I am having a problem when probing on my Plasma Masso. Admittedly, I have an issue with my G code, but I'm working thru it a few lines at a time. My problem is that when I run my program for the first time, (after the machine has been offline for 24 hrs.) the probe commands at the beginning of the program works just fine. If the program stops or gets interupted, I rewind, Home the Machine again, and run the same program. This time when it tries to probe, the Z moves down, the Torch Touch Switch triggers, but instead of G92 Z0, I get an error (ALARM Touch Error) and the only way to clear it is to Home again. When I run again, I keep getting the TOUCH ERROR. Do you have any suggestions what might be happening? Also, is there a way to clear errors or alarms without homing again? Unit# 5A-2275 Thanks
Z probing difficulties
- Thread starter cncburn
- Start date
do you get the alarm straightaway before the Z axis moving down at all?
The alarm happens after the Home cycle, when the Torch touches on the table. (as if it is a normal crash not a probe cycle) I have attached a couple of files. The Probe+Z+Down.nc seems to work properly, unless I run it after the 1001.nc file. The 1001.nc is a work in progress, It has some redundancy and things I still have to remove. But it may give you some insight to my issue.
what's your Z axis minimum and maximum travel settings in the F1-Setup screen?
Minimum -7.5" Maximum 0.0 Home position is at the top (Z0) . During Probing it rapids down to -6.5 then Probes down to "torch touch" somewhere around -7". It's supposed to then G92 Z0 at that position. As I said earlier, it seems to work ok for the first time then ??
For reference, I am attaching the G code that I am working on. It will be part of the Fusion 360 modified post that I am using.
For reference, I am attaching the G code that I am working on. It will be part of the Fusion 360 modified post that I am using.
I guess your gcode file was just as an example file or were you running the same on MASSO because there is data missing such as G0 Z-VARIABLE ((RETRACT TO SAFE HEIGHT AS SET IN CAM)
Can you share the file that you are running on the MASSO.
Can you share the file that you are running on the MASSO.
Sorry for the multiple posts. I spoke too soon, my z probe issue is still with me. After watching the process carefully, it appears that when a program hangs or does not complete, homing again does not reset the z axis to the home position. The x,y,z all go to the home position, the x and y zero out on the machine position and the DRO. The Z zeros out on the machine position but not on the DRO, it still references it's height above the original probed position G92 Z0. From that point on (even if I manually zero out the Z DRO), I can't run another probe operation without a torch touch error. I think it has something to do with a coordinate system not setting or resetting, but I can't figure it out.
@cncburn Your problem is the same that I and @testyourdesign had with probing, homing doesn't reset DRO because the G92 is still active and needs to be cancelled. This is done by issuing a G92.1 command.
Have a look at topic How do you remove work offsets G54 & G92 and Work offset table and DRO
Regards,
Arie.
Thank for the info Arie. I am following your posts, and I did try G92.1 this afternoon. It does reset the DRO to zero. I will keep that trick handy. Unfortunately, it has not resolved my issue entirely. I still get the error when I run my program. If I run just a very basic probe command, (4-5 lines of G code) I am ok. But when I run a post from Fusion (modified so use the list of G codes and M codes for the Masso Plasma), it starts the probe cycle, runs down to the torch touch, and then stops with a Torch Touch error, as if the probe code never ran. Masso is trying my program, hopefully they can find the error.
I updated the software with v 3.38 and I changed the Gcode as you indicated, but I am still getting a Torch touch error during the probe cycle. I changed to probe Z to go up to the machine 0 position at the home position and I noticed that I get the touch error up there too (without actuating the switch). So I assume the touch error is not being generated by the torch touch switch, but probably from a position error. I will play with different z positions and see if anything changes. If you have any other suggestions please let me know. Thanks again.
can you please write down steps in dot points including a gcode file so that we can repeat the exact same steps, there must be something we are missing or doing differently.
I looked closely at the issue and it appears the modified post that I was using was causing the problem. I started fresh with a new post processor, and have narrowed down the problem to the two Z moves after the Probe cycle. The program would error out after zeroing the Z axis, until I added a G0 to the next Z Line after the probe cycle. The cycle works with a G0 in the line above the Z move too. (See the example Lines N17-19). I will be testing it out more in the days to come. The next challenge will be to insert some automation in the pierce height, cut height, and dwell times so I can set them as part of the Cam Post processor parameters. As of now, I have them as fixed numbers in the Post file.
Is there an updated list of G and M codes that currently work? I am using the G92.1 that was suggested on the forum, and I wonder if there are any others that are not listed?
Thanks again,
Is there an updated list of G and M codes that currently work? I am using the G92.1 that was suggested on the forum, and I wonder if there are any others that are not listed?
Thanks again,
We have all the gcodes listed in the documentation, G92.1 is the sub part of the gocde and that is why its not listed separately, we will have this added to the documentation.