[oldskinead]

hello there,
i've just bought a secondhand syil x4plus with mach3 installed to a desktop pc all working!!!
however it doesnt seem to work as i expect. when fully powered up i clicked on the ref home button and it overruns the x+ limit switch, what i mean is, it hits switch and doesnt retract just goes past it by a few mm then stops.

also i noticed when i press tab to bring up the on screen mpg the y axis + and - work properly, the x and z however only move in one direction regardless of + or - buttons.
if i switch the machine to manual mode so as to jog on the machine panel x and y work as they should x+ x- y+ y- but the z is opposite, z+ actually goes z minus etc. maybe wires crossed?

having a few problems... i wrote a simple drilling program, set an in-air g54 x,y,z and pressed start. the machine moves to the first point x,y, then down in z to safe height. the drill cycle g81 z-.2 r.2 f1 should go down to z-.2" then up to z.2 return height, however the z axis just continues in a - direction ending up .4 below surface height(display says its +.2 but is actually -.4). almost as if it's incremental although at start of program i put a g90 for absolute.

then at the end of the cycle, i press start it ignores the g54 i set and machines from where it ended, with each cycle start running eventually out of the machine limits. equalling no repeatability.

i have been a cnc miller/programmer for 20 years, never used mach3 before.
any help appreciated.

many thanks
.....................................

edit: i'm back, been playing with the machine today allday. i've worked out that the x axis only moves in a positive direction under program control, it takes negative input as plus and positive input as plus so G00 X-1 goes to X1 as does G00 X1, if at X1 and program X-1 it goes to X2. the z axis also does the same but in a negative way eventually clashing with the table(i stopped it before), Z-1 goes to Z-1, Z1 goes to Z-1.
if the machine is at Z-1 and its programmed Z1 it actually goes to Z-2.

the y axis is all good, i havn't looked at 4th axis yet.
the diagnostic page has no lights on except the X axis home ref light is red, as noted earlier i havn't managed to change machine home position to stop it running over the limit switch.

many thanks

[neilw20]

The direction signal, is not configured correctly in ports and pins,
or there is broken wire or short in the cable,
or the bob is faulty.
In manual mode non CNC mode the front panels controls jogging correctly probably indicates a problem between the PCB and the X4.
If manual mode doesn't go both ways, the problem is in the X4.
Give all crimped wires a gentle tug. -- with the power off.!!!
A looses stepper wire can fry a driver.
First step is to try another parallel cable. Most likely cause.
If the configuration has been mucked up, then save the .XML file from the Mach3 folder.
It will have the last date you closed Mach3.
Download a new file from the Syil site.
After the cable, this is the next step, or fault find why the direction bit is not working.
There are leds on the drivers, and when you change direction one of the leds will change state.
Try this on an axis that works.

[oldskinead]

hello,
i came home from work today, checked the ports and pins all seemed well.
gave the printer cable a wiggle with diagnostics open and a few port lights flashed- aha -happens that the extention cable was at fault so had to move pc closer.
just had to jiggle with the directions and home limits to suit, i think the previous owner got confused.
set a job up and repeated it several times.

thank you for your time.