GETTING CNC WORKING

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GETTING CNC WORKING

This topic has 17 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 28 July 2011 at 11:01 by DerryUK.

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25 July 2011 at 11:26 #72409
PHILIP SHEARD
Participant
@philipsheard28288
I BOUGHT MY MACHINE 2 YEARS AGO AND DESPITE REPLACEMENTS ETC – I STILL CANT GET IT TO WORK WITH MY PC. PC RUNS WINXP AND MACH3 SOFTWARE BUT THE BOX SUPPLIED BY SYIL UK WILL NOT REPOND TO MY COMPUTER OF EVEN MAKE THE MACHINE TWITCH.

I HAVE TRIED THE COMPANY, THE USA OUTLET AND EVEN CHINA, BUT NO ONE WANTS TO HELP.

IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE WHO CAN HELP ME GET A MACHINE UP AND RUNNING. I AM COMPUTER LITERATE AND HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED ON OTHER MACHINES.. I NEED SET UP HELP. AM IN NORTH LINCS
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25 July 2011 at 11:26 #14955
PHILIP SHEARD
Participant
@philipsheard28288
SYIL SL2 CNC MACHINE
25 July 2011 at 12:46 #72413
EtheAv8r
Participant
@etheav8r
Firstly welcome to the forum.

Secondly typing in upper case is consider to be shouting, and will cause offence as it is considered impolite.

You should be able to get assistance from Amadeal who are the UK Syil distributers and appeared to me on my visit when researching what I should buy, to be very friendly and helpful.

Two years is a long time, and you do not say whether you bought it new from a dealer, used from a dealer, or used privately, and this might make a difference.

If there is not so much as a twitch, and you have had ‘parts’ replaced (which parts), it would seem to be computer /computer comms related. What type of PC is it. Have you tried a different parallel cable? Have you tried a different PC tytpe? Are you sure that the Mach3 software and drivers are installed correctly? Is the PC dedicated and disconnected from any network?

Have you tried Mach Support (you do have a full, licensed copy don’t you – I believe without a valid licence Mach3 is in Demo mode only)?
25 July 2011 at 13:37 #72416
Jim Guthrie
Participant
@jimguthrie82658
To add to the other reply, Mach prefers to work through a built in parallel port in the PC. However built in parallel ports have not been common on PC motherboards for a few years and the option is to use a plug-in board to provide the parallel port. And not all plug-in boards will work properly with Mach. I use a plug-in board with Mach3 and it took a bit of fiddling around to get ti to work, but once set up, it has worked perfectly.

Maybe you should log on to the Mach support forum for help. There is very good help there.

Mach Forum

Jim.
25 July 2011 at 15:33 #72421
Steambuff
Participant
@steambuff
Also are you using a Laptop or a Desktop PC?

There are issues with parallel ports on Laptops.

Also what version of Windows?

Dave
25 July 2011 at 16:03 #72423
GoCreate
Participant
@gocreate
Hi

Is your parallel port working in the correct mode? Do the drivers need EPP mode?

Here’s my tale of woe:

I am having similar problems getting my computer to talk to my Gecko drivers correctly this last month.

Like you I am using XP, my drivers require my parallel port to be in EPP mode, if you have an on board parallel port it can usually be changed in the bios.

I do not have an on board port so I am using a PCI I/O card. Unfortunately for me, although the literature says it’s EPP compatible when fitted it installs automatically in ECP mode and I can’t find any way to change the config.

This seems to be why I can’t get the system working, maybe you’re having similar problems for similar reasons.

Now I am trying to find a PCI parallel port I can set to EPP, hopefully one that uses a jumper setting so there is no option on installation.

I am not computer literate so I hope the above makes sense and maybe help you out.

The guys on Artsoft/Mach forun have been a great help.

Cheers

Nigel
26 July 2011 at 09:39 #72463
John Stevenson 1
Participant
@johnstevenson1
Hard facts are this is no support in the UK for Syil.

Amadeal is only a seller.

People often buy purely on cost and that small saving, especially on something that can be as complex as a CNC can come back to bite you.

Long , short is that support costs and somewhere down the line it has to be paid for.

I often get called out for jobs such as these but it cannot be for free and often costs more than the initial saving.

John S.
26 July 2011 at 11:09 #72468
ady
Participant
@ady
I don’t understand how they’ve made such a “mess” of things.

Everything was always compatible in the 1990s after a bit of jiggling in the bios.

It sounds like the best route is to get an older P5 pc with an ATX board preferably an old laptop which still goes, put windows 98 or WindowsME onto it and run it exclusively for the mill/lathe.

Those ATX motherboards always have both a parallel and a serial connection

http://www.ex-designz.net/pc_motherboard.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATX

Older pooters are as cheap as chips too.

The most compatible old windows operating system I ever came across was windowsME which bridged the gap between Windows and dos.

After WinME things started to get difficult and WinXP is not really a happy bunny with DOS, it can be a bit flakey.

