[RPCElectronics]

I have been using Mach3 with my X2 mill for about six months. Learning the basic functions to get up and going was a bit of an uphill climb, but I feel more comfortable with it now. However, there is one thing that I have not been able to get a handle on.

Every time I restart the computer and bring up Mach Mill, it seems that the software has no idea where the steppers are (and I fully understand this is because it could have been moved while the computer was off and it has no way of knowing this). My method has been to initially jog the machine so that the spindle is in the extreme bottom left of the table limits and the head is up to the high limit. I then ref all of the axis to zero at this point. This seems to work pretty well.

I guess my question is, is this normal? There are still about a billion and one things about Mach3 that I don't know yet

[ger21]

Yes, it's normal. Adding Home switches will automate the process for you.

Another thing you can do is enable "Persistant Offsets" and "Persistant DRO's" in the lower right corner of the General Config screen. This let's Mach3 "remember" where it was when you turned it off, but there are no guarantees it's still in the same place.

[rowbare]

Also if using persistent values and you are micro stepping, there will be an accumulation of errors over time since the motor doesn't hold micro step positions when it is powered off. So if you aren't at a full step position, you will be that little bit off on startup.

You are better off coming up with a zero routine that works for you. Also you need to re-zero after an e-stop or if you hit the Stop button (pause is ok though since it finishes the block).

bob

[RPCElectronics]

Thanks for the responses! I think I'll just stick with my calibration method everytime I have to reboot the computer. That seems to work fine, it was just kind of a pain. Maybe somewhere down the road I'll look at limit switches to automate the process.