Novamill electronics

[Andy_b1986]

Hey guys

I hope this message finds you well in these strange times

I have acquired a novamill, electronics box, and original pc with software and dongle - with the plan to learn the craft of cnc machining

I’ve managed to get the pc working and so am now working on the control board. Apparently the board had been stored in a slightly damp space and I can see some corrosion on the board.

Wanted to ask the experts for help troubleshooting if possible. The corrosion isn’t that bad to be honest it’s certainly not the worst I’ve seen.

All fuses tested fine for continuity

Currently the board 7 segment display doesn’t show anything - the battery on the board is a 2.4v and measures 1.7v - not even sure what this battery is for or if it charges up?

I can see some corrosion near the rs232 port, one ceramic cap looks blown which I will replace. The baldor board underneath looks ok except for the NME0512D looks swollen so I might replace that.

I’ll attach some photos. Please could someone in the know help with sharing some knowledge on the best course of action?

I want to try getting the board working and I want to try avoiding swapping out hardware for any mach3 upgrade. Reason being I have the original pc, and am ok at soldering. I also wanted to learn how to cnc .... not necessarily the process of upgrading a cnc - so if I can keep things original then that would be great - it looks to be a great board with good components

Many thanks
Andy

[TDIPower]

the battery is not needed, so you can remove it. looks like you're on the right path, a good clean up and lets hope it works

[Andy_b1986]

Great thanks

Out of interest - what is the battery for? Was it to preserve some sort of memory?

I’ll remove it anyway before I start cleaning - but do you think it doesn’t need to be attached at all? Even when I install the card back?

Cheers

[TDIPower]

Not sure to be honest, I presumed it was to store settings but the word from Denford is it is not required for the way they use the board.

The boards are very capable units when you look into them and could do a lot more, I would say they are well over spec'd.

[Andy_b1986]

Last night I gave the board a good clean up and scraped away most of the corrosion on the pins - the worst affected area was around the rs232 port - which I guess makes sense as the enclosure fan is right near it so any dampness going through the system would naturally get stuck around this area

Have also removed a tantalum capacitor which was blown, the board battery, and the nme0512d. I have replacements coming tomorrow

Any additional pointers to check while I’m at this stage would greatly help

Many thanks

Photos below

[Andy_b1986]

Hi

So I’ve managed to fit the tantalum capacitor and the nme0512dc

Buzzed through the connections and they seem fine

Wanted to ask if there was a way to power the board without using the power supply from the enclosure as the enclosure is currently in a friends garage and I took the board out to take home clean and repair... wanted to check it before I go all the way to my friends

Cheers

[Andy_b1986]

So I ended up putting it back in the enclosure

I plugged up just the power in and 5v

On the 7-segment display I only get the top left segment illuminated solid and the bottom left dot flashes for a time and then goes out

Please could someone help me to understand what this means as I can’t see the error in the manual

Many thanks
Andy

[Andy_b1986]

Managed to get on the 7 segment display now shows
Top left
Top middle
Top right

... all lit

No flashing dot

And again I don’t know what that means

Also - I added a couple photos to show the display but also the second tantalum capacitor next to the newer one is now starting to burn - you can see the new capacitor next to an older one which has now gone brown in the photo and was smoking

Many thanks

[Martin]

The Denstep LED codes can be found here.

If you remove the Eprom does it still show the same message?

https://www.denfordata.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=3167

[Andy_b1986]

Hi Martin

I took the board back home with me to replace the blown capacitor - though I do expect another failure when I return

I will try to go back with the board tonight and try ehst removing the eprom - would that be the chip with v2.1 written on it?

I wonder if there is another way to power the board without needing the enclosure - that way I can check repairs quickly without having to drive to where I’m storing the novamill

Cheers

[Martin]

Yes the Eprom is the 2.1

You can power both boards up by supplying 24 volts DC on to the Logic connection. It should also power using a 24 to 28 volt AC supply.

[Andy_b1986]

Ok so I’ve managed to get the board back in and tested turning on the enclosure after plugging in each of the plugs - 1 at a time

No smoke! - which is encouraging

I attach 3 photos below

So there are 2 photos with the eprom installed showing a flashing dot in the lower left and the top left segment permanently lit

Then there is one photo with the eprom removed - this shows the lower left dot is permanently on as is top left top middle and middle segments... I guess it is the c display message (Indicating maybe cam profiling or cam table) though there was a moment when The top right segment was also illuminated indicating an o for offset mode

I really don’t know what that means - maybe I need a new eprom?

Many thanks