"Ref All" Issues.

[Mtw fdu]

Started up my plasma today after having a week off and after pressing the "Ref All" button the z axis went up instead of down. No software settings have been changed either.

On the diagnostics page the enabled 1, 2, and 3 lights were on as normal but the output 6 which usually flashes was not flashing. The yellow home light on the z axis is not on as well which is on usually in the past. Tried to change the de-bounce but no success there. Also tried rebooting my laptop and mach3 still no change. Can it be the limit switch or something else?

Any suggestions please? Thanks in advance.

Mtw fdu.

[acourtjester]

Ok first of all do not use "Ref All" with a plasma setup table, the reason for this is plasma plans you home negative and that will cause the torch to drive down first then move Y to its home. This could break you torch . Now be sure the Z moves down when pushing the page down button on the keyboard, so it will show travel in the correct direction. If not change the Z motor direction so it does. Now go into configure and click on Homing and limits. This opens the menu for setting the home directions for the axis and set all for negative.
Unless you are using the enable signal they do not need to be on. YOu can turn them off in the ports and pins output just make the enable all red checks. Not sure why your output 6 is flashing unless you have setup that as the torch fire in spindle setup for output 6 for M3 in the G-code.
Output # 1 is what trips the output relay on the BOB I use

[Mtw fdu]

Thanks for your info acourtjester.

I did uncheck the reverse but it goes down like you said but it dives into without stopping on the plate. I will try it with out the enabled checks on later.

Thanks again for your help.

Mtw did.

[acourtjester]

Do you have a floating head switch. The enable is only to control the drivers for on/off, I have never used the enable signal.
https://www.plasmaspider.com/viewtopic. ... ch#p168723

[Mtw fdu]

I have not got an ohmic head on mine. Just a normal machine torch. Hope that helps. It has a switch inside the z axis and is connected to another part which contacts.
I will post a couple pics later today.
Cheers.

Mtw fdu.

[acourtjester]

Here is an image of one of the floating head setup I built, it is used also with an ohmic sensor. The floating head switch is a safety if the ohmic sensor fails (dirt, rust other things stopping contact).
The outer 4 "V" beating ride on "V" rails for the Z movement and the inner 4 "V" bearing and "V" rails are for the floating head assembly. At the top you can see the switch used for the floating head action. When the torch floats up it will contact the switch and stop downward movement. This was used before the ohmic sensor was installed (wire near the torch tip is for that).
For the wiring all home/limit switch are in series to one input pin on the BOB, the ohmic sensor is hook to another pin (probe input).

This type of setup the ohmic sensor is the first signal to the BOB to stop Z homing movement and then the torch retracts to the pierce height. And the floating head is a backup if the ohmic sensor does not make contact, this stops movement as a limit trip.
Cleaning of the metal or torch tip solves that, G-code reset for finishing the cut routine.

[Mtw fdu]

Here are a couple of pics of my torch limit switch and the piece it is supposed to contact to. It may shed some light.

Here is a video of my machine when I first got it going for the first time cutting a part. The way it should be working until now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcwmkdO9jl0

Hope it helps as well.

Mtw fdu.

[weldguy]

Check that switch, I have had mine go bad a couple times and when that happens the torch just continues to drive itself into the material. Good luck!

[acourtjester]

A quick check before taking the mount apart look on the diagnostic page. See attached image as to which light will turn yellow for which command in the G-code. Most Z home G28 will light the M3 home when the torch is lifted, or a G31 will light the Digitize, most use the probe (g31) for the ohmic sensor touch the torch to the metal or use a wire to short them together. this is wired as NO as the m3 home is wired NC, I wire all limit and home switch in series as NC.

[Mtw fdu]

None of those 2 lights actually light up now. Before the home light did. So possibly it could be the limit switch?

I must also mention that I have an external setup on mach3 on the diagnostic page. No actual pulse frequency number is shown. Just the word external.

Cheers.

Mtw did.

[acourtjester]

Yes
I think the switch is wired as normally open(com green wire and NO blue wire) how about if you short the 2 terminals on the switch.
The Home light should come on then if so and when you lift the little roller it does not then the switch is bad

[Mtw fdu]

I will try that this weekend. Busy all week otherwise.

Thanks again for your help so far jester.

Mtw fdu.

[acourtjester]

happy to help

[Mtw fdu]

Well I tried to get the light on the switch but after I short the limit switch no lights came on at all. Not sure if I need to make sure it is earth to where it connects to.

Any suggestions?

Mtw fdu.

[Mtw fdu]

Update.

Now after connecting back up and changing the active low in inputs the home 3 light is now on. As I move the z up and down and hitting the plate the light stays on.

Any thoughts of where to go from here? Can the limit switch still be faulty?

Is there anything on the controller board to check,? I do have a spare board but not wanting to change it if necessary.

Mtw fdu.

[Mtw fdu]

I will now try and find another limit switch similar to mine.

It is not very big at all. Maybe 20mm long by 10mm high and 6mm thick (approximately as I haven't measured it yet).

Mtw fdu.

[djreiswig]

If you short the wire on the switch and the home light doesn't come on, then you most likely have a wiring problem or a bad input on your breakout board. If you can find where the wires on the switch are connected to the board you can short them at the board. If the home light comes on, then your wire from the board to the switch is broken somewhere.
If you still can't get it to light then either your input is bad or not assigned correctly in Mach3.

[Mtw fdu]

If not assigned correctly it should not work from the start. I did not change any settings in mach3 before it stopped working.

Thanks for the info. I will try and find the wires on the board.

Mtw fdu.

[acourtjester]

As to your comment about "earth connections" so you understand there are 2 different setups on many BOB boards they use the term ground. This should be termed return, as it may not be ground in the wiring scheme. The pins on the BOB have one that is used to connect to a switch and the other side of the switch goes back to the BOB as a return (on some BOB is may be labeled ground but it is not attached to earth). Some BOB need 2 power sources and the GRD are not tired together and only one may be attached to power negative labeled as GRD, see attached images. I have used both BOBs, and they are connected differently as to GRD and returns. First BOB shows (red arrow) GRD is for driver signals return and 5 volt return, and (blue arrow) are switch return and power supply return for the 12-24 volt supply. The second shows all GRD and signal returns are connected together with +5 volt supply return (- 5 volts).

[Mtw fdu]

Still waiting for a reply from my cnc guy in Florida.

Contacted the guy who tried to fix my machine last time before I took it back to the US. He looked at the pics above and said the green and white looks as though the inside of the switch has been burnt. He said instead of soldering the joint just use spade connections. Should work ok and shield the wires.

Will organise today another switch and try that first. If that doesn't work I will try something else.

Thanks for your replies guys. Much appreciated.

Mtw fdu.

[djreiswig]

The switch looks okay to me. And I definitely prefer a soldered connection to a spade terminal. If you can't get the input to trigger by shorting the wires at the BOB then a new switch isn't going to fix your problem.

[Mtw fdu]

I cannot see where on the board the switch wires are. My board is a lot different to what jester has posted.

Mtw fdu.

[djreiswig]

Can you post a picture of the board? Maybe someone can point out where the switch might be connected.

[Mtw fdu]

Here is a pic.

Mtw fdu.

[djreiswig]

I found this information on your board.
https://www.cnczone.com/forums/archive/ ... 87732.html
See the post from reuel on 07-03-2017, it has a pinout.
It looks like the z limit should be pin 13. Could also be probe on pin 15. See if the wiring colors match what is on your switch.