on end when I was trying to get my plasma table running.
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  #406  
Old Sat 04 May 2013, 06:50
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
Well I was hoping that I missed something and the big hammer would boink me on the head.

This question is one probably for the Mach forum and not here but I will seek your knowledge. My Motor Tuning settings are 500 and 25. When a G00 is called the units per minute state 640 on the program run screen, why is it higher than the velocity in motor tuning?
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  #407  
Old Sat 04 May 2013, 09:31
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
Out of precaution, I tuned the motors down to 400 so the rapid displays 448 when transitioning on G00
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  #408  
Old Sat 04 May 2013, 09:36
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
Ken, I can remember numbers like you would not believe. Can't remember a persons name from one day to the next. Only numbers and technical detail. Plasma table looks to be a lot more difficult to build especially with controlling the current paths and keeping it out of the electronics. I will let that to you all who have proven to be better at it. Plus I deal with metal all day at my place of employment, would hate to drag that home as well.
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  #409  
Old Sat 04 May 2013, 16:17
jessyjames
Just call me: James
 
Reno, Nevada
United States of America
I work as a on-site tchnician for a local cnc plasma manufacturer and I have to admit chasing down the emi is a pain in the butt. Proper grounding, earth ground to common star ground is the first thing I do no matter what. Even than than sometimes doesnt work so I'm having to space the torch lead and grounding clamp away as much as possible from the shielded cabling.
Dang I'm off work. Enough about that!
Moral of the story is.... What was the point I was trying to make??? :-)
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  #410  
Old Sat 04 May 2013, 19:59
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
James I hear you there. I am an electo-mechanical tech. The last thing I want to do at home is anything to do with electrical, programming, machine troubleshooting, mechanical, plumbing or hvac. That is why I like wood...it is not steel or copper. That is why I liked building my addition on to my house (if you can call it that, built around three sides and rebuilt the entire roof). A CNC just made sense for the things I was doing here. I would never be able to afford insurance for the family without my current job and wood is a nice hobby. There was a benefit to working in the industrial background. Took a lot of thought out of building the MechMate. I can honestly say that if I worked at a commercial wood shop I would not be doing this now. Gerald provided great prints to either use alone or build on to. The people here are great and helpful, they make you think and are willing to answer questions with technical response instead of the bloat you get in other forums. Is the MechMate the best machine out there that you can build on a budget , I think it is.
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  #411  
Old Thu 23 May 2013, 15:58
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America

Some cutting between cabinets, on Flickr
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  #412  
Old Fri 24 May 2013, 16:15
HomeMadeCnc
Just call me: Tim
 
Calgary, Alberta
Canada
Very Nice!
Cheers
Tim
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  #413  
Old Fri 24 May 2013, 16:19
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
Thanks Tim. Is appreciated.
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  #414  
Old Fri 24 May 2013, 20:14
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America

First V-Carve in Lexan 12" wide, on Flickr
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  #415  
Old Sat 25 May 2013, 15:53
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
The story behind this is a fellow I know has two replicas of the Ford Mustang horses and wants to put a lexan sign between them. His original idea was prism cut letters and glue them to wood. I was explaining to him how you can carve it and light it from one or more sides and the opaque color will show the light colors. He was not sure how it would look. So I carved this and put an led strip underneath it to demonstrate. Now he likes this better.


LED Lighting, on Flickr
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  #416  
Old Tue 28 May 2013, 18:22
jessyjames
Just call me: James
 
Reno, Nevada
United States of America
I envisioned that with a applied black-out film followed by v-carving the text. That way when led's are introduced it only shines on the v-carving therefore allowing the test to stand out more significantly.
Thanks for sharing this with us Pete.
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  #417  
Old Fri 07 June 2013, 11:24
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
Finally rooted out what I think was the cause of the problem with the steppers. Hood at Mach suggested it may be the processing needed to view the toolpath is impacting on my system. So I turned off the toolpath view and the it has worked so far. I noticed that the jog buttons would take a while to respond on larger programs as well as the stalling action was occurring. I think I my have to try a different motherboard or computer as I do like the toolpath display. I will try to remember to keep you all posted.
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  #418  
Old Fri 07 June 2013, 11:28
Tom Ayres
Just call me: Tom #117
 
Bassett (VA)
United States of America
Well I guess that blew my theory of gremlins...live and learn
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  #419  
Old Fri 07 June 2013, 11:41
danilom
Just call me: Danilo #64
 
Novi Sad
Serbia
A better graphic card or a CPU will save you from horrors of toolpath preview, but for really large 3D toolpaths we have to wait for Mach3 v4 where the toolpath preview is hardware accelerated.
Recently I started using a smoothstepper board, while just looking at the toolpath and screen it works better, but when you start rotating the preview you got 3 seconds until it locks up the communication
What I used to do was make a toolpath on/off button and after loading and reviewing the toolpath shut it down
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  #420  
Old Fri 07 June 2013, 12:23
domino11
Just call me: Heath
 
Cornwall, Ontario
Canada
I remember Greg from smiths falls telling me he had a similar issue that was solved by adding a beefed up video card instead of using the on board graphics. Solved a lot of little glitchy type things like this.
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