Denford Software & Machines

fOLLOWING A COMPUTER CRASH,(CAUSE NOT KNOWN, BUT IT MAY NOT
HAVE BEEN A FAULT WITH THIS MACHINE ) ALTHOUGH THE POWER SUPPLY TO THE COMPUTER HAS HAD TO BE REPLACED , NOW THE COMPUTER LOADS FINE BUT THE MILL COMES UP, INITIALISING MINT 3.28 . AND THAT ALL IT DOES.
I AM USING FANUC2.82 SOFTWARE. I TRIED ANOTHER COMPUTER. BUT
NO DIFFERENCE, WHEN i UNPLUG THE MACHINE & KEYBOARD, I STILL
GET THE SAME MESSAGE . WHICH IS DIFFERENT TO BEFORE THESE
PROBLEMS, WHEN THE MESAGE WAS SOFTWARE ABBORTED NO KEYBOARD OR INTERFACE . ANY IDEARS .

It sounds like whatever caused your computer PSU to blow, may have damaged the RS232 port on the control card at the same time.

Its a difficult one to test unless you had another control card to swap it with.

I don't know if the Mint 328 firmware sent any data out of the RS232 on power up - if it did, you could try running something like hyperterminal or teraterm, to see if anything was being transmitted by the control board.

It may also be worth investing in an RS232 signal indicator like this:
https://www.abra-electronics.com/catalog ... F-100.html
Just to see if Transmit and Receive lines are "alive"

FOLLOWING THE ABOVE SUGGESTIONS, IVE CHECKED THE CONTROL
CARD & FOUND CORROSION ON SEVERAL PARTS OF THE BOARD, IN
FACT PART OF SOME OF THE ETCHING IS ERRODED AWAY,
I HAVE CHECKED THE PORTS WILL ANOTHER SERIAL DEVICE AND THAT
WORKS WELL.
SO WHO CAN REPAIR THESE BOARDS OR WHERE CAN I GET ANOTHER ?.
. PETER

Is it a Baldor control card (the one with a red seven segment display at the top of the card rack ?)

We may have some spares, or it may be possible to get Baldor to repair it / exchange it.
Depending upon the cost of that, it may be a better long-term option to update the control card and software to USB and windows (new PC)control software - we have done a few Triacs which I reckon to be the same vintage as yours

To be sure what we are talking about, can you attach a photo of inside the electrical box, and of the corrosion you have seen ?

Thanks

If you visit the link under machines you can identify the board type and also see what Admin is talking about with the advantages of upgrading to USB.

The machine performance would be vastly improved as you would get full 3D contouring.



viewtopic.php?t=116

I VE attached some photos of the triac , the offending board & the
damage to the baord . to help identify it .
now the questions . how much will it cost to repair, if possible.
how much for a new board, if available .
whats the cost of upgrading to usb.
also the cost of new software to run the upgraded machine .
your help is greatly appreaciated .
sorry Ive got the photos in the wrong order , but i think
it will help.

Its:
£250+vat for a repair

£150+vat for exchange with one of our service boards (limited warranty) and I have yet to confirm if we have any in stock

£1070+vat (UGR0007) for USB card and V5 milling PC software. We normally only do this upgrade ourselves on site, so an engineer would have to be paid by the hour (10 hours travelling to Poole and back - although it could be fitted in, if we are already in the area).
Its difficult if you want to do it yourself - if something goes wrong - who or what is at fault ?

Is it the sea salt corroding the boards away then ?