Problem with rotary helix programming with hand held

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Eric Sooy
New Member
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue, Aug 25 2009, 7:22AM
Company Name: Black Swamp Percussion

Problem with rotary helix programming with hand held

Post by Eric Sooy »

I am having a weird issue with the hand held programmer and trying to program a rotary helix. The prescribed order of programming is:
Shift 5
Shift 2 plus or minus to "wait" mode
Enter axis 1 and 2 distance to center of fixture
Shift 7
Enter angle of the arc and direction
Enter Axis 4 (in this case) and enter number of degrees to rotate the axis

At this point there is a problem. When I enter the degrees to rotate the axis, the axis number is erased! When I manually type in the axis by the keyboard, the axis again erases when I go to Shift 2 to go to "move" mode. I can get around this problem by typing in (again) the axis 4 by keyboard AFTER I go to the "move" mode. But, I have to make sure the cursor is highlighting the degrees to rotate axis 4 before pressing "axis" (pressing "enter does not work) to execute the move. Any advice for me? I'm following the workbook command sequence up until the enter command to execute the movement (axis command DOES work) but that axis 4 text erases itself.

Another problem is that the feed rate can't be set by SHIFT + "Feed Rate". That also has to be done with the keyboard input. But that's another topic.
Eric Sooy
New Member
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue, Aug 25 2009, 7:22AM
Company Name: Black Swamp Percussion

Re: Problem with rotary helix programming with hand held

Post by Eric Sooy »

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Clint Buechlein
Thermwood Team
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Joined: Fri, May 15 2015, 1:21PM
Company Name: Thermwood Corp
Country: UNITED STATES

Re: Problem with rotary helix programming with hand held

Post by Clint Buechlein »

Eric,

To verify a few things, what version of THM are you on, what is the model number of the hand held you are using (should say on the back on the sticker unless it is one with the big wheel), and is TCP active when you are in teach (G48.1 must be in the list of active codes on the screen)?

-Clint-
Eric Sooy
New Member
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue, Aug 25 2009, 7:22AM
Company Name: Black Swamp Percussion

Re: Problem with rotary helix programming with hand held

Post by Eric Sooy »

Ok, I finally got some time on the machine to test some things further.

When I went through the sequence again, and the helix axis disappeared, I learned that even though it disappears the programming sequence does in fact work. I think what threw me is that the axis number disappeared and the blinking cursor was in that field, so I thought I had to enter that axis again to make it work. Maybe I just didn't notice that happening on my old machine with the previous version handheld (the one with the wheel). I used this program method a million times and so I must have just been thrown off my routine. One thing that is definitely different though is that you have to press enter twice on the handheld before the move is recorded.

On a side note, I did update the control to the latest version (10.6.2) before trying this again.
Also, the active code shows as G48.0 and not G48.1. ??

So anyway, I think I have it figured out. I think :)
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