Conect 250 problems VR Milling

[o1543andy]

Hi there , I have not long got a conect router , 1998 was it's date of manufacture ! I'd like Denford to service this machine and to upgrade to what ever it will go to , at the moment ihas vr milling 2.9 . I can't budge the machine that's why I want a service and to to get it up and running for me .
Do you guys do this sort of thing ? Already sent email to sales but no reply yet
Eagerly awaiting a response

Regards Andy

[Denford Admin]

The Conect link from VR Milling option was added a few years ago when the original control software refused to run on anything faster than a 486 on DOS/win3.11 (IIRC)
The machine was connected to a PC via RS232 and would only take basic move commands and didn't have any kind of buffer - therefore 3D prototyping work would be very slow.
If you have the option in your VR Milling dongle (locate and run DRIGHTS.exe then look for the rights to use Miller32 and ConvertMill)

If you wanted to retrofit the machine, then Denford won't be able to help with that, but I'd recommend looking at any of the numerous cheap CNC stepper control software and drivers you can get now as stated above:

Search for systems like these as a start to finding suitable software and hardware for retrofitting to your older machine:
EMC (Linux)
Mach3 from Artsoft (Windows)
DeskCNC (Windows)

I'm sure all of those platforms will have experts willing to help you to upgrade.

[o1543andy]

Ok thank you , for some reason my pc cannot connect with the machine ? ive got windows xp on
Is there something ive done wrong ?

I got this machine to just do simple 2d work on 2.5mm carbon fibre ! I realy wish i could start it working .

[Steve]

What model of connect do you have? What have you selected in the VR milling software. Are you using the correct RS232 cable?
Have you seen the machine working?
If the connect control is faulty there will be nothing we can do to help.

[o1543andy]

It is the conect 250 , i didant see it working but the person i got it of assured me he had seen it working. The cable has a blue conector on the end going to a usb conection .
I have selected the corect machine in the machine propertys window as conect 250 in the VR software.
The machine has its power light on and i opened the side to make sure it was all good and there are several small green LED on 7 are on

[Martin]

Does the USB plug in to the computer?
Check in device manager that it is configured correctly. It may be a serial to USB lead in which case go in to the advanced tab for the com port & change it to a com port between 1 to 5. I have had problems before with these devices being set as 6 or more.

It may also be worth downloading the latest version of VRMilling from the Denford website. I think it is version 2.31 now.

[o1543andy]

Yes it plugs in to the pc , ive just changed the port to 3 , it was on 7
I dont have the net conection to the pc thats trying to run the machine , but i can get them changed over at some point and download it .

[Denford Admin]

I dont have the net conection to the pc thats trying to run the machine , but i can get them changed over at some point and download it .

You could download the CD image from anywhere and copy onto the PC via USB key / CD etc. it dosn't need an internet connection.
However, the Conect link part of it is more likely to work with the original version supplied at the time - as we don't have any means of testing those machines, newer changes to the software may have broken something with the Conect link.

Also - did the machine originally work with a USB > Rs232 adaptor ? USB adaptors cause all kinds of problems especially with older hardware.
I would be tempted to connect to the PC's RS232 if it has one, or fit an RS232 card to the PC

(PS I have split this into a new topic)

[o1543andy]

From what i was told by the chap i got it off ...
He seen the mc working , what on im not to sure but assured me it worked.

He only had a lap top to conect to the mc so he got the USB connector .He then found out he needed a pc with a printer pot to run the software .
He never got one so he never used the mc.

I have a pc with xp on with a printer port , ive tried both connections ! with the usb connection and without , nether seem to work ?

Ive read in another post about a baldor usb connection that should be in my devise manager but its not there so i located it on the disk i have and tried to install it . It would not let me ? it says install failed (unsigned )

[o1543andy]

Ok ive just gone in to the machine mode in the VR software and clicked on the M Codes , spindle forward and it started .

[o1543andy]

Ok ive just gone in to the machine mode in the VR software and clicked on the M Codes , spindle forward and it started .

This is with out the USB connector .

[o1543andy]

When i try to home the machine the z axis is going -50 and it goes crazy , i cant figure how to get it back ?
Any one ?

[Denford Admin]

Ok ive just gone in to the machine mode in the VR software and clicked on the M Codes , spindle forward and it started

If you've got that far then the RS232 connection from PC to Machine must be working

When i try to home the machine the z axis is going -50 and it goes crazy , i cant figure how to get it back ?

In vrmilling, use the secret home button to allow you into JOG mode, then you should be able to jog the axis back (it sounds like it's driven into one end or the other and stuck, stalling the stepper motor)

Secret home function for VR Milling v2 and v5:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=53

[Denford Admin]

ps - you may have to alter the machine software limits to allow it to jog both ways.
This is because the machine clears the position to 0,0,0 on power up.If you don't actually home them, then wherever they were when you turned on is home. eg, the Z axis probably won't go any further up as it thinks it's already at the top (home position)

Go into menu > setup > setup machine parameters, enter denny for password then look under Machine Capability for the travel +/- limits