mach3 pulse direction for Micromill DSLS 3000?

[dpekin]

Hello,

I've got a MicroMill DSLS 3000. It has been giving me a "Servo Error" which indicates it is losing pulses.

When I put a scope on the drive step lines on the paralell port I see a good 8us pulse in the negative direction. Does anyone know the correct step pulse polarity for this unit?

Thanks in advance.

- Dave

[awerby]

Your step pulse polarity is correct, although the pulses are a bit long - 5 us should be sufficient. Do you have the XML file for this machine, or are you setting it up from scratch? If you contact Kurt at Taig he can send you the XML file that sets up Mach3 with all the recommended initial settings, and he'll help you troubleshoot it from there.

Do check all the obvious things first, like lubrication (you need to lube all the screws and slides with oil (they recommend red ATF; I prefer #2 medium way oil) A little stiction will cause those errors. Another thing you might try is re-downloading and reinstalling Mach3 - sometimes a corrupted program can cause those errors too.

Andrew Werby
ComputerSculpture.com — Home Page for Discount Hardware & Software

[dpekin]

Thanks Andrew. I am in contact w/ Kurt as well. I have done a few things that seem to make the system less likely to generate the Servo Error.

I have routed all motor signalling cables away from the 110V power cables. Maybe there was a bit of crosstalk there.

I also saw that after one of the Servo Errors the Z-height was off significantly. This leads me to believe that the Z-stage is the axis that caused the error. I reduced the Z-stage velocity to 6 and I have been able to successfully run the g-code program that was generating the servo error. The velocities that seem to work are 20, 20, 6 for the x y and z stages for this g-code file.

What are the velocities that these stages should be able to be run at?

Also, I can continuous jog the z axis at speeds much higher than 6 and I get servo errors. In fact all the stages can jog much faster than I am running them w/ no error.

Thanks for your input.

Regards,
Dave

[awerby]

Well, Kurt's the man - do what he says, because he invented these controllers. But those velocities are pretty low. It should be capable of running reliably at velocities of X 50 Y 50 Z 30. Maybe your problem is the acceleration values? Try 5, 5, and 3 and see if it works any better. Fiddling with these numbers and running a program "in air" is a good way to settle on values that work on your system without errors.

Andrew Werby
ComputerSculpture.com — Home Page for Discount Hardware & Software