Odd stepper performance on a brand new machine

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4DThinker
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Model of CNC Machine: CNC Shark Pro, Probotix Meteor 25" x 50"

Odd stepper performance on a brand new machine

Post by 4DThinker »

We've got a brand new Probotix GX225 (formerly their Comet CNC) that has two Y motors to move the gantry.

The machine homes properly.
Any jog or g-code move in the +Y direction is fine.
All G-Code and jogging moves in the -Y direction start with an odd counterclockwise spin of the right Y stepper before it reverses to spin clockwise to bring the gantry toward the front. This leaves the right stepper behind the left stepper and the gantry racked.

Any clue what could be causing this initial counterclockwise spin of just the right Y stepper?

4D

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martin54
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Model of CNC Machine: Gerber 48, Triac PC, Isel fixed gantry
Location: Kirkcaldy, Scotland

Re: Odd stepper performance on a brand new machine

Post by martin54 »

What's the machine home position? I would have expected to see the same thing happen when homing. does the machine home X & Y in a negative direction?
How is the y axis set up in the control software ? Is it set up with a slave for one of the Y axis motors & if it is which one is the slave & have you tried switching them over to see if the same thing happens ?

4DThinker
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Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2012 12:14 pm
Model of CNC Machine: CNC Shark Pro, Probotix Meteor 25" x 50"

Re: Odd stepper performance on a brand new machine

Post by 4DThinker »

Homing sends the spindle to the left front corner. Y direction is front to back . X is left to right.

Despite the right Y stepper doing an odd reverse spin before spinning the correct correction, the homing routine waits for both Y limit switches to be hit before moving on. This squares the gantry each time the machine is homed. Any +Y move (jog or g-code command) proceeds correctly. All following moves with a -Y component make the Y2 stepper begin with a reverse spin before eventually spinning the correct way.

So I know something is wrong along the path from LinuxCNC through a parallel cable to the controller box. Both Y steppers should be getting exactly the same commands. The right Y stepper is getting (or just assuming) a +direction signal initially before then getting a correct -direction signal. Like any -Y signal after a +Y move gets there late. Sequential -Y commands proceed normally.

Probotix has sent a new controller with new parallel and usb cables. I'll know Monday if they correct the problem.

4D

4DThinker
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Posts: 1700
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2012 12:14 pm
Model of CNC Machine: CNC Shark Pro, Probotix Meteor 25" x 50"

Re: Odd stepper performance on a brand new machine

Post by 4DThinker »

It turns out that the mystery was a flaw in the initial parallel cable that came with the CNC. After swapping in the new cable that they sent the machine started working correctly as expected. More than a few times I've seen initial problems with new CNCs running LinuxCNC were due to defective parallel cables.

4D

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martin54
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Model of CNC Machine: Gerber 48, Triac PC, Isel fixed gantry
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Re: Odd stepper performance on a brand new machine

Post by martin54 »

Thanks for updating the post, always good to see how things were fixed, read a few posts on various forums where cables ended up being the problem, not just parallel but usb & ethernet as well, various control software not all the same one.

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