I wonder if something like the electronic lead screw could be a viable alternative http://www.autoartisans.com/ELS/ . Searching for 'electronic lead screw' also now turns up at least one other similar project. The ELS project has been around for some years now and I would expect it to be good and so...

I don't know this machine or electronics but for an initial check I would look out for any socketed chips and after grounding yourself I would prise the chips out and press them back in. Classic failure in old electronics with tinned leads is oxide film formation causing degradation of the signals a...

I saw your problem and was wondering if the socket you tested the spindle motor with a kettle lead was on a different supply RCD to the one that tripped or the same. The reason I ask is that RCDs can go bad and trip with some loads, I experienced it with my TIG welder where when switched it on it wo...

Steven, Good to hear you have the coms working now which should make your life much easier regarding being able to enter and save programs to a PC and send them back to the mill later. I mentioned Hyperterminal as it ships with MS OS up to XP as standard IIRC but I don't consider it a good program l...

IIRC in Programs->Utilities you should find the program Hyperterminal, run that and open the com port your RS232 lead is connected to. Configure the port as appropriate to suit the mill coms settings ie baud rate, stop bits, parity and handshaking and then if all is good when you send a program from...

I have a similar looking board from a Triac and over time the NiCd battery can leak and is near the RS232 connection so if it has it could be effecting the signals. Replacing the battery and cleaning any residues with distilled or deionised water may help, I'm not even sure if it's required as I hav...

Not trying to put off a conversion as that may be beneficial but I was wondering what you have tried regarding the RS232 comms. I know from personal experience as a programmer for 20 years that RS232 causes more trouble than most anything else and seems to have caused some on the BB to lose the will...

Tony, Good to hear you're getting somewhere with suitable fuses, hopefully when all are replaced with appropriate ones all will be good. A few comments about TDIPower's comments the abbrevations DTE=DataTerminalEquipment, DCE=DataCommunicationsEquipment. These have caused issues for decades as a PC ...

Tony, The logic supply will be the 5V supply to the control card, +12V and -12V may be required by the RS232 comms circuitry. The main control card with the 7 segment display looks like that in the Triac but the output board it plugs into is different and has drivers for some of the output devices, ...

I'm thinking that those connectors you're seeing 21V at may be connected to the relays and maybe some other items as IIRC like in my Triac one side of the relays is at 24V and is powered when the open collector drivers on the control card are energised to pull the other side of the relays to ground....

What alloy are you machining and have you successfully machined it before. I ask because I machine parts from 6061 T6 from time to time and normally don't use any lubricant and it machines fine but a few years ago I got some from a local supplier that was very soft and gummy and even with lubricant ...

The data for the Cyclone here http://www.denfordata.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=3823 says the spindle is A2 3" and some data here about the dimensions http://www.lathes.co.uk/spindlenose/spindlenoses.pdf . From memory the taper is 1 in 4 on diameter but worth a bit of simple trigonometry to check ag...

The data sheet is fairly lacking in detail about the outputs, page 5 gave me hope that the output levels could be changed to 12V but all else indicated to me step/dir at 0 and 5V. The levels would need to be confirmed with the supplier or the output chips identified. The included picture shows marki...

Martin, FTDI has this to say about DOS https://www.ftdichip.com/Support/Knowledgebase/aretheremsdosdriversavailable.htm so you may be able to run the software in a DOS box. 32bit or higher Windows will tell you if the software is trying to make unauthorised hardware access as it traps and prevents i...

I've just plugged a FTDI based USB RS232 adapter into my sole Windows machine and plugged the tutor keyboard into it and connected to that COM port with Hyperterm and it registered consistent characters when various keys were pressed which I would say indicated operation with a USB RS232 adapter is ...

Martin, You should be able to test the drives using a wire connected into the appropriate 96 way DIN connector connection. The step and direction signals are internally pulled up to 12V within the Parker cards and so touching the wire to the signal ground would simulate a step signal, connecting the...

Martin, I looked at the thread and think they may have been lucky it worked with that stepper driver board but it is a totally different thing to the Triac with the Parker SD cards potentially. Obviously the Denford card can drive the Parker cards directly but has suitable output devices which as fa...

Martin, What BoB are you using? I'm not absolutely sure but having had a look at the SD card details the step and direction inputs are internally pulled up to 12V via a 4.7K resistor and that could damage some output devices with excess voltage. I think that may be why the use of discrete open colle...

I'm looking to do this on a Triac as well and use much of the original controls with a BOB and Linux but it's one of a few other round TUITs. You may need to look at the Parker stepper driver details as IIRC the step and direction signals need to be pulled to ground to activate, the manual is/was re...

That sounds like the old classic problem with solder coated contacts where oxidisation would creep along the contacts and eventually result in signal issues especially in low current circuits. Standard practice is just to unplug and plug the chips/connectors in again and that action wipes the contac...