I should have said that I have been an electrical engineer for over 20 years and have DVMs, Scopes and Logic analyzers at my disposal, so with an understanding of the theory of operation and a schematic I could probably keep the old controller running.
That said, you can be the best engineer in the world and that won’t help you if you can’t get parts. Transistor substitutions and diodes and so forth are no problem but I would image that some of the parts such as EPROMS, Microprocessors and such are no longer available. When these controllers have problems is most often in the power supply, driver or logic sections?
I should also say that while I enjoy electronics, my main goal is to spend time learning CNC and not becoming a BOSS controller repairman. If the controllers break down often and if parts are hard to find perhaps I should get the retrofit out of the way now.
Speaking of retrofit, lots of the kits come with new drive motors. If the current motors are running fine is there any reason to replace them? Are they prone to frequent failure?
Thanks for the advice. I’ll take a look at the Centroid controller, though $10K is a bit out of my budget, especially for a $1k machine.
Originally Posted by cncsnw  If the machine is in tolerable mechanical condition then that is a good price. Consider it a retrofit-ready machine. If the control(s) that come with it work for a while, that is an extra bonus.
Continuing to maintain and run the Boss 5 control will be challenging, but if you are patient and electrically-inclined, you can probably do it with the help of this group. Having a spare control for parts can't hurt.
Centroid retrofit kits are a good fit for these machines. They would probably be in your "medium" or "super deluxe" category (ca. $10K).
See http://www.centroidcnc.com/bridgeport_boss.htm
Disclaimer: I am a Centroid dealer and technician. There are other nice controls out there too. There are less expensive controls too, providing you are prepared to do a lot more of the assembly and setup yourself. |