Let the fun begin !!! ???

[PAULRO]

thanks for that Clive, at least that's cleared that up for me. is there any chance you could check a few things for me on your controller?

1...does the ''PACKET'' led flash constantly when MACH is reset?

2... the power led is on constantly
3... the connect led is also on constantly
4.. the e/stop led comes on when an e/stop is pressed.

i have 3 inputs wired in to the BOB currently

1 .. e/stop .. N/C
2... A slave N/C
3.. X,Y,Z, in series N/C
The relevant leds are on , on the BOB, my ports and pins are set correctly( they stop the M/C when triggered). but they only trigger briefly on the diagnostic tab. how are yours set up?

[JAZZCNC]

The relevant leds are on , on the BOB, my ports and pins are set correctly( they stop the M/C when triggered). but they only trigger briefly on the diagnostic tab. how are yours set up?

Don't worry about the Diagnostics Led's. It's working as it should and thats all that matters.
External motion control cards take certain duty's away from Mach3 and do it there way. This is why your motors drop out when limits are pressed. PLCM as taken over the duty's of watching the Inputs and won't be reporting this back to Mach constantly. You may find the PLCM software as some way to identify any active I/O.
Homing is another area that the controller takes over doing so don't be surprised if it doesn't work like Mach3 manual says it should. Mach3 by default assumes your using the parallel port which is completly different kettle of fish.

So long as the machine goes where it's told and behaves it self then don't fret if it does some things different to how Mach normally does it. You'll often find external motion controllers do it better anyway.

[PAULRO]

that's a relief Jazz , i'm nearly finished with the wiring side of things and then i notice these discrepancies. you hit the nail on the head with that assessment of my last evening. i was trying to get it to behave as per manual / video !!!
i have another query , if you don't mind , i powered up my spindle manually from the VFD yesterday morning and it went well , i'm very happy with it . in fact when i press stop on the Vfd the spindle stops from top speed within 2-3 secs. i have seen clips where it coasts for a decent amount of time before stopping . so once again am i making a wrong comparison?

[JAZZCNC]

i have another query , if you don't mind , i powered up my spindle manually from the VFD yesterday morning and it went well , i'm very happy with it . in fact when i press stop on the Vfd the spindle stops from top speed within 2-3 secs. i have seen clips where it coasts for a decent amount of time before stopping . so once again am i making a wrong comparison?

This is simply that they have a different deacceleration setting in the VFD. Change the Accelleration and de-acceleration parameter to suit your liking. I think it's PD 14 & 15.
Don't have it stop too quick otherwise it can trip the VFD when using large cutters.

[PAULRO]

cheers for that Jazz i'll play with it some more , i have the homing set up and tested and all is in order. each axis stops on the money each time. i have the overide with buzzer wired into BOB ( overide X,Y,Z, input) i engaged ''Z'' axis to trip and ''Y'' axis to trip and the overide worked a charm but when i tried the same for ''X'' and slave, the overide has no effect. i have '' HOME SW SAFETY '' unticked and '' and HOME SLAVE WITH MASTER'' unticked. any suggestions?

[JAZZCNC]

How have you got the limits working.? Are they just stopping the control/Mach3 and not physicly dropping anything out using relays etc.

If so then all you need to do is set Mach option for Auto limit override. Then when limit trips you just reset mach and Jog off the swithc.
You don't need to wire a Switch or use an input to override so not quite sure what your doing here.?

[PAULRO]

just stopping MACH 3 , no relays involved. where will i find auto lomit overide? spoke too soon , found it! cheers for that

[PAULRO]

i have the homing set up , i think, but after reading a thread here about auto squaring the gantry i think it still needs tweeking. i think the ''X'' and ''A'' slaved are homing together and backing off together. . i thought that when ''X'' home is triggered it backs off and then ''A'' home sets itself the same way?

[JAZZCNC]

i have the homing set up , i think, but after reading a thread here about auto squaring the gantry i think it still needs tweeking. i think the ''X'' and ''A'' slaved are homing together and backing off together. . i thought that when ''X'' home is triggered it backs off and then ''A'' home sets itself the same way?

Yes and no.!! They both move together and which ever axis comes across a swithc first it then stops and backs off and the other keeps going and does the same.
When you have the switches set exactly together then it's seemless and you'll struggle to see this happen. If you want to see it happen then move switches further apart. Beware thou it will twist gantry so it's a good idea to remove motors or drive to ballscrews etc to see it happen.

Limit overide is here.

[Clive S]

Paulro

The relevant leds are on , on the BOB, my ports and pins are set correctly( they stop the M/C when triggered). but they only trigger briefly on the diagnostic tab. how are yours set up?

Mine are working like yours as Dean has said it will work different to the manual.
.
Regarding the homing you can adjust the racking by adjusting one of the homing switches until it is correct. X and A will back off the switches independently, it is hard to see when the gantry is square. But if you want to see it happen remove the belts (if you are using them and the are not direct drive) and put a maker tape on each motor pulley and then home the x axis if you then trip one switch the motor will reverse and stop when you release it. The same will happen to the other side. ..Clive

Some Yorkshire man beat me to it