Help on setup on xylotex and mach3

[nurp]

I have a Taig with a Xylotec 3-axis kit (all new, had a couple years). I am having no luck at getting this to not lose steps. All three axis will lose steps and not all the same time but some time it is. I have setup board per the Xylotec setup sheets and I running for the moment Mach 3 Demo. I used a setup from the Xylotec forum for the Mach 3. I have experinced lost steps at all kinds of feed rates on the axis, any where from 2.0 ipm to 10 ipm. I have loosen and tighten axis gibs and tried different oils. It appears to make no difference if I MDI or run a program.
I have had this a while and can not get the glitch out. I is becoming very aggrivating as I keep trying different things with no luck. I also was wondering what the cable from box to drives needs to be and what serial cable is being used? Any help would be grately appreciated.

[ger21]

If you run Drivertest.exe in the Mach3 folder, does it give you a thin flat line?

[Jeff-Birt]

Did you start with a fresh install of Windows?

[ee_t]

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/benchtop_machines/106537-taig_xylotec_driver_board-post785252.html

[nurp]

Ran the drivertest.exe and have a thin line with a small spike every now and then. It said pulse rating sysem excellent. Not sure about this test?

[Jeff-Birt]

the driver test tests the interrupt latency of the parallel port driver. What it cannot test is the the quality of the signal coming out of your parallel port. Some PCs just do a crappy job due to the parallel port hardware used (or entire chipset used.)

There are a few things you can try in Mach to improve the situation. In Ports&Pins turn on 'Sherline mode'. This stretches out the step pulse width and makes it easier for the drive to 'see' them. The other thing to take a look at is your motor tuning and any mechanical issues that could cause binding.