Edited By ady on 26/07/2011 11:38:05
26 July 2011 at 12:02 #72477
ady
Participant
@ady
They still do “new / old” desktop systems on ebay, I suppose because they are still perfectly adequate for business purposes and netsurfing.

Seventy quid, including postage here for this one.

I’m still running on my old 1.4GHZ stuff from around 2000.
26 July 2011 at 12:50 #72481
EtheAv8r
Participant
@etheav8r
Posted by ady on 26/07/2011 12:02:36:

They still do “new / old” desktop systems on ebay, I suppose because they are still perfectly adequate for business purposes and netsurfing.

Seventy quid, including postage here for this one.

I’m still running on my old 1.4GHZ stuff from around 2000.

Yes indeed, for my new Sieg KX3 from ARC Euro I got myself a Dell Optiplex 745 with Intel Core 2 Duo 1.86GHz CPU and 2GB RAM for under £60 delivered from ebay. Found a Matrox video card in the bin at work that functions just fine.

I am now on the lookout for a touch screen to complete the system, but will use an old 15″ monitor until then.

I did consider Syil…. and other options, but the setup around the KX3 from Arc Euro seemed so much better (they seemed – and so far have been – such nice, helpful folks) and as John says above, some savings are just not worth making!
26 July 2011 at 15:19 #72489
PHILIP SHEARD
Participant
@philipsheard28288
Thanks for those who have tried to help. The unit was bought new from Syil and has never worked – tried on various PCs, some of which operate Mach 3 on other machines fine. I use Win xp and a parallel port on a desktop as recommended my Mach3. Theie help desk suggested drivers or settings on the control unit – but all have been checked by me and “experts”. I have had the local tech college guy( who teaches CNC) look at it – nil response – I have actually taken it back to Syils premises and asked the guy there to show me it – or any other working – he did not know how!!! Service from Syil is nothing – emails and letters go unanswered.

i not the comment about saving money – but it was very expensive and I wonder if, as it dont ever work, its me or if its “not of Mercheantable quality” ??/

I wondered if anyone has had one of these and been able to actuially get it going?. I really want to use CNC and am happy to pay to get results.

Once again thanks to those who have made suggestions
26 July 2011 at 15:42 #72491
blowlamp
Participant
@blowlamp
As just a stab in the dark – is a limit switch triggered by any chance and you are using the correct printer port number within Mach 3?

Mach 3 needs to address the correct port, or nothing will move: Printer port info here: http://www.beyondlogic.org/spp/parallel.htm#4

My parallel port interface board (CNC4PC) needs a separate +5v power supply, which is taken from a spare USB port, or nothing moves.

Pin assignments need to be correct too, so make sure they are properly set as per the manual or whatever came with the machine.

Martin.
26 July 2011 at 15:55 #72492
Steambuff
Participant
@steambuff
Philip,
Silly question, but are all the cables and power cables connected?

and do you have –

a/ Power to the Mill

b/ Power to the ‘Stepper Motor Interface’ this is usually powered from a seperate power supply to that of the mill.

c/ Power to any other ‘Boxes/Interfaces’

In Mach3 have you assigned the “Emergency Stop” connection correctly – Right Pins and Polaritty? (Input Signals – EStop)

I would expect a twitch when you power the CNC Interface/Stepper Motor Interface on.

Have you tried another printer cable?

Have you connected a printer to the cable and does that work?

Where abouts in the country are you located?

Dave

Edited By Steambuff on 26/07/2011 15:55:47

Edited By Steambuff on 26/07/2011 15:56:25
26 July 2011 at 16:00 #72493
John Stevenson 1
Participant
@johnstevenson1
Phil,

I’d PM you but you don’t have a profile that i can send to so if you want give me a bell, working hours, 0115 946 5885

John S.
26 July 2011 at 17:09 #72502
David Clark 13
Participant
@davidclark13
Hi There

Where in the country are you?

regards David
26 July 2011 at 17:11 #72504
blowlamp
Participant
@blowlamp
He says he’s in north Lincs.

Martin.
27 July 2011 at 21:53 #72573
Andrew Evans
Participant
@andrewevans67134
North lincs – i have heard tell of such a country it’s capital city is scunthorpe, the Venice of north lincs. It’s women are beauteous to behold I am told. Their tongue is strange to the ear but fair, very fair.

There are loads of variables so I would ignore the mill initially and start with the output on the parrarlel port pins, work through the online mach3 help and use a multimeter (or similar) to determine if the voltages and states on the pins match with the expected results. Once you know then output from the pc / Mach 3 is correct then move on to the mill. It’s then a case of working through logically.

Edited By Andrew Evans on 27/07/2011 22:11:20
28 July 2011 at 11:01 #72582
DerryUK
Participant
@derryuk
Philip, I live in Lincs (near Sleaford) and have a couple of oscilloscopes (5 I think).

I am quite happy to come to you and see what is coming out of your PC (if anything) etc.

Derry.
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