X and Y Axes¶

Keyboard Jogging is not enabled in Mach4.

Turn the "Keyboard Jog" toggle to ON.

Avid CNC Mach4 Users Guide

CRP850-00E breakout board is not firmly seated into motor drivers, leading to motion in only one direction.

Reseat CRP850-00E breakout board into motor drivers to ensure all motors are receiving step and direction signals.

CRP850-00E breakout board is not firmly seated into motor drivers, leading to motion in only one direction.

Reseat CRP850-00E breakout board into motor drivers to ensure all motors are receiving step and direction signals

Motor or cable on one side of the gantry is faulty.

Remove motors from the end of axes to allow motors to rotate without moving the machine. Check that motors rotate as expected. If no motion, test the motor with known good cable to determine if the motor is faulty. If the motor does not rotate, replace the motor.

Motor enable/disable switch is in the 'Off' position.

Check switch position and set to the 'On' position.

Intermittent ethernet connection between Mach4 and the ESS due to a faulty ethernet cable, USB ethernet adapter, or USB port.

Perform the following tests to eliminate the ethernet cable/adapter as the cause of motion loss:

1. Test with known good cable, between computer and Plug & Play Controller.

2. Bypassing the panel mount connector on the Plug & Play Controller by plugging ethernet directly into the ESS board.

3. Test with a known good USB-to-Ethernet adapter or new adapter.

4. Test ethernet adapter plugged into an alternate USB port.

Replace cable or adapter if necessary.

Loose power supply wiring in the Plug and Play controller.

Turn off and unplug power from the controller.

Check the 5V and 12V power supply input and output wiring is secure. If necessary, reseat and firmly tighten connections.

Check the 5V power wiring on the ESS (12V on WarpRunner/TMC3in1 for Plasma controllers) and secure if necessary.

Loose breakout board connection in the Plug and Play controller.

Turn off and unplug power from the controller.

Check that the CRP850-00E breakout board is firmly seated in the motor drives.

For Plasma controllers, check that the WarpRunner or TMC3in1 breakout board is firmly seated in the ESS connection.

Loose motor control wiring in the Plug and Play controller.

Turn off and unplug power from the controller.

Check that all motor drive connections are secure.

Motor Drive Connections

There may be corruption of the network adapter settings that is causing connection interruptions.

Perform Windows Network Reset then rerun SCU application.

Network Reset Instructions

Proximity limit switches not connected to correct input ports.

Double-check the sensor cable connections at Plug and Play CNC Controller.

Note: A common mistake is swapping Y1 and Y2 sensor connections.

Sensor Connection Instructions

Material not adequately secured to table or spoilboard, allowing for movement when cutting.

Addtional or alternative workholding solutions may be required to eliminate movement in material while cutting.

Thin materials often require additional attachment to spoilboard in the middle of parts. Thicker double-sided foam tape is strongly discouraged as it can allow significant vibration while cutting

Spoilboard not adequately secured to the machine, allowing for movement when cutting.

Ensure all spoilboard fasteners are secure. Add additional attachment points if motion/flex is still present after checking existing fasteners.

Depending on machine size and application, it may be necessary to move cross members or add additional spoilboard supports to avoid large sections of unsupported spoilboard.

Overly aggressive feed rate or depth of cut causing tool deflection.

Reduce feed rate and test again for accuracy. Speeds may also need to be adjusted to maintain the desired chip load.

This type of inaccuracy is most often seen with small diameter tooling or cutting tools with long cutting flutes.

Tool diameter was not set correctly in the touch plate dialog window.

Ensure the diameter entered matches the diameter of the tool being used and re-run the touch off routine.

Auto Z Touch Plate Tutorial

Faulty motor on one side of the gantry.

Test motor on known good cable to determine if the motor is faulty. If the motor does not function as expected, replace the motor.

Program extents may be outside of the area defined by soft limits.

In Mach4 with work coordinates set and G-code loaded, click Regen Toolpath to the right of the toolpath preview window.

Inspect preview for cutting moves (green lines) or jog moves (white lines) that fall outside the machine work area (dashed yellow line).

Any lines outside the work area will trigger a soft limit error. If found, reprogram toolpaths to ensure the program stays within the set work area.

Mach4 has a "look ahead" feature which analyzes upcoming lines of G-code to ensure no command contains errors or exceeds the machine work area. The default setting is 20, meaning Mach4 is always reading 20 lines ahead. Because of this feature, a soft limit can be triggered well before the machine would have been commanded to move outside of the work area.