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Limit Switch problem with Blackbox

Discussion in 'General Talk' started by dbdb, Jul 26, 2021.

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  1. dbdb

    dbdb New
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    Limit switch x & y (I assume z also) do not stop machine.
    1) traced wiring, looks correct again
    2) I hand triggered x, y and z and see the response on Controller software troubleshooting screen.
    on/off red/green red, no popup window, no requirement to clear anything
    3) I click Abort, machine stops, yes popup fault window but 3 sec delay it clears itself
    4) all three Limit switches show red LED when hand triggered

    Is there a setting in Controller Software? other thoughts?
     
  2. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    Did you enable Hard Limits in Grbl Settings. See github.com/gnea/grbl/wiki - read the entire Grbl Wiki at some point, its a goldmine of info. Hard Limits is discussed on the Configuration page of the Wiki
     
  3. dbdb

    dbdb New
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    Straight answer no! I guess I missed instructions to make ANY changes in Control.
    Thank you for your quick response!

    I'm guessing you probability nail it.
    Can you think of any other software changes that I will need next or tomorrow?

    thanks

    dbdb
     
  4. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    By default Grbl has limits disabled. Most people don't really need them, though they make a nice upgrade, so we prefer you do add them.

    The Grbl Wiki is a must - read (all of it, even pages you don't think applies to you, contain valuable information).

    Our videos also show you to click the Limits installed switch if you do.
     
  5. sachismo

    sachismo New
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    Hello,

    I am having an issue with this that actually seems to be with the Blackbox X32 firmware.

    I have the hard limits enabled, but the alarm only actually triggers around 60% of the time..

    Watching in the troubleshooting page, the switch works perfectly and always displays the correct status. But the actual Alarm 1 seems to just randomly miss being triggered.

    Sometimes it works 3 times in a row, sometimes it will not trigger at all 3 times in a row. Sometimes it ill trigger only on release. Seems to be completely random but will rarely get through more than 3 triggers without failing at least once.

    Behaves the same whether controlled by USB or through TTL Serial. Using the standard openbuilds limit switches and nothing else connected to the system. Any help or insights into this are greatly appreciated.

    Thanks!
     
  6. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    We had a couple different ones through the years, are you referring to the latest Xtension Limits?

    Also, what Firmware version are you on? (if not updated since May, try Section 7.1 of https://docs.openbuilds.com/blackbox-x32
     
  7. sachismo

    sachismo New
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    Yes the latest Xtension limits. Both the switches and the Blackbox were just received last week. FW v1.0.370. Just did a fresh firmware load to be sure.

    Just to confirm the issue.. The switches themselves work fine and the machine reads them perfectly when verifying through the troubleshooting page. It's just that the alarm state fails to trigger. Tried different switches just to be 100% sure, with the same result.

    Attaching a short sample video of 4 attempts: Misses, Triggers Properly, Triggers On Release, Misses.

    Thanks for the reply and any further guidance!
     
  8. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    CONTROL is a Host Application and is current at V1.0.370

    Firmware is something that runs on the controller itself (Learn more about it at Home and Home)

    Check out the docs, you will notice the Firmware Flashing tool is an option inside CONTROL that allows you to update the embedded firmware on the controller

    The Xtension Limits has solid filtering, so needed to make sure that's what you have.

    Hard to confirm if the observation is correct from the video (there is a 100ms delay in some reporting statusses, tried checking for Jog moves in the Status bar but not clear).
    Alarm should not happen unless machine is Moving, so to properly test Hard Limits gently and slowly jog machine toward the switch. If the Troubleshooting tab reflects correctly it should work fine in moves
    The other inconsistency you notice, is after a hard limit, Grbl will allow a jog out of the switch without retriggering (unless the switch does release and then retrigger)
     
  9. sachismo

    sachismo New
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    Thanks. Yes I was mixing up the hardware/firmware versions. I did update the firmware with the flashing tool. I guess it's just GrblHAL 1.1f?

    So for me the alarms trigger (most of the time) whether the machine is moving or not.

