Changes to axis pins will not stick

[Titaniumboy]

I searched on the forum for about an hour but couldn’t find any answers.

I have just installed the UC300ETH-5LPT and UCCNC software on a Novakon milling machine. The Novakon is in the same class of machine as a Tormach. My mill has steppers on the axis and has a servo spindle. The mill is running a dedicated Windows 7 motherboard in the mills electrical cabinet. The UC300ETH is connected to the existing Novakon breakout board.

I had the mill running under a demo version of Mach3. I used the Mach3 Import function to transfer settings into UCCNC, but the axis Step and Dir and Port pins did not transfer over properly.

I was able to clear the Flashing Reset, but I had to set Emer Stop, X Lim -, X Lim +, Y Lim -, Y Lim +, Z Lim +, X Home, Y Home and Z Home to Active Low. I note that none of these were set as Active Low in Mach.

Even with the Flashing Reset cleared and being in Offline Mode, I am having big problems with all the axis Step, Dir and Port pins. Entering the correct settings does not stick with one exception. I am pressing Return after all entries.

The one exception is that I can enter 1 for Step and 1 for Port. I can also enter 1 for Dir and 1 for Port. Any other combination of numbers reverts back to zeroes when I press Apply Settings and/or Save Settings.

This same behavior occurs whether I am trying to modify the Mach3Import profile or the default profile.

I know I am probably missing something simple.

[ger21]

You need to use Port 2 or 3. Ports 1, 4, and 5 are mostly input pins.

[Titaniumboy]

ger21,

Thanks for the reply.

Now I’m really confused. My Mach3 screenshots show Port 1 being used for all of the axis Step and Dir, and for all of the Axis Limit and Home Switches.

[Robertspark]

you need to read the manual for the uc300eth as it explains and shows which ports and pins are what

http://cncdrive.com/MC/UC300ETH%20datas ... manual.pdf

I presume you have a machine that is using a parallel port interface if it's manual is showing you all of its device inputs and output pin references.

that being the case,
the port number does not matter in mach3 / uccnc only the pin numbers need to be assigned the same IF you are wiring to a presided device the same.

take the time to read the CNCdrive product manuals they will save you a load of agro

please read the uccnc manual within the documentation folder of the uccnc install cover to cover as it too will save you a lot of time. uccnc is not mach3. some of the parameters are different and very important to you having a working machine like corner error max which seems to catch everyone out who is new to uccnc and does not take the time to really read the manuals including me too.....

[Titaniumboy]

Rob,

Thanks a ton. That did the trick. Changing all the instances of Port 1 that came over from the Mach3 Import to Port 2 has me now able to move the table and head for the first time under UCCNC control.

I still have a ton of checking to verify all the other settings. The Mach3 Import function certainly has not been plug and play so far, at least not for me. I would have thought that the Mach3 Import would have caught the Port differences. Another miss by the Mach3 Import was that all of the Axis Step and Dir pins were nowhere close to what Mach3 had been using.

The old control system was just Mach3 running on a PC sending signals via a parallel port to a Novakon breakout board. Nothing very fancy. This new combo of UCCNC software and the UC300ETH external motion control should be a huge upgrade for my mill. Once I get all the bugs sorted.

Thanks again for the quick help. I had spent several hours on the problem and had not made much headway.

[Robertspark]

I know lots of people start out using the XML import.... but I normally advise starting off with a clean slate, that way you don't import any gremlins from Mach3.

UCCNC is similar but not the same (its better or we would not be using it or advocating its use )

If you need any further help, post some screenshots, photos, or your profile, link to your manual, whatever you have as it helps enormously (I've never complained of too much information..... its easier to sift out what is not important.... photos / screenshots are quick and easy to review

[ger21]

I would have thought that the Mach3 Import would have caught the Port differences

The Mach3 import just reads the Mach3 .xml file, and sets the exact same settings in UCCNC. It doesn't know what controller you are using, or how anything is wired.

[Titaniumboy]

Thanks for the thoughts regarding the Mach3 XML Import.

I ran into another issue in my transition from Mach3 to UCCNC. My Novakon mill has a servo spindle being fed by a Maxsine EP1 servo drive, and is being controlled in Step/Dir mode. The servo motor and spindle have a 1.5 ratio pulley set, so when the servo drive is at 2000 rpm, the spindle is spinning at 3000 rpm.

In Mach3 the spindle a setting of 10,000 steps per revolution and this gave a good match between the requested Speed and the actual measured spindle speed. In UCCNC I had to, by trial and error, get to a setting of 166.67 steps per revolution in order to get the requested Speed to match the actual measured spindle speed.

As a side note, under Mach3 the spindle rpm’s were varying by 20 to 30 rpm’s at, say, 4000 rpm. Under the UCCNC and UC300ETH combo the rpm’s were rock solid, varying by maybe 1 rpm. Very very impressive.

Any idea why the Steps per Revolution are so very diffferent between Mach3 and UCCNC?

[cncdrive]

The steps per value for the spindle should be the same for MAch3 and the UCCNC, because it is defined by the spindle drive to how many steps are needed for one revolution of the spindle motor.

[Titaniumboy]

Thank you for your reply.

I changed nothing in the servo spindle drive, or anything else, when doing the conversion from Mach3 to UCCNC /UC300ETH. I even swapped cables so I could fire up Mach3 again and verified that Mach3 operated the spindle at the correct speed with a digital tachometer. I reswapped the cables and UCCNC is also operating the spindle at the correct speeds.

The only difference being Mach3 has the spindle setting of 10,000 steps per and UCCNC has it at 166.67. I should note that the Mach3 XML Import originally had set the spindle steps per at 500.

I also note that 10,000 divided by 166.67 equals 60, which is a suspiciously round number. I haven’t been able to deduce what would cause an exact multiple of 60 to occur though.