Need help with Mirac lathe
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Need help with Mirac lathe
A friend of mine has purchased a secondhand MIRAC CNC lathe, but we can't get it to work. It is quite old and we don't know how long it hasn't been operational. I have downloaded the available software, drawings and manuals. The machine is not a MIRACPC as shown in various pictures on this site. The machine had an 80286 pc, display, and keyboard built in. The pc doesn't work, and the software that was on a 1.44mb floppy disk has long since dissappeared. The RS232 - I/O pcb seems to have life but we have failed to connect. We have connected a laptop to no avail, we get the error 128 software aborted. We don't know if the lead is wired correctly, or if the software downloaded is right for this machine, or if the RS232-I/O pcb is working or not. Is there any way of testing the RS232 I/O pcb without connecting a pc ? or is there a way of testing the software without connecting to the machine?. Can the RS232 - I/O board be repaired or replaced?. Date of manufacture is May 1991, serial no. MR19041A, MIRAC. All
MIRAC s/n-MR19041A, May 1991, s/n with electric 40344
Don't forget the drivers !
Thanks for all the feed back guys (not!)
I've made some progress with the software, when I downloaded the Mirac.zip file and extracted the files, I expected all relevent files to be in the folder, but the drivers weren't, so I downloaded both driver.zip files and extracted one set into the folder containing the Mirac files, now we're making progress
I've played around with the Mirac.go file and now all the drivers are loading, the only error I'm getting is 'Error 50 machine disconnected', because I'm not connected yet!
I've got two options with the RS232 lead connections now, which I will be trying on Tuesday, which ever one works I will post as the info may be useful to others
I've made some progress with the software, when I downloaded the Mirac.zip file and extracted the files, I expected all relevent files to be in the folder, but the drivers weren't, so I downloaded both driver.zip files and extracted one set into the folder containing the Mirac files, now we're making progress
I've played around with the Mirac.go file and now all the drivers are loading, the only error I'm getting is 'Error 50 machine disconnected', because I'm not connected yet!
I've got two options with the RS232 lead connections now, which I will be trying on Tuesday, which ever one works I will post as the info may be useful to others
Progress report
Well things are looking up, the RS232 lead works, there are no errors and the the Mirac software works (so thats something else we're going to need to learn !)
The 9 pin D female to 9 pin D female connections are as follows:
Machine PC
3 RX - 3 TX
4 TX - 2 RX
6 CTS - 7 RTS
8 RTS - 8 CTS
1 GND - 5 GND
Best to mark the plugs, as the lead will only work if connected the right way around
Mirac software - Need some help here if there are any takers. Couldn't get the machine to do anything even in Machine control mode, this may be because we didn't have the Mirac keyboard plugged in. (If anyone knows how the Mirac Keyboard maps onto a PC keyboard, that would be a great help!) We were using the laptop keyboard and the m/c plugged into COM1, using QDENFORD.KBD driver
We have now tested all the working parts, Stepper drives and motors, spindle drive, datum proximity sensors and end of travel limits, were even getting data back from the spindle speed sensor. The Lubricant pump also works !. The only part that isn't working is the Toolpost drive unit, we swapped it with the spindle drive unit to test the motor and brake and it works.
To test we used the Win3.11 Terminal program, and sent data to the I/O controller directly using the commands given in the Mirac 8 page manual that is downloadable from this website (Not the 164 page Mirac pc manual, although this may help later when we start CNC programming)
All in all a very productive week, if anyone has any comments to give us novices please do so
The 9 pin D female to 9 pin D female connections are as follows:
Machine PC
3 RX - 3 TX
4 TX - 2 RX
6 CTS - 7 RTS
8 RTS - 8 CTS
1 GND - 5 GND
Best to mark the plugs, as the lead will only work if connected the right way around
Mirac software - Need some help here if there are any takers. Couldn't get the machine to do anything even in Machine control mode, this may be because we didn't have the Mirac keyboard plugged in. (If anyone knows how the Mirac Keyboard maps onto a PC keyboard, that would be a great help!) We were using the laptop keyboard and the m/c plugged into COM1, using QDENFORD.KBD driver
We have now tested all the working parts, Stepper drives and motors, spindle drive, datum proximity sensors and end of travel limits, were even getting data back from the spindle speed sensor. The Lubricant pump also works !. The only part that isn't working is the Toolpost drive unit, we swapped it with the spindle drive unit to test the motor and brake and it works.
To test we used the Win3.11 Terminal program, and sent data to the I/O controller directly using the commands given in the Mirac 8 page manual that is downloadable from this website (Not the 164 page Mirac pc manual, although this may help later when we start CNC programming)
All in all a very productive week, if anyone has any comments to give us novices please do so
MIRAC s/n-MR19041A, May 1991, s/n with electric 40344
Need help with Mirac lathe
Thanks for the feed back guys,
We have managed to get all components working now, the toolpost controller has a new (well, 2nd hand) mitsubishi U120 variable speed drive, and with the basic parameters set and output voltage reduced to 110vac all seems well. The computer is communicating with the LCB3 I/O card, and we now have the machine keyboard connected to Com2, this also is communicating
As before, we can get the machine to operate using the basic commands on the Win3.11 Terminal program (ie I; for information Nx; to move the toolpost)
However, being novices, we don't know what to do with the Mirac.exe software. It loads up and sits there waiting for us to give it some commands to follow, but we don't have any info on what to do next. Our next step was to write a small CNC program to home the machine and then to get it to move in Z and X axis with the spindle turning. Can we use the same commands as shown in the Mirac PC document ?
Also, there is a MACHINE CONTROL function if you press F10, but again we don't know what to do next !!
Can any of you CNC Guru's point us in the right direction ?
We have managed to get all components working now, the toolpost controller has a new (well, 2nd hand) mitsubishi U120 variable speed drive, and with the basic parameters set and output voltage reduced to 110vac all seems well. The computer is communicating with the LCB3 I/O card, and we now have the machine keyboard connected to Com2, this also is communicating
As before, we can get the machine to operate using the basic commands on the Win3.11 Terminal program (ie I; for information Nx; to move the toolpost)
However, being novices, we don't know what to do with the Mirac.exe software. It loads up and sits there waiting for us to give it some commands to follow, but we don't have any info on what to do next. Our next step was to write a small CNC program to home the machine and then to get it to move in Z and X axis with the spindle turning. Can we use the same commands as shown in the Mirac PC document ?
Also, there is a MACHINE CONTROL function if you press F10, but again we don't know what to do next !!
Can any of you CNC Guru's point us in the right direction ?
MIRAC s/n-MR19041A, May 1991, s/n with electric 40344