I have been struggling for two days with this reading posts and changing config files but have got now where. I am trying to convert an old lasersaur to a Blackbox controller. I have connected steppers and limits, but nothing happens when I press home all I have the steppers working ok, going in the right direction and moving the correct distance. I have wired in 2 magnetic limit switches at the x 0 and y 0 positions. They are both triggered on or off depending on enabling of invert limit pins, when I move the machine head onto the limit positions. I have tried to flash the 2 axis version of the firmware but it has made no difference. Attached are couple of screen shots Any help so gratefully received Thanks Aaron
All red ONs looks wrong. Change Inversion until switches are green, then goes red when triggered. Whats wired to the Probe input, it shows triggered too
Cricky. Thanks for replying on a Sunday! I have nothing wired into probe. Do I need a special laser cutter firmware with only 2 working axis Also, I am getting: ALARM: 9 - Homing fail. Could not find limit switch within search distance. Defined as 1.5 #max_travel on search and 5 # pulloff on locate Cheers Aaron
Change Probe Invert $6 i think it is, back to default of 0 Yes. Wizards and Tools menu > firmware flashing tool
I have changed the probe so it reads off with green button. I have flashed the thing for a 2 axis machine, but it hasn't changed the control gui, and I can stll move the z axis if only virtually. Can this be right?
Yes, it just disables Z Homing. See gnea/grbl Else machine sit there waiting on Z to home before it can home XY. But as your machine has no Z, nothing happens and it errors out
Did you flash 2 axes fw? Switches working correctly in Troubleshooting? Homing enabled? ( Grbl Settings)?
Yes I have flashed 2 axis fw, although it has made no difference to the control gui. I can still move z axis (virtually), and I can still go to z 0 in machine co ordinance Switches seem to be working correctly in Troubleshooting? They are changing color as you described when triggered Yes, Homing cycle homing is enabled. Hard limits is enabled. When I press home all I get this error; ALARM: 9 - Homing fail. Could not find limit switch within search distance. Defined as 1.5 #max_travel on search and 5 # pulloff on locate
It won't change the GUI! It just changes the homing sequence As per earlier reply New error then. This time, you seem to have neglected to configure allowed Max Travel: see $130-132: gnea/grbl The alarm mentions the relevant settings it relied on to calculate where to seek for switches Take some time, read the Entire Grbl Wiki. It is a goldmine of info and understanding - without which you will only have frustration. All the issues you have had so far are covered by the information in the Wiki, taking an hour and working through the Wiki will save you a lot of hours down the road. Even read pages you think doesn't apply to you, like the Interfacing page (explains all the errors and alarms) etc
So you can't edit the allowed Max Travel: via the control software How do I get to the gtbl config file from the Blackbox?
Thank you for your patience in answering my stupid questions, and I understand your frustration. But my laser cutter has been out of action for two weeks and I'm loosing money every day. I buy a £200 quid 'plug and play' system and spend 4 days trying to get it to work and I'm not happy either. Please help me out if you can: I have set magnetic limit switches at the origin point ie. top left like the original Lasersaur. In the trouble shooter the x and y limit switches are green and go red when triggered. (the z is red) I have flashed the 2 axis firmware The x and y axis jog the correct direction and distance. But when I try home all I get is nothing but errors. I have read the grbl wiki and can't see where I am going wrong. I have attached various screen shots with as much info as I can. Your continued help would be very much appreciated Thanks Aaron
No frustration here, just trying to empower you with knowledge. Reading that Grbl Wiki is something everyone around here will agree is to your owm advantage Specifically read each error, then resolve that reason. Again, we know its hard, but the standard Grbl error messages are so clear they mostly tell you exactly what is wrong Your latest error says (again clearly in the error) that your homing pull off value is too small. Enter a larger number in $27 Homing Pull Off From the Grbl Wiki: Now most of these frustrations might actually be not going all in with the full ecosystem of parts. Do we know what the pulloff on the lasersaur hall sensors are? No, then trial and error with $27 values. Or replace it with our switches so all the default values just works.
Also, make sure your X switch, is actioning the X indicator in Troubleshooting and jogging the X axis moves the correct carriage that should approach the X switch. If any X axis components are plugged into Y axes ports for example it can also cause similar frustrations.
I have increased the homing pull off value in increments of 100 up to 1000 (which is almost the length of the x axis). I am sure the x switch on the frame triggers the x indicator in the trouble shooting window. Still there is absolutely no movement when I hit the Home All button. I have ordered some of your fancy limit switches, but can I not assume that if the ones I have got are triggering the indicators they are working? Now when I press home all not only does it not move but it does not throw up any error message. Thanks again for your efforts Aaron
Pretty sure the new switches will work better than the Hall effect ones. Hope you ordered new wires too actually, the lasersaur used a weird re-use of network cables right?
Hi again The story so far: I got your loverly limit switches, wired them up and promptly fried my BlackBox, (bad wiring, silly me) Strange thing is the new blackBox worked first time even with the magnetic proximity switches. Go figure. I now have two more questions: 1. Can the fried part of the BlackBox be swapped out for a good part? 2. My old Lasersaur homed itself to the top left of the frame and started every job from that point. Seems like a good idea because you don't have to lean over the gantry to load material. I cannot see how to configure this on the BlackBox controller. It is like it should homed itself to a point x0, y600. Is this possible to set up, or do I have to move the limit switch to the bottom of the frame? Thanks for any/continued assistance Aaron
Speak to http://support.openbuilds.com/support/home and they'll be able to advise on cost for a replacement Brians Board
Thanks both for your replies. Though I'm still struggling with homing the y axis. Both axis hit limit switches nicely, but they both become zero. In order to make the machine work I have to jog y to - 600, set that as home position, and then run the job. Is there a better way?
Homing sets machine coordinates. You get to set work coordinates to where the origin of the stock should be. It is stored in EEPROM so persists through power cycles. Work coords is an offset from Machine coords. Machine coordinates is where the machine is, Work is where the stock is. Most jobs relate to moves relative to the stock. Some clearance moves, parking, homing moves etc reference against the Machine positions instead If you use OpenBuilds CONTROL, just jog to where you want Zero, click SetZeroXYZ button Read gnea/grbl This means you can place stock anywhere on the bed, jog to the origin, click setzero and go. Not forced to use some specific corner for example. Really nice
