3.6.20 control software

[GlenP]

He all. Anyone had any issues with the newest version of the control software? I have a 2007 PRS 4896 Standard and decided to update to the 3.6.20 last week. All was good till today. I was cutting mdf doors and while the machine was doing the outside profile cut I tripped my x prox switch. I knew it was okay and told it to resume cutting. Well wow....the z drove down into the mdf and jammed the collett into the material and the pinion gears was slipping away as it wanted to go farther. It was only supposed to down .25" into the material as it was first pass. I stopped the router and prompted the keypad to raise the z and it would not raise. I thought the bit and collett might be jammed so I used the wrench to put some up pressure on the router and it raised 2" with no problem, almost like it had not power to it. I again tried the keypad to raise the z and it lowered instead of raising it. Tried it four times and same thing. Turned all power off and recycled everything and still the same. I then decided to reinstall the last version of control software 3.5.20 that I updated from and all seems fine. should I have deleted the "ini" file when I updated? :confused:
Hope the rest of the afternoons cutting goes well....under tight deadline and one of my wholesale sign customers just called in a "rush" order for some hdu signs.

[ken_rychlik]

Make sure your decimal point was in the correct place on the .25 cut.

I am running 3.6.20 and I almost hate to say this, but.... so far, so good.

Kenneth

[harryball]

Glen,

Check you Z unit values if it occurs again.

I'm running 3.6.16 and I had an unexplained one time event about a month ago. I was running the machine and some moron set the machine up with the origin at the lower left but ran a file with the origin set to the center. I couldn't clear it and had to power down and reboot etc...

I zero'd Z, then a Move -.005 and it rammed the bit into the table. After much puzzling I discovered the Z unit values were incorrrect. I did a UI to make sure nothing was screwed up and corrected the values.

I wrote this off as a one time WTF event and it has not recurred. When I read your post it just sounded familiar.

/RB

[GlenP]

Hey guys. This was in the middle of a file cutting around 10 doors out of a sheet. I was working fine till it hit the prox and then it screwed up. I went back to the 3.5.20 software and was just trying to set up prox switches for home offset and it is not seeing the x prox when going to the x -2.0 offset. It trips the switch when I move it back towards home position. I have to admit I have never been one for using the prox switches but since now I have half a sheet of doors and lost home I am thinking I should use them. When I try to run the setup for the prox switches it tell me there is a error in the setup routine. I checked for loose connections and all is good. Just wondered when the prox hit if the quick stop made a loose wire gave a spike. I am going to give the 3.6.20 another go as I agree as perhaps this may be a one timer. I did read about the "ini" files and deleting to get rid of "residual" values. Should I do this or not worry about it? Thanks for the quick replies guys, appreciate it.

EDIT- Well just reloaded the 3.6.20 and the z is working fine up and down. It was off but when I just clicked zero z it started working. The z was reading at a height of 34.875. Perhaps this high of a value can cause a issue?? I still cannot get it to recognize my x prox when doing prox setup. It goes right past it but when I stop the routine and use the keypad to move the x back it sees it and stops. ?????

[dlcw]

Sounds like one of those ShopBot controller brainfarts that seem to happen to people occasionally. It has happened to me before.

[ken_rychlik]

I never ran any set up routine on mine. Just hit C3 and see if it works.

You can go into the C3 with custom info and or the xyzero file and change the offsets

Kenneth

[GlenP]

I agree.....brainfart. I tried the C3 and it starts out moving the x towards the prox (it is set for -2.0). It only moves in one direction (x) not in both directions at once. Is that right? It does go right past the x prox switch though and not stop till I stop it or hit the hard stops. I am going to check my prox wiring after supper and see if I have somthing wrong. I have never set up the prox switches before and have found that everytime it seems to trip one something ends up changing or screwing up. Just never been the z changing to 34.75 before. :confused:

[ken_rychlik]

I thought you said the proxy switch was working with the keypad.

To answer your question, yes, it does the x zero first, then it zero's the Y after that. it should stop and backup then do a slow move, just like zeroing a bit.

You should be able to check your proxy switches by putting a piece of metal in front of them and watching the lights on the control screen. I think mine are about 1/8 inch clearance for the setting at the bolt.

Make sure your limits are tuned on also.

Kenneth

[GlenP]

The prox switch does work with the keypad. They do switch on and off (hi and low) via the light on the switch and the screen. Not sure why it works with keypad and not during the c3 command. I will check to see if they are turned on but if they work during manual keypad moves they should work during other situations....right?

