Communication Errors-Travel Limits spontaneously changed "0" & other issues

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carboncymbal
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Communication Errors-Travel Limits spontaneously changed "0" & other issues

Post by carboncymbal »

[possibly Resolved- Using the TP-Link TL-SG105 switch fixes the communication errors. Input requested on why this may be helping the issue [/b]

I have recently been setting up my Avid Benchtop Pro CNC router. I am running an Acorn controller with Clearpath Servos. I am just in the process of configuring my machine for tool changes and things have generally been going well. However, over the last few days I have experienced concerning issues.

1. The machine homes (X,Y, and Z home switches in series, with a slave axis on the Y). However after it is homes I can manually jog into to home switches and error out the clearpath servos. Sometime while troubleshooting this issue, I noticed that every time it happens my travel limits visible in the Acorn Wizard are at 0! I have had this happen on the X and Y axis for sure, I can't recall if it has happened on the Z axis. If I plug in my actual limits, save, and restart I am able to home successfully and travel limits are respected. This has happened 3-4 times in the last 6 hours of the machine being on.

2. I have had a significant number of homing attempts fail. Frequently the machine just pauses, taking no action with no progress being made through the homing sequence. I haven't been able to identify a pattern to this. It does seem that often issue number one is preceded by a failed homing sequence (possibly in all cases). When this happens I have to end the sequence and rehome.

This is a really concerning issue and I haven't been able to find anyone else who reported settings being changed in their machine configuration spontaneously.

Thanks
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report_0035FF8A1900-1008203805_2021-01-10_00-29-41.zip
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Last edited by carboncymbal on Sat Jan 16, 2021 8:37 pm, edited 6 times in total.
carboncymbal
Posts: 88
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2020 11:12 am
Acorn CNC Controller: Yes
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CNC Control System Serial Number: 0035FF8A1900-10082038
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CNC12: Yes
CNC11: No
CPU10 or CPU7: No

Re: Travel Limits spontaneously changed "0" & other issues

Post by carboncymbal »

BTW, I am running mill pro, but actually have a router pro license.
tblough
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Re: Travel Limits spontaneously changed "0" & other issues

Post by tblough »

Travel limits are set to zero while the Acorn is homing and then restored to the correct settings after homing finishes. If homing fails for any reason, the limits do not get restored and remain at zero.

There are a ton of resend errors in your logs. It would sppear something is interfering with communication between the PC and Acorn and this is causing homing to fail to complete leaving the limits set at 0.

Are you using a shielded ethernet cable? Is it routed away from motor snd spindle wiring?

search.php?keywords=%2Bpairing+%2Blimit ... mit=Search
Cheers,

Tom
Confidence is the feeling you have before you fully understand the situation.
I have CDO. It's like OCD, but the letters are where they should be.
carboncymbal
Posts: 88
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2020 11:12 am
Acorn CNC Controller: Yes
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CNC Control System Serial Number: 0035FF8A1900-10082038
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CNC12: Yes
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Re: Travel Limits spontaneously changed "0" & other issues

Post by carboncymbal »

Tom,

Thank you for the reply. I am not using shielded Ethernet cable. It is routes away from other cables except at the near the point of entry into the panel where is is parallel for a few inches, but spaced away maybe 5 inches.

I gave a shielded cable on the way and will have it tonight. (thanks Amazon prime same day!)

Is there a way for me to test the Ethernet connection issues without going through this process repeatedly?

Thanks so much!
-Clay
tblough
Posts: 3072
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2016 10:03 am
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CNC Control System Serial Number: 100505
100327
102696
103432
7804732B977B-0624192192
DC3IOB: No
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Location: Boston, MA
Contact:

Re: Travel Limits spontaneously changed "0" & other issues

Post by tblough »

You should see the resend messages in the log window on the CNC12 main screen. You can check the log history by pressing F9 Logs/F1 Errors. Once you get rid of all the messages like the ones below, you can then move on to diagnosing why the squaring routing is failing. My guess is that once the resend errors are corrected, then the auto square routing will miraculously work and you will no longer have the limits reset to zero.

