Recent Posts

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: Z axis position error at higher feedrates after switching Mach3/XHC → Mach4/ESS

« Last post by Fermate on October 12, 2026, 03:51:33 PM »

Found the error:

If someone finds this post and has a similar problem:

It turned out that switching to Mach4 was the problem:

When I turn up the feed override (to like 250%) and it gets higher that the max speed of the Z-axis, it starts failing immediately

I have now found that ESS recommends to NOT USE THE FEED OVERRIDE at all.

2

General Mach Discussion / Homing

« Last post by Jala2 on October 12, 2026, 10:31:44 AM »

Hi, I've been using my home made CNC machine now for 6 or 7 years, I recently changed to the UC/100 USB to Parallel device.
I'm having an issue which I can't find a solution too, namely when I home the Z and the Y always Home correctly but the X/A axis often either stops immediately or one axis stops causing the machine to rack out of square. I've changed over the X&A drivers but it only moves the fault to the other side. Its the A Axis that stops after initially starting to return to home. I have fitted extra Limit switches that prevent the axis racking out of square too much. About 50% of the time the Homing carries out correctly.

I would really appreciate it if anyone could help me.

3

Vistacnc Control Pendants / VistaCNC P4-S _ Can't vary velocity in VELOCITY mode

« Last post by Braith on October 11, 2026, 05:39:24 PM »

Excellent & well built device, accurate dial/wheel micro stepping is a vast relief. Easy install. Newly purchased from VistaCNC via eBay with a good delivery time.

We have a problem with 'Velocity' mode, in that turning the jog wheel results in a fairly random speed movement in the correct direction of the selected axis, but the speed does not vary with the rotation speed of the wheel. Sometimes the velocity is close to the max axis rate, sometimes very slow.
The movement ceases as soon as the wheel rotation is ceased.

We are using a 2 year old Omio X8 2200L-USB  router with post Aug2024 controller & a bare/offline win11 workstation running only Mach3.
I have tried numerous tweaks that are mentioned in this and other forums.
I have confirmed that I am using correct manufacturers .dll and .xml files in all cases
I’ve tried modifying the ‘Velocity Change Sensitivity in V Mode’ in the pendant configuration.
I’ve changed the port where the pendant USB cable was plugged in in case it was a USB3 prob
I’ve tried two Win11 pc’s and a fresh install of Win7Home in a old workstation.
Also tried starting Mach 3 in Admin mode
I’ve tried using ver 3.40 of the iMach3-P4S.dll instead of current ver 4.0 (Via WaybackMachine)
I re-flashed the pendant firmware to latest on VistaCNC site. Initially the new pendant showed v3.00, now shows v2.00 !
I’ve tried controlling a baby router that runs Mach3 (Sainsmart Genmitsu 3018-MX3), same prob.
I've tried a bare Mach3 controller board and the DRO changes seem to indicate same prob.

I can see examples on Youtube where the velocity is varying correctly and have seen no mention of this problem elsewhere.

There are a couple of other possibly odd behaviors that I won't go into (unless requested) in the interest of keeping this as short as possible.
 

4

PoKeys / Help with PoKeys57CNCDB25 and Settings?

« Last post by Holzwurm56 on October 10, 2026, 08:00:30 AM »

Hello,
I want to install a PoKeys57CNC DB25; according to the manual, I need to enable the "fast USB interface" in the settings. However, I can't find this option in the settings. Can anyone help me with this?
I am using Windows XP and PoKeys configuration software v4.8.2.
Many thanks,
Hans

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 / Win10 and UC100

« Last post by littleoutp on October 07, 2026, 10:33:04 PM »

I’d probably try the UC100 first since keeping the existing parallel cable and control setup is a big advantage. If it works reliably with Mach3 on Windows 10, that would be a much simpler upgrade than replacing the whole controller.

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: Help needed with Mach 3 and spindle control

« Last post by describeuntil on October 06, 2026, 02:28:00 AM »

Yes, this is primarily a combination of a spindle relay/output signal configuration mismatch in Mach3 and an inverted/floating 0–10V or PWM run-command state on the XHC USB board and the Fuling/Folinn VFD.

7

MachPro General Discussion / Re: Perfect DRO block.

« Last post by paul.stephens on October 05, 2026, 09:07:21 AM »

Craig,

I'm a bit of a dummy. There is a much easier way for you to handle your 'perfect DRO block' that I completely forgot about. There's already a setting for this.

Go to Service → Screen Config → Edit Offsets Auto Off, turn this to no. Once this is set, if you turn on your Edit Offsets, the offsets should stay on.

Ed,

Yes, a person can create their own screen tab that would be unaffected. If you want it to be the default tab that opens, go to the parent group elements properties and find "Default Tab", choose the tab number that you want on startup.

8

Mach3 and G-Rex / Re: Why is the Auto Tool Zero button not working?

« Last post by claytonclarke on October 04, 2026, 10:17:16 PM »

It looks like the script itself is working correctly when you run it manually, so the issue may be related to how the Auto Tool Zero button is configured or linked to the macro. I would check whether the button is assigned to the correct macro file and whether the controller software supports that function as configured. The “Not Yet Implemented” message may indicate that the button is calling an unimplemented function rather than executing your script. Hopefully, checking the button configuration and macro assignment will help resolve the issue.

9

Mach3 and G-Rex / Re: Mach3 Settings

« Last post by felixandrea on October 01, 2026, 05:49:11 AM »

The encoders are worth understanding before changing the Mach3 settings. If the Gecko drives are using the encoder feedback internally, Mach3 may only need to handle the step/direction signals, but it depends on the exact drive model and wiring. I’d start by identifying the Gecko drive model and confirming how the encoder outputs are connected.

10

General Mach Discussion / Re: Question about MPGs and Encoder?

« Last post by arachnology on October 01, 2026, 02:41:12 AM »

In Mach3, they serve different purposes. An MPG (Manual Pulse Generator) is basically a handwheel used to manually jog an axis. When you turn the wheel, Mach3 reads the pulses and moves the selected axis according to the chosen increment or multiplier.
An encoder is normally used to report position or movement back to Mach3, for example from a spindle or an axis fitted with an encoder. It does not automatically mean Mach3 will use that feedback to control the axis in a closed loop.
So no, you do not need to connect each axis to an encoder or MPG for normal operation. Configure an MPG only if you have a handwheel, and configure encoder inputs only if you actually have encoders whose position you want Mach3 to monitor.