[GlenP]

Hi guys. Well I think I have it fixed. I checked my prox wiring and found out I had connected the prox inputs wiring wrong. I had x going to input 2 and y going to input 1. I had never used them before so never realized my wiring mistake. It now does the c3 command perfectly. I am running the 3.6.18. I tried ver 3.6.20 but it would mot go into preview mode, kept giving a error and staying in cut mode. 3.6.18 is working fine. I did notice that when i install the new software it seems to default the z to a height of that 34.75. Is there a default setting somewhere that may cause that? It will go to that z height for any software....3.5.20, 3.6.20, 3.6.18. Also when the z is at that setting and I try to move up (pg up) it goes down....rezero z and it is fine. Seems if z height is more than the 8 inches for table limits is does that. :confused:

[Gary Campbell]

Glen...
do a [U] [R] and install the proper settings for your machine. If that doesnt work, delete the .ini file and reopen the software.

I know that the software development team has worked long and hard on allowing the software to continue after a stop hit or in some cases a keyboard stop when doing a vertical movement. Truth is, it doesnt work, never did, probably never will. If you are in a file and the z was moving... do not select resume... its just not worth it. If you are stopped with a switch activated or in a lateral move... seems ok.

[srwtlc]

Glen,

I think I had the same Z axis anomaly, but I kind of attributed it to the fact that I was setting up a new computer with Windows 7 64bit for the first run. Since the initial Z zeroing, I haven't had a problem with 3.6.20. That figure of 34.75 sounded familiar.

This is for all, if you find a bug or think you may have, PLEASE drop an email to support at ShopBot as they don't always catch everything here on the forum. Sometimes a post may get buried or its direction changed and won't necessarily get noticed. We can all help to make the software better. ;)

Scott

[GlenP]

It was cutting on the x when it hit the prox switch. The z moved up out of the material and paused with the warning on the screen. I should have taken a second to look at parameters before and after restarting. I have in the past had worries about prox and loosing z height and stopped the file and rezeroed, and retoolpathed removing the parts already cut and started up again. I did as you recommended Gary...thanks.

I was wondering if because I had the prox switches wired wrong if when cutting on the x it tripped a prox switch that was wired to the y input if it could have caused the brainfart. The machine limits for y are 48.5" and it was cutting at 38.25" when it tripped the switch. Perhaps somewhere in the software math or codes it can cause an error when it is cutting within limits set yet a switch (input) says it is at the limits??? Just a thought.

Scott I will send a email to the software support at shopbot tomorrow and copy my post here. Can't imagine the hours of agony building and tweaking software and updates. I am running right now with 3.6.18 and cut the rest of the sheet that was on the machine when it went for its brain fart (as Don calls it). Heck |I have had a toolpath not open no matter what I named it once.....I renamed it f...u and it open and ran. Sign customer was in the shop and laughed his butt off. Thanks to all once again for the help and advice.
Scott have you had any issue with trying to switch to preview mode?

Gary I am going to send you a pm about a electrical question. :)

Now to work late tonight to make up for some lost time today.

[srwtlc]

There was a past version that I had a problem with the previewer (can't remember what the problem was now), but not with 3.6.20. Although the install of this version was a fresh install on a new Win 7 system and a copy over of the ini file.

[ken_rychlik]

The best part about 3.6.20 is the option to NOT overwrite the custom files. That was nice.

[srwtlc]

Glen,

I think I may have been able to reproduce your original condition, sort of. While air cutting and stopping/resuming, at some point things go terribly haywire! :eek: I'm on an Alpha with 3.6.20

If you run a file in offset 2d, pause and resume at your own risk and have a hand on the panic button just in case!

Report on the way to support tonight.

[GlenP]

Well lookie there.....maybe it wasn't just me. Things went good today in 3.6.18. Friggin hot here.

[Gary Campbell]

Glen...
FYI.. all the issues I had with 3.6.18 and reported were fixed in 3.6.20. I think it is a better version.

[GlenP]

Maybe I will try the 3.6.20 on the weekend. Right now my timeline on project is too tight. The old "if it ain't broke don't fix it" for now. I am trying to keep a log of little things that happen for future reference. Have a good night all.:)

[Gary Campbell]

Glen...
There is also the version I use on the software teams that aren't doing what I want them to: If it ain't broke, keep fixing it til it is!