Code: Select all

(4)   01-10-2021  0:09:00 944 MPU requested resend # 14
(4)   01-10-2021  0:09:01 946 PC resending # 592 
(4)   01-10-2021  0:11:23 944 MPU requested resend # 15
(4)   01-10-2021  0:11:23 944 MPU requested resend # 16
(4)   01-10-2021  0:11:23 946 PC resending # 604 
(4)   01-10-2021  0:11:23 944 MPU requested resend # 17
(4)   01-10-2021  0:11:23 946 PC resending # 607 
(4)   01-10-2021  0:11:24 944 MPU requested resend # 18
(4)   01-10-2021  0:11:24 946 PC resending # 616 
(4)   01-10-2021  0:11:26 944 MPU requested resend # 19
(4)   01-10-2021  0:11:26 946 PC resending # 618 
(4)   01-10-2021  0:11:27 944 MPU requested resend # 20
(4)   01-10-2021  0:11:27 946 PC resending # 623 
(4)   01-10-2021  0:11:27 944 MPU requested resend # 21
(4)   01-10-2021  0:11:27 946 PC resending # 640 
Cheers,

Tom
Confidence is the feeling you have before you fully understand the situation.
I have CDO. It's like OCD, but the letters are where they should be.
carboncymbal
Posts: 88
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2020 11:12 am
Acorn CNC Controller: Yes
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CNC Control System Serial Number: 0035FF8A1900-10082038
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CNC12: Yes
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Re: Travel Limits spontaneously changed "0" & other issues

Post by carboncymbal »

Thanks for all of the replies. I think I addressed the communication issue. I believe the issue was the Driver on my Lenovo M700 PC. I'm going to write the details here for others who might have a similar issue.

Issue- Long delays during homing, homing ends abnormally, axis travel limits are changed to zero in the Acorn Wizard.

Test sequence

Note- None of this was done with the spindle in operation. I'll be prepared to troubleshoot noise issues when I get to that point.

1.Tested included shielded ethernet cable - Homing Failed
2.Inserted shielded ethernet cable directly into Acorn (Bypassing unshielded RJ45 bulkhead and 2 foot cable)- Homing failed. I accidentally right clicked on cycle start and the homing process continued. Homing fails at line 51 during M74.
3.Updated intel ethernet drives, restarted PC and Acorn, unplugged WIFI router within inches of computer/ethernet cable- Homing success 3 times, no errors reported
4. Tested again with multiple program open on computer and CPU at 85-100% utilization. (10 chrome tabs, youtube video playing, and fusion 360 open). This was to try to understand if the issue was due to a lot of programs I had been running prior to my restart. Homing success 2 times, no errors.
5. Plugged in router- Homing success
6.Reverted back to unshielded ethernet cable/bulkhead/cable connection- Homing success 3 times, no error.

Based upon this series of events I believe my particular error was due to a driver issue. I downloaded and installed the most recent intel networking driver from intel directly, including their network management software. That seemed to address the issue.

Next Steps- I have an identical PC and centroid setup for a duplicate machine that is experiencing the same issues. We will test it carefully prior to updating the driver to verify the cause.

I'll also be installing a shielded bulkhead connector and interior ethernet cable to limit interference.

Thanks for all of your help.
martyscncgarage
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Location: Mesa, AZ

Re: Travel Limits spontaneously changed "0" & other issues

Post by martyscncgarage »

carboncymbal wrote: Sun Jan 10, 2021 3:05 pm Thanks for all of the replies. I think I addressed the communication issue. I believe the issue was the Driver on my Lenovo M700 PC. I'm going to write the details here for others who might have a similar issue.

Issue- Long delays during homing, homing ends abnormally, axis travel limits are changed to zero in the Acorn Wizard.

Test sequence

Note- None of this was done with the spindle in operation. I'll be prepared to troubleshoot noise issues when I get to that point.

