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If the Mach 3 install is new, is it even configured?

If you can add grease to the bearings without disassembly, do that.

I recommend synthetic grease.

You don't want ultra-thick grease, but you also need it to be thick enough to prevent wear.

I'm back home again, having been away at work during the week. I've created an initial config using pncconfig, then edited up the contents the best I can, based on my previous working instance in 2.8.4 Of course, those old files no longer work with the current version of gmoccapy and LinuxCNC, presumably due to changes that have occurred along the way, so I have no working system.

I'm in a bit of a Catch-22 situation, as I can't start from a working copy and simply(?) make a few changes. The SIM versions have a range of extra files to fool LinuxCNC to work without a real machine and I don't know which those are. My "starter file" created in pncconfig never got as far as being fully operational, not least because the bitfile in my 5i25 for isn't listed in the pncconfig options.

When I try to run LinuxCNC with my new embryonic config, it seems to bomb out when it tries to start gmoccapy. The debug info is very curt and doesn't seem to give me much of a clue what to look for.

I'm pretty certain I'm missing some of the files required for operation but I've no idea what those are. Without a functioning example, I can't work from a "known good" example. Ideally I'd have an example of a complete file / folder set that I can compare with - is there something I can refer to?

The various gmoccapy sims work fine but as I said, they seem to come with a variety of additional files that I won't need with a real machine. Can somebody help to identify which files I need and which I don't? Many thanks!

 
 
 

The aft-mounted one, I didn’t even think of that. I’ll try out tomorrow if it fits. It’s not just the wrong way around; there are no threads on the other side.

The servo is really much larger than needed, but buying a more suitable one when I already have this one on hand seems silly.
The controller is a CSMIO/IP-S
(link: de.cs-lab.eu/sklep/6-achsen-cnc-steuerun...und-simcnc-software/)
They seem to be sold on eBay for a decent price sometimes, so this might be the first retrofit in history that doesn’t cost more than expected (…it won’t).

To really run the thing I “only” have to replace the encoder belt on the spindle. If there’s one part I didn’t want to mess with, it’s the spindle — but I don’t think I have a choice here. I’ve seen some really bad belts, but never one that still worked despite having sections with no plastic left.

I’m considering just pulling the spindle and putting it right back in. What do you think? You replaced the grease without disassembling the bearings, right? Would you do it that way again?

Welcome to the Schaublin retrofit club.

Could it be that that corner tool holder just has the height stop mounted on the wrong side, and flipping it fits? Or could it be that it fits on the aft mounted single tool post?

That AC servo installation on the cross slide looks nice. Your Z axis AC servo is a beast, and still smaller than the 1970's drive.

Could you please post some close up photos of that MACH interface board at top RH in the control cabinet. Is that something like a smart servo for Mach 3?

If it works, I would probably run it for a while and make some parts as is, just to see if there are any other issues you need to know about.
Cheers,
Mark

The reasons for upgrading the operating system are:
1 Security. There are no longer security fixes for Wheezy.
2 When my previous system was taken out by lightning, I could simply move the hard drive over to another machine and had it up and running the same day. Moving old software over to modern hardware won't work - a risk.
3 Support a current version of LinuxCNC.

The reasons to be on a current version of LinuxCNC are:
1 A lot of work goes into the product with enhancements on functionality, usability, compatibility, easy of use, hardware support, simplified configuration and more.
2 I might benefit directly from such enhancements.
3 If I run into an issue and ask for help, the first question is usually about the version - generally speaking. If old, the first advice is to upgrade, for people to be able to help. The problem might well be solved in later versions. Nobody wants to, or is even able to support old stuff.

Z3n wrote:

Thankfully I have a nice bench power supply from my bench flashing for ECUs / binary reversing, so stable power from 5-24v DC isn't an issue

Sweet!

Your servos need manual tuning.
10 mm, one mm, or even one tenth of a mm is too much following error.
Standard servo tuning techniques applies.
Maybe don't spend too much on it now, you need to redo it in the machine with its inertia.
 

If it works for you, why change it?

Dear forum,
My name is Chris and I have neglected my system.  
This winter seems like a good time to do something about it, since my workshop is too cold anyway, but I need your expertise in finding the best way forward.

Hardware:
* CPU (AMD64 compatible, I think)* Parallel port cards installed in the PC to control a box (rather expensive...) with the stepper drivers. I think the cards were PCI express.
Software:
* Debian Wheezy
* LinuxCNC v 2.7.15 
However, I am afraid that this little line that meets me when logging on, indicates that I may have installed a 32 bit OS/LCNC?To complicate things further, I managed to struggle through the process of remapping M6 and I am really not looking forward to do that again, since I understand nothing of what I did. But it works, yay!

I understand that hardware ditching day is coming, but is it now?
What should I do?

/Chris
 

Any reasonable offer accepted, I just want this stuff gone.

See these two posts:
RPi 4B w/LinuxCNC 2.9.3, Mesa 7C81, Isolation Card, PWM Card, Relay Card, More
MESA 7C81, DIN Tray & Ribbon Cable

I never removed the RPi from the Mesa board. So if you want it, it's for sale with the rest.

I did use the KBSI-240D (9431) Signal Isolator card, so that is no longer for sale.
I also used the SanDisk Ultra 32GB microSD card for something else, so the RPi would come without an SD card.

Email me at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

I’m not a programmer (only a bit of Python, and some BASIC and C). It took me the whole day to find this issue, moving a debug print line around the code to locate where it was getting stuck.Thank you for the explanations, and also for pointing out the second copy/paste bug, I’ve fixed that one on my side as well.

Now I need to follow up with Pronest, as the post-processor still doesn’t insert commas between the parameters...

Regards

Well, we now know what I did to set the VFD into "coast down" mode. I pinned the drive enable to spindle on, and just disabled the drive to stop it. Doh! No wonder I didn't document it. 

Now I know that, I have a few options.
1/ Use ladder to react to a spindle stop command with an S0, wait a second, and then disable the drive. I had the VFD set for min 20 hz, max 70 Hz, so this would only brake down to 20, and coast down from there. It has the advantage that the spindle is not sitting on an enabled drive with an analog input, which could cause rotation from EMI induced voltage.

2/ Add a 24VDC output, wire that to Pin E3, and command the VFD to brake to a stop. I would probably still add a delay and disable the drive after a couple seconds. That would seem to be the proper way.

3/ But if I am adding another relay to to get me an extra 24VDC out, I may as well add more. Then I can also wire up the electro-mechanical brake, and have both VFD braking and mechanical braking commanded. This would also give me an option to add some ladder logic to use the mechanical brake on an E-stop.

Ideally, I would add the extra outputs with a second 7i84, as I maxed out the current one due to needing one I/O bank on 5V (for the Hall sensors for homing and tool change). I ended up scavenging a few extra outputs by using the unused axis enables on the 7i85, still ran out of 24V outputs, and put in a cheap relay board to use the excess 5V outputs to control 24V loads. I have an 8 relay card floating around, and could bodge that in instead of the 4 relay card to try this all out.

I will make a video to feedback what I actually do.
Cheers,
Mark

wenn du 2 MDI befehle hast, einer für 'an' und einer für 'aus',
dann kannst du zuerst ein 'toggle' machen und dann mit 'edge'
das jeweilige mdi triggern, je nachdem ob an oder aus.

im prinzip müsste es auch einfach mit der 'not' komponente funktionieren,
als mdi 'an' an das toggle und 'aus' über 'not'

Gruß,
Olli

Thanks for the sugestion. As I now dsided to go full Linuxcnc i will not use the system as is wary mutch. But i will seranly keep it running for now to find some stuff about it out.