Problem with X and A slave axis

[deemon328]

I've got a D model imperial in the works and I have my A-axis set to be a slave of the X axis (the long axis on my machine.) I'm having some strange issues when using the jog function on Mach3. Sometimes the A and X axes will move in opposite directions when I press the right arrow key on my keyboard. If I release the key and depress it again, the X and A may or may not run in the same direction. I also have this strange direction problem with the Y and Z. This has pretty much ruined my MDF gantry at this point, so any advice would be greatly apprectiated.

[ger21]

What kind of drives? Sounds like a voltage issue on the direction pins. Try increasing the pulse width and see if it helps.

[deemon328]

Hi, thanks for the reply. I have Keling KL23H284-35-4B. I'll give your tip a try when I get out to the shop this evening.

thanks!

[deemon328]

Well, unfortunately, changing the direction pulse width from 2 to 5 did not work. Could this be a problem with the type of wire that I used to connect my motors to the G540? I used what I had on hand which was some 20ga wire from radio shack. Should I be using a more shielded wire?

[ger21]

A lot of people have the same issue with a G540, and it's due to a weak parallel port. Change the pulse width to 20 and it should help.

[rockcliff]

try a different port cable, could be a bad connection, I have seen some really bad cables out there, with similar issues.

Use a short cable, never go past 6 foot long,

As Ger21 mentioned, a weak port could be an issue too, try swaping the PC, and or port

For motor wires un-shielded should be ok
For inputs you should use shielded and ground one end of the shield
For outputs un-shielded is ok

always route input wires and port cables away from any motor, or power wires

[deemon328]

Ok, thanks, I'll give those ideas a try as well. Chaging my direction pulse up to 15 ( the max that I could set it to in mach3) didn't make a difference unfortunately.