1.Tested included shielded ethernet cable - Homing Failed
2.Inserted shielded ethernet cable directly into Acorn (Bypassing unshielded RJ45 bulkhead and 2 foot cable)- Homing failed. I accidentally right clicked on cycle start and the homing process continued. Homing fails at line 51 during M74.
3.Updated intel ethernet drives, restarted PC and Acorn, unplugged WIFI router within inches of computer/ethernet cable- Homing success 3 times, no errors reported
4. Tested again with multiple program open on computer and CPU at 85-100% utilization. (10 chrome tabs, youtube video playing, and fusion 360 open). This was to try to understand if the issue was due to a lot of programs I had been running prior to my restart. Homing success 2 times, no errors.
5. Plugged in router- Homing success
6.Reverted back to unshielded ethernet cable/bulkhead/cable connection- Homing success 3 times, no error.

Based upon this series of events I believe my particular error was due to a driver issue. I downloaded and installed the most recent intel networking driver from intel directly, including their network management software. That seemed to address the issue.

Next Steps- I have an identical PC and centroid setup for a duplicate machine that is experiencing the same issues. We will test it carefully prior to updating the driver to verify the cause.

I'll also be installing a shielded bulkhead connector and interior ethernet cable to limit interference.

Thanks for all of your help.
You need to use the SHIELDED Ethernet cable. You should not have anything else running on the CNCPC other than CNC12.

Sounds like you may have a ground loop. Please post pictures of your control cabinet and ALWAYS post a fresh report.

Marty
Reminder, for support please follow this post: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=383
We can't "SEE" what you see...
Mesa, AZ
carboncymbal
Posts: 88
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2020 11:12 am
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CNC Control System Serial Number: 0035FF8A1900-10082038
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Re: Travel Limits spontaneously changed "0" & other issues

Post by carboncymbal »

martyscncgarage wrote: Sun Jan 10, 2021 4:10 pm
You need to use the SHIELDED Ethernet cable. You should not have anything else running on the CNCPC other than CNC12.

Sounds like you may have a ground loop. Please post pictures of your control cabinet and ALWAYS post a fresh report.

Marty
Marty,

Thanks, I understand now that shielded ethernet cables are required. I should have been more clear. after testing both shielded and unshielded cables to try to isolate the issue, I reinstalled the shielded cable, but am still waiting on a shielded bulkhead and 2ft interior cable. I purchased this control panel assembled and they did not use shielded ethernet components within the build and they also didn't ground shielding on the VFD cable (something I'll have to address).

Thanks for the point about the running other programs on the system while running the machine. I have dedicated machines and wasn't planning on using other programs while the machine is in use. I mention it above just as a test to see if that was obviously contributing to my issues in this instant, rather than just stopping at the first obvious solution (the updated driver). I'll be careful to limit what I am running testing/setting up the machine.

It appears that the driver update solved the immediate issue ( I was failing EVERY attempt to home, but haven't had a failure for the last 10 attempts), although I do understand that I may continue to have grounding/interference issues that will need to be addressed.

Thanks,
Clay
martyscncgarage
Posts: 9912
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Re: [RESOLVED]Travel Limits spontaneously changed "0" & other issues

Post by martyscncgarage »

Clay,
Post a fresh report and a picture of your wiring/cabinet...
Drivers can be a problem. Good you took care of it. Lenovo has an update utility that will scan your hardware and provide suggested updates. Did you use that?

I buy my shielded cables and bulkhead connectors from Amazon. No problems so far....
Continued luck,
Marty
Reminder, for support please follow this post: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=383
We can't "SEE" what you see...
Mesa, AZ
carboncymbal
Posts: 88
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2020 11:12 am
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CNC Control System Serial Number: 0035FF8A1900-10082038
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CNC12: Yes
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Re: [RESOLVED]Travel Limits spontaneously changed "0" & other issues

Post by carboncymbal »

Marty,

I'll follow up with a fresh report and a picture of the box shortly. Thanks

-Clay
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