Help Please With Auto Tool Height Mach 3 Problem

[howser37]

HI, have been reading these forums for quite a while and after eventually deciding i didnt have the skill or knowledge to build my own machine at the moment, have recently purchased a heiz S1400 CNC second hand, with very little mileage.

It came with a computer with mach 3 already set up and so far i have been using it as is, without changing any settings

The CNC came with an Auto Height setting puck that plugs into a terminal on the z axis gantry and i am suing mach3 to set the auto tool height.

At first it was a little intermittent, ie sometimes it would work fine and sometimes it would not and i would have to gog the machine to a slightly different postition, however now it has stopped working completely, so that when the z should back off when touching the plate, it carries on going and i have to hit the emergency stop button, this is happening every time now.

I have done some googling but have not found anything that i have either found to help or that i understand lol

In Mach3 whilst looking at the diagnostics page the digitize led is on when the probe is not plugged in and goes off when i plug the probe in, the led stays off when the bit is touching the plate.

Not sure if that info is any help, but might be a starting point

Anyone have any ideas?

[howser37]

oops, sorry about duplicate thread, i did not think it had posted

[Lee Roberts]

oops, sorry about duplicate thread, i did not think it had posted

No problem, I've removed the other one for you.

When you plug-in the LED turns off - that’s how it should be as far as I know. The led should come on when you touch the puck with the probe, so I think there is a connection problem, the probing systems I know of are all basic in how they work, as in, all they really do is close a connection.

I would have a good look at the wiring in the probe/puck and see if you can see anything adrift (lose connection), if the "probe" part of the system is simply the cutter, see if you can find out where/how the other side of the circuit is connected to the spindle.

.Me

[howser37]

Hi Lee, i will take a look inside the puck again and see if i can see any problems, it is the kind with a plastic button that presses down in the middle with what looks like 3 arms sat on ball bearings inside, and i assume that when one of these arms is lifted off a ball bearing the circuit is broken and the digitize led should register, but it does nothing.

So i assume it cant be related to the bit/spindle as there is no electrical contact there

regards
Adam

[howser37]

cant see any problems inside the puck, but for some reason it is not turning the digitize led on when i break the contact either by hand or using the bit in the spindle grrrrr

[JAZZCNC]

Best to start at the source and it's Possibly a lose connection on the breakout board anyway. Trace the wire back into the control box and see if you can identify the input it's using on the breakout board.
Then to test the breakout board hasn't fried it's input take a short wire and place between the (+) input and Gnd(-) watching the digitise input in mach to see if toggles on/off.

If it does then you know it's either the wire or puck. If not then you probably have a blown Input on the Breakout board.

[howser37]

Thanks JAZZ, i will take a look at that tomorrow, it sounds plausible to me as it was working intermittently before it stopped working alltogether.

[howser37]

I have checked everything i can think of connection wise, it all checks out ok from the touch plate through the control box and to the computer.

Is there some way of telling on the diagnostic screen of mach 3 if a signal is being received when the puck is pressed.

Mach 3 senses the puck being plugged in and sets the input to pin 15 port 1 in the auto settings but detects nothing from the puck being pressed.

None of the input status leds change when the puck is pressed

[Clive S]

Have you tried what Dean suggested here

:- Then to test the breakout board hasn't fried it's input take a short wire and place between the (+) input and Gnd(-) watching the digitise input in mach to see if toggles on/off.

You can always set up a different input pin on the BOB and then of course in Mach ..Clive

[howser37]

I am a bit clueless regards checking the input guys.
This is the inside of my control box.

The signal i assume comes in on the ribbon cable via the ST port on the right of the picture and terminates next to the parallel port.

Can anyone talk me through testing it so as i don't fry myself and the control box