Triac PC upgrade.

[MAX THE MILLER]

I have a Triac PC, S/N 80714F, Electrics S/N OC00203256, dated October 1998.

It is fitted with a Rack Control Card almost the same as the one pictured in this thread:-

viewtopic.php?f=54&t=3463

Is Controller B100434YY a direct plug in replacement for this card? I ask because what is described as the current card appears to be surrounded with orange screw connector blocks.

I am aware that the speed over ride pots will need rewiring to the 5V Supply.

Thanks.

[Denford Admin]

If it's got orange connectors all around it then it sounds like a Smartstep control (just the base electronics with the baldor Eurocard sat on top of it)
But, you say it's got a rack system ?
I can't find a document for your machine, but S/No 80714G is a Novamill supplied to the Weald school in 1998 - that had a Smartstep control

It will probably upgrade but I'd post some photos of the electronics so we can be sure.

[MAX THE MILLER]

Sorry, but I've confused the issue.

The control box definitely says Triac PC and has S/N 80714F. It was supplied to The Weald School.

Looking at the upgrade document on this site, the card which is FITTED is described as a Rack Control Card, with the battery fitted between the red 7 segment display and the 9 way RS232 connector.

By CURRENT card I mean the one descibed in the upgrade document as the CURRENT card, which I assumed is B100434YY This looks much bigger than the rack card though..

Thanks.

[bradders]

The upgrade rack card is Product Code - BI00434Y

[Denford Admin]

Yep, if its definately a rack card then this is what you want, either UGR0007 or the card on its own BI00434Y:

USB Rack Upgrade & VR5 Milling Upgrade Replace Rack controller Card with BI00434Y, Fit Internal USB plug and cables, supply VR Milling 5 software. Carried out on site by engineer UGR0007

[MAX THE MILLER]

Thanks for your replies.

[MAX THE MILLER]

The machine is now working with a USB control card and VR Milling 5. No problems with the upgrade.

The new card was a plug in replacement for the old, not forgetting to reconnect the ribbon cable from the adjacent card.

Changing the supply voltage to the speed over-ride pots from 12V to 5V was a simple matter of disconnecting two wires from the 12V supply, extending them, and reterminating them on the 5V supply.

There was a blanking plate on the control cabinet which I removed. I then cut a hole in the blanking plate to suit a USB type B receptacle and drilled the plate for the fixing screws. An off the shelf USB cable with type A and B connectors completed the job. There was no need to cut any new holes in the cabinet.

I also added a silicone USB keypad for jogging purposes. These cost just over a fiver from eBay suppliers and it's just a simple matter to plug it into a spare USB port on the PC.

[Denford Admin]

Thanks for letting us know it went well

Just thinking about the USB keypad, we've used them here on occasion (we stuck magnetic strips to the back so they can sit on the guarding)..it'd be nice if there was a key on there to put the software into jog mode and two more to increase/decrease the jog feed ?