    In actual use, if you jog into the limit switch, it works correctly most of the time (Alarm 1 or Alarm 3 triggered and reset needed to continue)

    But about 1 out of every 3 or 4 times the alarm will not trigger. (Limit switch shows engaged in 'Troubleshooting', log prints generic "[ ] GrblHAL 1.1f ['$' or '$HELP' for help]" message, next jog message will happily plow through the limit switch with no reset)

    Note: A continuous jog WILL be interrupted in this mystery state, but there is nothing stopping the next jog in the same direction from attempting to continue and break something.

    Thanks again for your time!
     
  10. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    The startup log will print all the details, 20230501 for example


    That indicates the board RESET when the limit hit. That indicates a dead short that causes the voltage rails to droop resetting the microcontroller. Could also cause permanent damage.

    - Check all wiring
    - Check that rubber spacers are correctly installed under switch (check that machine hitting switch doesn't cause the switch's solder contacts to touch nearby metal - could happen if mounted incorrectly), etc
     
  11. sachismo

    sachismo New
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    Gotcha, confirmed [DRIVER VERSION:230501]

    Hmm..The wiring definitely seems fine and nothing is shorting. (Tried adding an extra current limiting resistor on the data signal pin and skipping the 5v line just to be sure)

    Does that message always mean the GRBL has Reset?

    It happens for me every time a limit switch is hit, regardless of whether the alarm is triggered

    Log of Jog into limit switch with error triggered:

    [18:51:21] [ $J=G91 G21 X-1000 F75 ] ok

    [18:51:21] [ $G ] [GC:G0 G54 G17 G21 G90 G94 G49 G98 G50 M5 M9 T0 F0 S0.]

    [18:51:21] [ $G ] ok

    [18:51:22] [ ALARM ] ALARM: 3 - Reset while in motion. Grbl cannot guarantee position. Lost steps are likely. Re-homing is highly recommended. [ undefined ]

    [18:51:22] [ ] ALARM: 3 - Reset while in motion. Grbl cannot guarantee position. Lost steps are likely. Re-homing is highly recommended. [ undefined ]

    [18:51:22] [ ] ALARM:3

    [18:51:22] [ ] GrblHAL 1.1f ['$' or '$HELP' for help]

    [18:51:22] [ ] [MSG:'$H'|'$X' to unlock]

    Log of Jog into limit with error skipped:

    [18:57:04] [ $J=G91 G21 X-1000 F75 ] ok

    [18:57:04] [ $G ] [GC:G0 G54 G17 G21 G90 G94 G49 G98 G50 M5 M9 T0 F0 S0.]

    [18:57:04] [ $G ] ok

    [18:57:05] [ ] GrblHAL 1.1f ['$' or '$HELP' for help]
     
  12. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    It does yes. Definitely a reset
     
  13. sachismo

    sachismo New
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    Gotcha. So would the logs above indicate that there is some issue with my setup, or is it normal behavior to reset each time a hard limit is triggered?

    I'm at a bit of a loss for anything else to try to get this to work as expected.
     
  14. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    Absolutely not normal... As mentioned:


    Pretty important to find the issue.

    If you need help, we'd need detailed pictures :)
     
  15. sachismo

    sachismo New
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    Ok. Thanks. I'll document and follow up soon.
     
  16. teurlai

    teurlai New
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    Hello everyone, i am having trouble with the homming cycle, i installed properly the limit swiches, i did the troubleshouting test and they all respond,
    but when i launch the homming cycle nothing move, nor X,Y or Z and after a few second here is the message I get
     

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  17. teurlai

    teurlai New
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    Here are my gbrl settings:

    Key
    Parameter Value Utility
    $0 Step pulse time, microseconds

    µs

    $1 Step idle delay, milliseconds

    ms

    $2 Step pulse invert, mask

    mask

    $3 Step direction invert, mask
    X Normal
    app-notification
    Reversed
    Y Normal
    app-notification
    Reversed
    Z Normal
    app-notification
    Reversed
    $4 Invert step enable pin, boolean

    mask/bool

    $5 Invert limit pins, boolean/mask

    mask/bool

    $6 Invert probe pin, boolean
    $8 Ganged axes direction invert as bitfield

    bitfield

    $9 $9

    ?

