Setting up TCP TP with Timing input problem

[DaveCVI]

Hi,

Dave
From the happy faces you posted I think you thought from my last reply that I had fixed the problem. That isn't the case. I was referring to the fact that I have had the max distance set to 10 inches all along.

Oh, yes, I misunderstood then. I thought the problem was the max distance was too low and that by setting ti to 10, the problem got solved.
I guess we will try some more to find what's wrong...

I think with all the trouble I am having I will be satisfied with not using the touch plate to measure tool height on the machine. I have mostly RH tooling and can measure everything off the machine with height indicator. I use probe as master tool and set my TLOs accordingly against the MT.

If you go this route, remember to measure the probe tool at the length it si when it just triggers.... otherwise your master tool TLO will be off and that error will present is all the other tool TLO values.

Would have liked to get the TP working but such is not to be.

Thanks for your help though.

Greg

To know where to restart in diagnosing this, I need to reset a bit....
1) I"m going to assume that the probe tool, when hooked to a pin and hence to the probe input signal, is all working fine. No problems there - is that correct?

2) if the probe tool.input pin/signal is all ok, then we know that the hardware is working for that input pin.
You can test the TP by connecting it to the pin you were using for the probe tool, then changing the pin from active high to active low. This will let you test the TP by touching it to the machien frame etc- when you do so, the PROBE LEDs wil activate. Does that work?

Dave

[GMcG]

Dave
The answer to question 1 is yes the probe works very well with LED for input signal working correctly. Probe works with corner probing etc.

With respect to question 2., When I hook up TP to same input signal as probe the TP triggers the LED when touched to frame of machine.

[DaveCVI]

OK, so we know that there is a hardware configuration where the TP works for the basic test.

In this config, the TP is hooed up and the probe is not - so DON'T attempt to do any probe operations with the probe tool..

Use this config. Tell MSM that the TCP TP is installed. Jog a (preferably blunt end) tool to be over the TCP TP.
Set the probing feed rate to a slow value (just in case). Now use the "measure Tool" button on the tooling page - it should probe down to the TCP TP, touch then stop and lift off etc - does it?

I probably asked before, but I've forgotten - so please refresh my memory:
what motion controller are you using? PP? Smooth stepper? something else?
MSM version?
mach version?
Win version? 32 or 64 bit?

Dave

[GMcG]

Dave
Haven't had a chance to try your suggested testing yet, swapping the Probe for the TP. However, I'd like to mention that I am going to have to get some advice to do that. Currently I have my inputs all pulled down on my BOB (C-10 from CNC4pc), therefore per the instructions for the CNC4pc probe I have a 220 ohm 1/4 watt resistor wired from 5v pin to the input pin. Should I leave that same resistor in the circuit for the TP, eliminate it or replace it with a different resistor. The CNC4pc website shows a TP hooked up for my C-10 BOB with the inputs pulled up, the TP at ground and the tool connected to the input pin. But I am unsure now how to connect the TP if the input is pulled down. By the way the C-10 allows for the inputs to be pulled either up or down collectively not individually. You can see all this at the CNC4pc website on the download tab for the c-10 BOB.

With respect to your other questions...my motion controllers are KL5056D for x and y and KL 8070D for the z axis. I believe they are smooth steppers drives. I use Win XP 32 bit version. My Mach 3 ver. Is 3.043.066 and my MSM version is 2.2.1.

Hope this hasn't become too big a problem. If it is getting into more than you have time to spend then I can operate MSM with jus the probe as MT and measuring all my RH and NRH tools offline on the Ht Indicator and insert the values into the tool table.

Thanks again

Greg

[GMcG]

Dave
Just tried your suggestion. Here is what happened...I disconnected the probe which I had successfully hooked up and used on pin 11 with a 220 K ohm resistor between pin 11 and the 5v connect for pin 11. I used a 2.47K ohm resistor in series from the tool clip to pin 11 ( the 220K ohm resistor removed with the probe so it is no longer involved for the test). I hooked the TP lead to ground. I conducted the test as you instructed. But as configured above it woul not even begin to move when asked to measure. I wasn't getting any led illuminating on the hardware page with a touch of the TP to ground in either active high or low. So I placed the 2.47k ohm resistor between 5v and pin 11 with a wire from pin 11 to the TP and the ground lead to the tool. I got an led to illuminate with a touch on the tool with the TP in this configuration with, I believe, pin 11 in active high. I tried the test in this configuration and when measure was clicked the spindle moved down and when it hit the TP it stopped and backed off. I thought well even though this isn't the way Arturo said to hook up the TP in his manual for the C-10 BOB, it seemed like it was going to probably work. So maybe I was getting ahead but I went ahead and hooked up the TP to pin 10 with the 2.47k ohm resistor between pin 10 and 5v, configured pin 10 in ports and pins. I then again made sure TP was a activated and the settings on WCO were correct, I did a tool change, the table and z axis went to the TCP but as soon as it went to measure the Z axis didn't start down and error message stated that probe already active. I tried a number of different things to no avail. So I reconfigured so just the probe is in use on pin 11 and deactivated the TP and pin 10. So I am back to using the probe as the Master Tool .
While it would have been nice to have the auto TLO measuring feature work, I have spent a lot of your time and mine trying to make something work that perhaps my BOB is not set up to do.

So I thought I'd let you know that I at least tried. Thanks for your help.

Greg

[DaveCVI]

the probe is active high, while the TP is active low - you have to chage that setting for th epin when you change it's use from probe to TP.
Did you do that?
Dave

[GMcG]

Dave
I finally got this going. I am embarrassed to say that the primary problem in not getting the mill to take the z axis down to the TP was the fact that I had gotten in the habit of pulling the probe jack out of its input so I could store the probe safely out of harms way. Of course this gives the probe input signal (led illuminated) a touch off indication. So when I was asking for the Z axis to go down to touch off a tool as a result of auto TP TLO on a tool change or just asking it to measure or to set the MCz MSM would evidently see the probe signal illuminated and not send the tool down to touch. As soon as I left the probe plugged in it all worked correctly. One exception was that when I was setting up the master tool (probe) the TP didn't see the touch. I eventually figured out that the probe itself was not passing he signal through to ground adequately. I placed a jumper from my machine ground to the probe tip and it saw the signal on touch and double touch. I saw something in the documentation that mentioned using a dummy jack for the probe input if you remove the probe and that is what prompted me to leave it in.

Any way this us solved now and thanks to your answers and your excellent documentation I got this working. So I hope that this series of posts helps someone else. By the way I went aheZd and got GWizard editor and have succesfully installed it on the mill MSM. Looks very nice.

Regards
Greg

[DaveCVI]

Good News! Glad to hear out got it sorted out.
Dave