Question New 420 owner

Hi, my dear wife (with my knowledge) very kindly bought me a 420 for Christmas, which I will use largely for profiling brass and nickel silver. I have previously been using a little Proxxon Pantograph engraver, which I converted to a very light mill - but this should be very much more capable.
I've just spent two days assembling it - and am exceedingly impressed with the quality of design and manufacture. As I design engineering bits myself for a living, it's a pleasure to see something as well thought through. It went together with no problems whatsoever.

Not so the software of course.... the UCCNC (with the 420 -2 profile loaded) is constantly in error mode, regardless of whether the machine us plugged in or not..... I have yet to get to the bottom of this (its not he machine, and certainly not the emergency stop button)

Any suggestions would be very gratefully received!

Thank you

Giles

Hi Giles,

Try running the UCCNC software in demo mode (usb disconnected) just to check that it all installed correctly.

If not, you can download UCCNC from the CNCdrive website - it wont have any bells and whistles that Stepcraft have introduced, but it's a fully functional industrial application that I for one have always used "as is" at its various up issues without problems.

I would suspect that if the software runs without the UC100 connected but fails if it is, then the fault may be with the UC100.

When you say the UCCNC is "constantly in error mode", what exactly do you mean?

Peter

Hi Peter - very kind of you!

If I run the software with no specific machine profiles selected, the program appears to function fine, but as soon as I select the 420 profile, the red button keeps flashing, and won't stop and when I go into diagnostic, I get a message to say that one of the limits has been exceeded . This is before the sub has even been plugged in..... It is however exactly the same whether the machine is plugged in or not. It leads me to suspect that one of the parameters in the profile is incorrect- but not being in anyway familiar with the software yet, I cant find my way round it!!!

Best,

Giles

Hi Giles,

That sounds rather peculiar!!

If you wish I can post a copy of my working profile so you can at least verify (or otherwise) your profile.

I can't remember if a "limits exceeded" error causes the "Reset" to flash or not - I'll have a play with my machine tomorrow to find out.

It's probably something trivial but b****y annoying when you are commissioning a new machine.

Keep smiling!!

Peter.

Thank you Peter!
I've now found and 'fitted a 420 profile that someone has kindly shared that appears to work fine.... however, now I am unable to find out how to put in the licence key. The only reference I can find to the subject is to double click on the icon - howeverbyhat dies nothing. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling, and in the process found that the supplied disc is decidedly flaky and is unreadable...! I have recovered some info, including profiles off it, but not the UCCNC program! I have now downloaded the general version from CNCs website, but Still can't put a licence in.

Going slightly mad here!

All the best, and thanks...

Giles

I have now found a video and successfully loaded the licence, and am now 'talking' to the 420, however, when I jog the axis, I just get a single click from the stepper motor. When i kill the power, the lead screws seem easy enough to turn (and of course lock absolutely solid when powered) so I'm at a slight loss as to why there's no actual movement. All is clear on the diagnostics panel.

(I didn't have this trouble with my laser!)

Best Giles

Things do get better - I'm very sorry to make a fuss! - I find that the second profile was causing the problem of the single click and no motion- so I reloaded the first - and all axis work, and work smoothly. However, the soft limits are in the wrong place, and the machine thinks that the centre of the bed is a corner, if you see what i mean....nsl now I have yo find where to permanently reset the soft limits.....
The Gas man Cometh....

Any thoughts on this matter would be greatly appreciated- but I am much encouraged that it actually moves and sounds healthy!

Best
Giles

Well - I now have full control over the machine and mechanically it's working very well. However, the software is one way and another a significant disappointment. PROBABLY not so much in its actual ability - but I wouldn't know - and that's the point. I have corrupted disc (UCCNC) which has been problematic to work round - but I've finally succeeded- and now my Vettic V Carve, which I bought in November and registered, now demands to be registered again for some reason, and has no functions until it is.. Extremely frustrating when one pays that amount of money for a program not to be able to use it!
I then thought I would try and do the 'test piece' from rescued data, and find that the start point is way off the actual piece - unlike how it's supposed to be, so it exceeds the limits before it starts, so I'm unable to even test that.

Frustrated and unimpressed with a large orange paper-weight, thanks to soft-ware.
(I'm not a complete novice, as I use Autocad for a living, and I very happily run my laser using Cut2Dlaser)

Happy New Year Giles,

I trust you did home the machine and then set zero to the starting point of your workpiece.

Homing should send each of the tree axes in turn to their designated reference points ( Z - up, X - left, Y - connector end) The machine values set for this state are embedded in the profile - X = 10, Y = 0, z = 60. The values read on the DRO are these values plus the work offset. Check the "Offset" page too see how this works - it can be confusing.

I don't know if Vectric V carve has a similar interface to Cut2D, but I've attached one of my project set up pages so you can see the reference (zero) point. When the machine has been homed and then traversed so that the tool just touches the intended start point on the workpiece (the red dot), the "Zero All" should be "pressed". This will set up the work offset such that the DRO reads zero - again check the "Offsets" page to see how this is calculated.

An additional source of confusion are additional offsets produced by G54 - G59 codes. Being a simple soul I have never used these, but who knows what is embedded in the test piece you were working with - certainly worth checking.

Peter

I would suspect that if the software runs without the UC100 connected but fails if it is, then the fault may be with the UC100.