Trouble configuring a New Hermes Vanguard 3200 in Gravostyle 98

[Gary LaGuardia]

I can't seem to get this machine set up properly in gravostyle 98.
Its a New Hermes Vanguard 3200 with EP module, and it engraves just fine from the older DOS based program that came with it.
I just bought a used Gravostlye 98 pkg with dongle.
I installed everything according to the instructions in the manual.
The tool is set to the diamond drag in the tool selection box.
I thought I had set up the 3200 properly, and in the machining window the test run goes fine, the preview looks fine, but when I send the file to the machine, the EP module displays a series of messages "VALUE TO LARGE" and the cutter head starts jogging to the right until it hits its limit switch.

Under the printers dialog box in windows, I do have the GENERIC/TEXT driver and do have the spooler setting to RAW as stated in the manual.
My machine is a center clamping machine and in the machining window I do have the center clamp icon checked (I have tried the others and still have the same issue)

On the EP module the origin is set to X=6 Y=4.
This was so the old DOS program could find the origin.
Should the origin point on the EP module be set differently when using Gravostyle?

I have already spent hours on this and just can't figure it out.
SL734314.jpgSL734312.jpgSL734317.jpg

[Kev Williams]

1- press the YX origin key on the EP module-- where does the tool head go? It SHOULD go bottom left corner...

2- if it does go to bottom corner (screen coordinates should say X=0 Y=8), press the X to exit out, you're good.

3- if it does NOT go to the bottom left corner, then move it there, then press the check-mark key to verify...

4- slew the machine to the TOP LEFT corner.

5- start an new job setup, default table size should be 12 x 8, and left corner-- leave it at that, or make it so if it's not-

6- go into the setup menu (your second pic) and change the 'standard point' from center dot to the top-left dot. This SHOULD change your X and Y values to 0-0 automatically, if not, make them 0 and 0.

7 exit the setup menu, then HOLD THE CHECK MARK BUTTON for 3-4 seconds, screen will say USE [check mark] TO CHANGE TABLE DEFAULTS-- then press the checkmark again --you MUST do this before powering down the EP module or it will revert to the previous values.

8- Reboot the machine, and be sure "V3200" is the machine model that shows up onscreen! If not, we have to start over (pretty sure it is since it was running from the Opensys program previously)

Note: It's a misnomer that your machine is a 'center clamping' machine-- it IS to be sure, but everything is based on top-left corners- of the machine, or the material size- as the baseline/home position/starting point and goes from there. If the EP module was setup to believe the machine's home position was the center of the clamp, then the module will see the max engraving area is now only 6" x 4", PLUS it will consider the center of the clamp the top-left corner. Anything the module sees as beyond the engraving area will show up as a value-too-large error on the module, even though the program won't see a problem.

When the module and program are in sync, if anything goes beyond the boundaries, the PROGRAM will let you know

Hope this helps...

[Gary LaGuardia]

BOOM...Problem solved.
Thanks so Much!
I never thought that the issue could be that the origin was set differently for the other program.
The EP module homes to the rear left corner on start-up, and the "XY" button USED TO move it to the center of the vise.
Now after following your instructions, the machine homes the same on start-up, but pressing the "XY" button on the module takes it to the front left.
It now works as it should in Gravostyle.
I don't think I ever would have gotten that on my own.
You've made my day for sure!

[Kev Williams]

glad I was able to help- I've had my share of nightmares with these things, as I'm driving THREE 3400's, a 3200, a 5000 and TWO 5000XT's using EP modules..!

Which reminds of some warnings I should share

--speed issues when engraving more than one pass: this may or may not occur, but: *as an example* if you set pass1 for .5" per second, and pass 2 for 1" per second, you may find that the second pass speed will come into play before the first pass is done... WHEN this will occur is when the computer is finished uploading the data to the module. This can also happen if you set up multiple color jobs for jobs requiring more than one cutter tool, the speed(s) of the next-up tool's speed setting will override the one that's running. There's an easy test to find out if your machine will do this: type out 20 zeros at 1/4" high, as close as you can to home position. Set for 2 passes, for pass one make the speed.02" per second, for pass 2 make it 1" per second. Pass one will go super-slow, and the module should take several seconds to finish to load. If you have the bug, the engraving will speed up dramatically long before the first set of zeros is done- If it DOESN'T speed up, wait for the machine to finish and start the second row, which should then run way faster- If that happens, consider yourself lucky! Also run this test using 2 tool colors, to do this you'll need a second line of text using a different color tool than black...make line 1 black and slow, make line 2 red and fast. If your machine fails these tests, then (what I do is) either run all passes the same speed, or I run the slow pass(es) and faster pass(es) separately. Now that I think harder about it, YOUR machine may work okay speed-wise because GS98 and GS5 were actually intended to run the 3200-3400 machines with the modules! My 5000's, which are older (believe it or not!) were not, and they have this problem. (my 3400's rarely do multipass duty so I'm not sure which if any are affected!)

--pause... be VERY aware that when you hit the pause button, it WILL NOT PAUSE until the machine either reaches the next control point within the graphic (like corners of a square), or with complex shapes- circles and arcs- it won't stop until it reaches then next 'tool up' point... I've stabbed way too many holes in my right index finger over the years with the mircrometer pointer frantically raising the tool away from something it's screwing up!

--pausing and resetting the module to re-start because you forgot something, or whatever... You can't reset the module until it's finished loading the job from the computer, and if you've sent a complex job to the machine, that can take several minutes! Best fix is to go into 'printers', click on your machine to 'see what's printing' to bring up the job window, and keep that window alive on your taskbar. Should you need to reset a job, cancel the printing from the window, this will take only a few seconds to stop the download rather than many seconds or minutes!

-- machine running faster than the data download--! Yeah, it happens sometimes, depends on the complexity of the job and also on whatever else the computer may be doing-- if a virus scan starts while downloading, you might find the machine running but not moving more than not! IF that happens, pause the machine, and wait a minute or so, then restart. Hopefully the machine won't catch up

Just some of the fun!

[Gary LaGuardia]

Thanks for the tips. I printed them out and will include them in the manuals I got with the machine.