    $10 Status report options, mask

    mask

    $11 Junction deviation, millimeters

    mm

    $12 Arc tolerance, millimeters

    mm

    $13 Report in inches, boolean
    $14 Limit pins invert, mask

    mask

    $15 Coolant pins invert, mask

    mask

    $16 Spindle pins invert, mask

    mask

    $17 Control pins pullup disable, mask

    mask

    $18 Limit pins pullup disable, mask

    mask

    $19 Probe pin pullup disable, boolean

    bool

    $20 Soft limits enable, boolean
    $21 Hard limits enable, boolean
    $22 Homing cycle enable, boolean (Grbl) / mask (GrblHAL)

    mask

    $23 Homing direction invert, mask
    X Min
    app-notification
    Max
    Y Min
    app-notification
    Max
    Z Min
    app-notification
    Max
    $24 Homing locate feed rate, mm/min

    mm/min

    $25 Homing search seek rate, mm/min

    mm/min

    $26 Homing switch debounce delay, milliseconds

    ms

    $27 Homing switch pull-off distance, millimeters

    mm

    $28 G73 retract distance, in mm

    mm

    $29 Step pulse delay (ms)

    ms

    $30 Maximum spindle speed, RPM

    RPM

    $31 Minimum spindle speed, RPM

    RPM

    $32 Laser-mode enable, boolean
    $33 Spindle PWM frequency

    Hz

    $34 Spindle off Value

    S

    $35 Spindle min value

    S

    $36 Spindle max value

    S

    $37 Stepper deenergize mask

    mask

    $39 Enable printable realtime command characters, boolean

    bool

    $40 Apply soft limits for jog commands, boolean

    bool

    $43 Homing passes

    passes

    $44 Homing cycle 1

    -

    $45 Homing cycle 2

    -

    $46 Homing cycle 3

    -

    $62 Sleep Enable

    bool

    $63 Feed Hold Actions

    mask

    $64 Force Init Alarm

    bool

    $65 Require homing sequence to be executed at startup


    $70 Network Services

    mask

    $73 Wifi Mode

    mode

    $74 Wifi network SSID

    ssid

    $75 Wifi network PSK

    psk

    $100 X-axis steps per millimeter

    steps/mm
    $101 Y-axis steps per millimeter

    steps/mm
    $102 Z-axis steps per millimeter

    steps/mm
    $110 X-axis maximum rate, mm/min

    mm/min

    $111 Y-axis maximum rate, mm/min

    mm/min

    $112 Z-axis maximum rate, mm/min

    mm/min

    $120 X-axis acceleration, mm/sec^2

    mm/sec²

    $121 Y-axis acceleration, mm/sec^2

    mm/sec²

    $122 Z-axis acceleration, mm/sec^2

    mm/sec²

    $130 X-axis maximum travel, millimeters

    mm

    $131 Y-axis maximum travel, millimeters

    mm

    $132 Z-axis maximum travel, millimeters

    mm

    $300 Hostname

    text

    $302 IP Address

    ip

    $303 Gateway

    gateway

    $304 Netmask

    netmask

    $305 Telnet Port

    tcp

    $306 HTTP Port

    tcp

    $307 Websocket Port

    tcp

    $341 Tool Change Mode

    mode

    $342 Tool Change probing distance

    mm

    $343 Tool Change Locate Feed rate

    mm/min

    $344 Tool Change Search Seek rate

    mm/min

    $345 Tool Change Probe Pull Off rate

    mm/min

    $346 $346

    ?

    $370 Invert I/O Port Inputs (mask)

    mask

    $384 Disable G92 Persistence

    bool

    $396 $396

    ?

    $397 $397

    ?

    $398 $398

    ?

    $481 $481

    ?
     
  18. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    Unreadable. Post a proper Grbl Settings backup (button on the toolbar)
     

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