!Stop! when com is lost??

[jdw]

We are about to start a large project with some fairly pricey material. We continue to experience loss communication problems. Today while air testing a file we would have cut our part in half due to losing y. Currently my system will loose com to y and continue to move in x. The display says its moving in y but there is no y movement.
Is there a way to set the system up where all movements would stop when a reset signal was sent to a driver. While this would be inconveinent, it would save parts.
TIA,
Jon

[bill.young]

Hey Jon,

This section of DrShopBot might help you figure out what's causing the communications problems...if not give tech support a call.

http://drshopbot.com/index.php?title=MaintainingConnection

It's from the "ShopBot Reference" section in the sidebar of www.drshopbot.com (http://www.drshopbot.com)

Bill

[paco]

Jon,

a good (perfect) understanding of the coordinates system of the tool is required to be able to resume a cut after an event (crash). You need to understand working coordinates and table base coordinates and the relation between the two. I know it may sound obvious but I feel I need to write it.

Next, to apply this knowledge, on your tool, you need a calibration device so that each time you power up the machine at the start of the day or after an event. This is what the proximity switches system is about. If the proximity system has reliable and repeatable behavior, your tool should calibrate back within 0.001-0.005". Anything more than that is too much; it'll leave trace on your part. Anything less is very desirable.

The above is a must even on a tool that never hang, crash, fail, disconnect or such.

Now, to help solve the disconnect and odd behavior of your tool, if I refer to my own experience, it's most probably related to the control PC. I know there is more than just the control PC about it but as said, I will tell you about my experience.

For months (years?) I had to rely on reporting my issues and observations to SB support. You should do the same. The current release of SB3 address a lot of the issues I have faced.

What help me the most while trying to troubleshoot the issues with SB support was to learn about my control PC and it's configuration. I use a very ordinary desktop PC with WinXP (PRO - was HOME before). I knew I had to get my control PC clean a lean but what does that mean exactly anyway?! There are many posts about this on this forum for you to read about. For me, today, it mean WinXP PRO (I'm not 100% sure one need PRO...) on a clean wiped PC hard drive with only the most needed component drivers and utilities. On my control PC, I only have Acrobat Reader and SB3 installed. Acrobat Reader has been configured for no update check and quick start. I've gone a further deeper into configuring that PC with this information (http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm) (thanks to a fellow botter). It is a bit technical but I can say it was well worth the reading. I'm not recommending here, just sharing my own experience. If you don't feel confident enough then... The key idea is to master your system configuration to a point were you know what going on. If we were talking about some video game then a crash would only be small trouble... but when it come to controlling a CNC tool, I feel the controlling part of the thing need to be optimized. If it's not your case then lucky you!

Here's two findings that I have observed in the past related to disconnection issue. Running a software (ArtCAM Insignia) that was checking for it's dongle every few seconds. That one disconnect my control box with SB3 and make my tool jerky (chocking of data transfer). Not using the software while running SB3 solve the problem. I only had one PC at that time... Unplugging my USB thumb drive (used to transfer job file) without using the 'Safely remove hardware' utility (system tray icon). This cause, even 3.5.3, to lose connection with the control box with a very clean and lean system. After starting to use the 'Safely remove hardware' utility, I haven't had any disconnect since.

Still, as wrote above, even with the most reliable and stable controller PC, if the calibration system (proximity system with zeroing routines) is not good, you wont be able to resume a cut accurately. #### happen (clamps, power failure, bad ideas, human error).

I hope that this may get some more information about the disconnecting issue of SB3. I can feel your frustration; I've been there (Not any more! So far so good for months!). Hang on and keep us post.

[beacon14]

My connection problems were caused by a defective memory card in my control computer. Switching computers solved the problem.

[Brady Watson]

One common issue with Dell-brand computers (and others) is their beat USB interface & the sharing of the USB port with peripherals that compete for bandwidth - like a mouse & kb. I've cured the disconnect problems many times by doing the following on ALL brands of computers:

1) Keep USB cable shorter than 15'
2) Buy a Belkin USB to PCI card from Staples ($40)
3) Buy ANY USB 2.0 hub and plug into Belkin card. Then plug USB to control box into it.
4) Run SpeedTest.exe utility in the Diagostics folder to monitor your results. It would be good to run this 1st to make sure that you are getting effective COM speed.
5) Last but by no means least, upgrade to the LATEST version of SB3. Several communication enhancements and the way packets are handled make communication faster and more robust. Port testing has shown that the USB COM speed in the latest versions of SB3 is as fast on a good computer as Mach3 COM speeds thru the parallel port on the same computer

-B

[jdw]

I Thank each of you for your input! I use a Quatech PCI card for communication, it is a Dell, previously running XP Home, a perifery job of a clean install, Agek upgrade box (basically same as 4G but came out first)..Dell is from 2001. Last night I did a clean format, installed XP pro, disabled up dating service and will now follow Paco's link to further clean house. One question; I'm running this particular file at xy move of 5/in/sec....have any of you found to fast a speed to be an issue in communication?? For the cut, this is not fast...very little material being removed with a 1/2" ball nose. David, how did you isolate and confirm your problem? Thanks again for any and all input!
Jon

[jdw]

PS...I am running latest vs of SB software.
Jon

[jdw]

One last thought for the morning...and then I'm through thinking for the day, if my problem is a com issue between input computer (Dell) and controll box (Agek or SB) then why do I loose just one axis (Y) while X and Z continue to be fine???
Jon

[cnc_works]

Jon, I lost control on an erratic basis to one stepper twice for two different reasons.

The first time was because of a bad driver which occasionally just quit sending signals to the stepper. Replaced driver, problem solved.

The second time was because of worn pinion gears so that from time to time the gear would misalign with the rack and jam or lose steps. Replaced gears, problem solved.

Good luck.
Donn

[beacon14]

Jon, when I finally got the "blue screen of death" I swapped out the computer for an old one that was sitting on the shelf. Eventually I took the bad one to be repaired and the tech told me the memory was defective. The manufacturer confirmed that by replacing the memory under warranty. I ended up upgrading the bad computer with a clean new install and have been using it since with few if any spontaneous connection issues.

[jdw]

Thanks guys for the input! I did my clean install of XP Pro and followed Paco's link and disabled alot of stuff! Clean install of SB software, and reloaded latest driver for Quatech card. This is not related to problem but interesting;...Prior to all of the above, while air cutting the machine sounded like R2 D2 going up and down the scale as it made wide arc...I mean the harmonics were wierd! Now, I do not get any of that...completly gone. Anyway, air cut fine for about 45 minutes and then lost Y again.
I opened the box and began to stare....I eventually found a hanging power wire to my spare driver. I reinstalled that wire as well as checked and tightened all connections, air cut for about 4 hours with now losses. I spoke with Marcus @ Gecko and he did not make any connection between loose wire on aux driver and lost Y. At his suggestion I swapped drivers and I'm sending them to double check. I air cut for another 4 hours with now losses.
I began to start cutting parts this AM and now I have lost ability to zero Z. I suspect its related to my disabling items in Windows. I have no good sense of where to begin trouble shooting this one. Thanks again to all for your input!
Jon

[myxpykalix]

I know this might be a PITA but do you have another computer that you could substitute to try to eliminate the possibility of it being computer or driver related? Turning off applications in your startup menu would not cause these problems but would open up more memory for your computer to operate with. You might go to www.download.com (http://www.download.com) and look for some small "memory allocation" apps to show you where your memory is being allocated to, this might show you that maybe the memory for the shopbot is not enough and it just loses it...

If you are able to cut for a period of time then the problem occurs could it possibly be related to some kind of overheating issue?