That sounds to me like you are getting spindle noise transferred into your Y axis motor cable. If it were transferring to your limit switches, you should see that in the software effect. It might be as simple as keeping the spindle cable to one side of the echain, and the other cables to the other - a few zip ties.

The problem was that the spindle cable was not properly shielded.
Now that I have separated it from the others it works.
It will do until I can find some proper cable.
Very difficult to find around here.
The RS adapter has arrived, so more wires to play with.

Heres where I got mine from, been brilliant and no interference at all. It runs in my chain with everything else. Very cost effective too....

https://www.homanndesigns.com/index....r0u074a976a7b3

Thanks Bruce.
I have emailed them.

Is the shield attached to the spindle body
and the earth on the VFD?

Hi Al

I'll check today what I did, been getting Pathpilot 2 talking to my Mesa cards today, they decide to ignore each other!

Will report back shortly

Cheers

There is a divorce in progress.

I made this as the lyrics sum up my mood.

It is by The Who, titled "It's not enough".
It hits the nail on the head.

The film mentioned was released under an English name.
"Contempt"
Very apt.

When I was cleaning my machine today,
I noticed something.
A mistake in construction.

3 of the 4 angle stays on my Y axis were welded with the inside angle upwards.
A major dust trap.

Oh well!
MechMate, Always a surprise, never a disappointment.

Make a cap for them out of sheetmetal, plastic or cardboard

Thanks for the suggestion Mike.
It will have to wait.

I need to get out of here next year.
The machine will be moved.

The big problem is the base.
It cannot be moved intact from where it is now.
Either I leave it and make a new one. or cut off the 4 X axis beams and make new ones.

Always something to think about:confused:

Hello all.
It has been a while since I was last on here.
The last 4 years have been hard.

I had to disassemble my machine and move to a new location.
I have a few problems that I could use some advice on

The machine cuts out shortly after starting.
I feel that it is a computer problem, it must be 20 years old.
Parallel port and all that old technology.

I am thinking of using a Raspberry pi with Linux.
Any ideas about what I would need?
Control board, drives
I read somewhere about Acorn Clearpath and Leadshine self tuning motors.
Hopefully I will have some spare funds in a couple of months.

Any advice welcome.

Hi Al. Good to hear from you. You have always been a great supporter of the forum. I appreciate you.

Sorry you are having problems after your move. I have moved #26 3 times. Other than re-alignment, I've only had one problem. The problem was with a long parallel cable. I also use the "old" technology. The problem was that the machine would just go out of control. I replaced the cable. Everything works very well.

I have considered a Parallel to USB conversion. I even purchased a couple of components for the conversion. The reason I haven't pulled the trigger is that my machine is working very well. Within the last year I have carved several parts that required "exact" repeatability. Hundreds of passes. To my knowledge my machine never missed a step.

If you would describe exactly how far your machine gets into the startup process before it "cuts out", I would be glad to help you debug it. Sounds like we have similar technology...Windows XT, Parallel port, MACH3.

Hi, if you want to go linux I think you will struggle with a rasberry pi. There is a version of LinuxCNC called Machinekit which has been optimised for single board computers but I think the focus is mainly on the "Beaglebone black". Provided you are not space limited you are better off going with a standard PC and using LinuxCNC with a Mesa 7i96 which is ethernet linked to the PC and offloads processing from the PC. The LinuxCNC forums are very active and you will not have trouble getting help if you have any issues. I have been using LinuxCNC for five years and I have barely had to touch it. Once you have your configuration set it just works.

Thank you for your replies gentlemen.
I have been busy with other things.
I will look into your suggestions.

Sometimes the machine cuts out during referencing, other times after referencing.
I feel it is the old computer or the cable.
Last time I replaced the parallel cable it was hard to find a replacement, I think I fitted a second hand one.
I think it is time for an upgrade.
I used Mach 3 but I changed to Linux.
There is no hurry as I have other thing to deal with.
Thank you again.

Amazon has these cables
 

I believe they now have shipping to Thailand

Hello Gentlemen.
Compliments of the season to you.
I hope you are enjoying the holidays.

I have been working on the problems that I have.
Today I unplugged all the motors.
I plugged them back in one at a time leaving the other two disconnected.
The X axis faulted out.
The Y axis faulted out.
The Z axis stayed on.

It looks like a wiring problem.
It is the original wiring and the machine has been moved.
I will have to rewire with shielded cable unless anyone has any advice.

Thank you and all the best for 2022.