Denford Software & Machines

Hi
I have an old Microrouter, which when I acquired it from a school was working. Since then, the motor has failed (brushes), then the motor control board. Since this was too expensive to replace, I simply fitted an ordinary hand router with manual speed control. This worked to my satisfaction.
Now something else has failed; the machine keeps "forgetting" where it is whilst in the middle of a job and randomly goes off and mills the wrong bit! I'm fairly sure that this is not mechanical stalling as I can't here it, and have re-greased the threads. I therefore conclude that it is either another control board, or possibly the serial interface that has failed.
Anyway, long story short; I'm seriously considering scrapping off all the control electronics and replacing them with new but extremely simple stepper motor control boards connected to the parallel port of a PC, then using Linux CNC (formely EMC2) to control the machine. I'm not fussed about the door interlock (I'm disciplined enough to leave it shut whilst milling), nor am I fussed about automatic control of the spindle motor as my manually controlled router works just fine. I therefore think that all I need to connect up is the drive circuit for the 3 steppers, and the 3 home sensors.
Has anyone already done this conversion, and if so, could they offer any experienced words of advice?
Thanks

either the axes are stalling which could be a mechanical issue which might not go away with a new system.
or it's an old data corruption problem we had with older EPROM firmware.

Are you using vr milling v2 with and RS232 connection ? If so, check the EPROM version with Mintman
(best to get the latest version of v2 milling first from here: http://website.denford.ltd.uk/index.php ... -downloads)

Firstly - make sure any other Denford software is closed and disconnected from the machine
Then run the file: MintMan.EXE which is located in the VR Milling installation directory (C:\Program Files\Denford\ VRMilling)
Go to menu Setup -> Comm Port
Set the parameters to:
COM 1 (whichever machine is plugged into)
Baud: 19200
Parity: None
Data bits: 8
Stop bits: 2
Handshaking: none
Press OK
Press Upload Version button to check its working

If the version reported back does not mention data length checking then it could be that we can supply a new EPROM and fix the random move issue.

Thanks very much for your helpful reply, but I did the firmware upgrade that you suggest when I first received the machine.

Is the fault on the X axis?

When you say greasing the axis we recomend lubricating with a silicone spray then leaving it for several hours to dry.

No it suddenly appeared on all 3 axis. I've had stalling problems before and it's not like that, although I have gone through the motions of cleaning a lubricating with silicone spray.
I've bitten the bullet and have now ordered parts for the conversion.....

Just in case anyone else ever considers doing the same and finds this thread......
I've now completed the "upgrade". I replaced almost all the electronics in the big black box with a new 24V 15A switched mode PSU and a 3 axis stepper drive board that connects to the parallel port. I got them both from ebay for a total of £70. I've replaced Window XP with Ubuntu (free) and Visual Mill with LinuxCNC (free and very much better). The mechanics and re-wiring took around 4 hours and configuring and learning how to use LinuxCNC took another 6, but now it's sorted and working brilliantly.

a word of warning on the 3 axis board if it used the tb6560 chip, keep the psu voltage below 24v. They tend to fry if you go anywhere near or above 30v

now it's sorted and working brilliantly

Sounds like you've been busy the last few days! Thanks for keeping us updated.