Slave axis moved opposite from Master axis

[jimskeet]

Hi guys
I faced a strange problem today.
I have a gantry router that has 2 motors for X axis. It has been working fine for months now and today for no apparent reason and without have anything changed this happened.
I powered on the computer and run mach3 then power on the controller which is connected via parallel port to the computer. Then I hit ref all home and the slave motor moved in the opposite direction. Thank god the machine was a few mm away from home and it stopped before making any damage. I tried to jog to the opposite direction and again the 2 axis were working opposite. I powered down the control box, squared the 2 sides of the gantry, powered on the control box and it was working fine after this.

What could have gone wrong and create this behavior? Any thoughts?

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[jimskeet]

Hi guys.
I faced the same issue again today.
Clicked ref home and the slave motor of X axis rotated opposite from the master motor. Why do I have this strange behavior??

[KH0UJ]

Sometimes you need to close MACH 3 then open again to refresh the software, I experience that kind of behavior almost on a weekly basis, I even tried using i5 and windows 10 64 bit, same scenario, it`s MACH 3 that is acting up, so the moment I encountered any error, I just press go to Z to go where I zeroed my tool bit then close MACH 3, then start again, you can sense that it will act up because in the first program execution it will halt and give unusual error report, so just let it go back to where you zeroed your bit then close MACH 3 then start again. not a big deal for me though because I'm running the machines on a custom CAM, I can zero my tool bit anywhere on the machine table.

[ger21]

Most common, would be a corrupt .xml file, or a pirated license file.

In 8 years, I've had my .xml file go bad twice.

If this happened on a weekly basis, I'd have switched software a long time ago....

[jimskeet]

Most common, would be a corrupt .xml file, or a pirated license file.

In 8 years, I've had my .xml file go bad twice.

If this happened on a weekly basis, I'd have switched software a long time ago....

Hmm
thanks for the input.
If it was a corrupt xml wouldn't this happen every time? Also the issue is that I do not reset mach to solve it. When this happens I power down the control box and power it on again and both motors work correctly. Could something go wrong with the motor drivers? Or it is absolutely at the software side?

[ger21]

If it was a corrupt xml wouldn't this happen every time?

Yes, I missed your last line.
If you have a valid license, then I don't have an answer.

[jimskeet]

Yes, I missed your last line.
If you have a valid license, then I don't have an answer.

I do not know if the license is valid or not. The machine was delivered to us like this. Is it a known issue for cracked versions of mach3?

[ger21]

Pirated license files can cause all kinds of strange problems. I don't think they are listed anywhere.

[jimskeet]

Thanks
I will look into it.

[jimskeet]

One last question.
Is there any chance that mach3 is sending the correct signal but something goes wrong with the motor driver or motor?
Or this is impossible to happen and I should focus only on mach3?

[ger21]

Yes, you'd need to check the voltage on the direction pin. I guess it could be a loose wire.

[jimskeet]

Yes, you'd need to check the voltage on the direction pin. I guess it could be a loose wire.

Actually I just talked to my brother, because both times the issue happened when he was operating the machine, and he told me that both times, the little "clank" sound that the motors do when they power on, was a little different than normal. The second time he was almost sure that something was wrong and that they will go opposite. Also the fact that he jogged back and it worked opposite again, and after not resetting mach3 but powering down the control box and on again, solved the problem leads me to believe that the issue is not at mach3 but in somewhere in the control box. So a loose wire is a possible explanation of this issue?

[asuratman]

You can swap the motor on that axis. If the same problem occur on the same drive, then you have problem with the drive. I did it with my MX4660. Now, I want to replace one of the drive.