Author Topic: Mach4 Bummer (Read 1687 times)

gldavison · « **on:** August 15, 2019, 02:40:54 AM »

I created this cut file with Fusion 360. It's the timing gear cover for the engine I'm building. 3 hours into the file the machine just stopped. It was only about 10 minutes from the end.

Glad I was testing the file on a block of foam. The History bar contained :[ ESS Reset Velocity N. Disabling Mach ]. Have no idea what that means. And the web wasn't much help.
Do not know what to do next. Hate to test again until i try some thing to fix the problem.

Need advise please.

Gary

Admiral_dk · « **Reply #1 on:** August 15, 2019, 11:26:12 AM »

First I would get info about Mach 4 and if it's not in the manual - contact them - I mean, you bought it so you should expect service from them.

With that info you should be able to ask the right question on the Fusion User Board / community.

Best wishes

Per

Stuart · « **Reply #2 on:** August 15, 2019, 12:18:58 PM »

Gary

I would ask Andy at warp9td.com looks like the ESS ran out of data rather than fusion

But you could test in air no tools in the machine that way it’s only time not materials that is consumed

How much mem/ram in the pc , was the Gcode on the had/ssd rather than a usb stick
Have you set hdd/ssd to never sleep along with the Ethernet port , it’s in system performance advanced , set all you can to never sleep

Andy will no doubt advise to increase the virtual mem cannot say where because the flavours of windoze are different

gldavison · « **Reply #3 on:** August 15, 2019, 01:31:56 PM »

Stuart

laptop is dedicated to my cnc, set to never sleep, 6gb ram, gcode on hard drive, wireless adapter disabled. Didn't know the port could sleep. I'll check that out, and run the code again, machine disabled.

Thanks

kvom · « **Reply #4 on:** August 15, 2019, 04:19:41 PM »

Assuming this is a 3D finishing op based on the execution time. If you have an earlier point in the code where the tool lifts from the work, you can restart it at the point pretty safely. It will just cut air until it returns to the stop point.

gldavison · « **Reply #5 on:** August 16, 2019, 01:27:59 AM »

kvom

Yes I've seen that button labeled run G-Code from here. I tried that today with a steppers disabled and it appears to work fine. But I still have to resolve the issue with the file. I tried running it with the steppers disabled from the beginning and it stopped about 27 minutes into the program twice, so there's still an issue somewhere. I spent the evening cleaning the computer up the only programs on there now are Fusion 360 Intellicad my cad program and Mach 4.
This G-Code file is a big one. I'm using a ball in Mill cutting 0.30" depth of cut. There are 272,881 lines of code in this file. I hope that's not the issue.

Gary

stevehuckss396 · « **Reply #6 on:** August 16, 2019, 01:56:34 AM »

I saw it somewhere but of course I cannot find the information. There is a list of things that need to be checked/set on a computer to run mach4. Boxes to click and what not to prevent the computer from shutting things down to conserve power and losing focus on the running Mach4.

I know the file size isn't the problem. I ran a piece of code in Mach3 that was larger than the one you listed. Get on the Mach forum and do a search and see if you can find a fix or find the list of things that need to be checked on the computer to run Mach. Smart bunch of guys over there.

kvom · « **Reply #7 on:** August 16, 2019, 02:10:34 AM »

Generally running from a laptop is not recommended. I suspect getting a cheap desktop machine for a control will be a more satisfying result.

gldavison · « **Reply #8 on:** August 16, 2019, 02:10:26 PM »

Steve

Went thru that setup this morning:
https://warp9td.com/index.php/faq/faq-windows#AdjustingVirtualMemory

and started a new dry run.

stevehuckss396 · « **Reply #9 on:** August 16, 2019, 02:40:42 PM »

Yes sir that's the one. Hope it helps.

gldavison · « **Reply #10 on:** August 16, 2019, 02:43:29 PM »

Here is another issue that is puzzle to me. While uninstalling some app's in control panel
programs and features, Mach4 is not listed.

So where did it install????????????

gldavison · « **Reply #11 on:** August 16, 2019, 02:45:54 PM »

Steve

Nope. Stopped again at about 25 min in.

Stuart · « **Reply #12 on:** August 16, 2019, 03:27:03 PM »

If the error when it stops contains ESS then open a thread on the warp9td site

Under the general tab on the ESS config there is a tab to warn if the FIFO buffer runs dry

But do post there Andy will be able to help better than here

Stuart

gldavison · « **Reply #13 on:** August 16, 2019, 04:39:50 PM »

Stuart

I won't bother Andy unless I can not get a solution here. I'm sure he has enough on is plate there. Besides the week is here. Warp9 will be my last resort.

I'm not getting a FIFO warning. in the history bar it states cycle stopped. That's all.

Thanks for trying to help.

gldavison · « **Reply #14 on:** August 16, 2019, 04:45:02 PM »

Tried to run a file that cut my con rods a couple month's ago and it to stopped. It only has 2679 lines of code.

Stuart · « **Reply #15 on:** August 16, 2019, 05:26:28 PM »

Well I am out of ideas , as you are aware it’s difficult to diagnose without standing in front of the problem

My last long shot is noise , do you have a VFD on the spindle ?

If so are the power cables well separated from the control wires , bear in mind it’s a shot in the dark because with no errors it’s likely to be interference causing a glitch in the Mach4 software

Woodguy · « **Reply #16 on:** August 16, 2019, 05:52:29 PM »

Is your Mach4 license installed? It's my understanding that Mach4 will stop at random places when run in demo mode.

gldavison · « **Reply #17 on:** August 17, 2019, 01:51:52 PM »

Well, don't clap your hands and stomp your feet just yet, but maybe I have found the problem.. more testing in progress. Will let you know.

Stuart · « **Reply #18 on:** August 17, 2019, 04:01:20 PM »

Please tell it may help others in the future

Feed back is good for the soul

gldavison · « **Reply #19 on:** August 18, 2019, 02:16:29 AM »

Well fellas, here's what I think happened. The laptop and the CNC controller were plugged into the same Outlet as my metal lathe and the Shop-Vac. Well live and learn. I should have known better so don't rag me to bad.

That file takes over 3 hours to run so during the process I thought I would work on the metal lathe and every so often I would stop the lathe turn on Shop-Vac and clean the foam cuttings off of the mill table. I hope this caused the stoppage.
With the laptop having its own power supply, the stepper Motors has their own 48 volt power supply, and a smooth stepper and the cg11 breakout board have their own separate 5 volt power supply. I would not have thought turning the vac and metal lathe on and off would have affected them at all, but I guess I was wrong. I moved the power plug for the machine and the computer to a another Outlet on a separate circuit, and refrained from using the Shop-Vac and the metal lathe and I got three successful runs to completion of that file. Two dry runs with the steppers deactivated and one cutting foam.

Thanks every one for your input.

Gary

Stuart · « **Reply #20 on:** August 18, 2019, 06:45:26 AM »

Glad you have it sorted Gary

Yes that would do it most defiantly , it was most likely the shop vac with it’s universal motor ( brushed commutator) type possibly has a bad brush and is sparking

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Author Topic: Mach4 Bummer (Read 1687 times)