How about everybody with a BTC1 afliction chime in so we can all know each other. Ive already become aquainted with several of you steve,jonp,helibuilder and machinetec seems to have more service bulitens than the local BPT dealer ever had . I know Helibuilder is doing a retro including TC. cartizanXYZ has mated a 4th axis to his, and so on. Everybody must have a tool holder they need or one they have more than they need . Deralict machines for parts ect last one I found was 1200 mi. away.
Im still looking for TG100"s holder's for a BTC1 my tooling manual show's pn.s but havent found anybody with any. Even the serisII BTC guys should join in I know of Our kind who have bought MT40 holders by mistake who would like to sell and maybe a II guy has done the same "some Ebay discriptions and pic.
are vage, Ive found a 6" scale in the pic. does wounder's so in the words of larry the cable guy GED. Thank's for listening. Kevin Taylor [aka Jaws]

P.S. Pm. me if your shy I try to check Emale twice a day

Are those the #30 tapers with the built in pull-studs?
The ones with the larger body that the collet snaps into the cap and then assembled to main body?

We have two BTC 1's just barely pluggin away with a reasonable amount of extra tooling just laying in our tooling crib!

If ya got a tech print I can take a look and spare some tool holders!

We even have some floating tap holders, end mill holders!


Let me know!

Larry

Howdy Kevin,
If you happen to find any of thoes TG100 collet holders for the BTC1 I may be interested in one. About the only other spares I wouldn't mind having are a spare spindle and maybe some diaphrams that go in the pots on the head. Otherwise I have quite a collection !!

Good Idea Kevin,
Count me in on the club. I am still looking for a spare axis amp and servo motor. After getting my SMW hooked up to the BTC I ran a job drilling and tapping 733 parts 3 tool changes for 2199 tool changes! The only failure to change tools was when my compressor motor died. (Wow these machines sure use a lot of air!!). I eventually would like to retrofit the control with the Ajaxcnc system. However to retain the tool changer will require some PLC work. I talked with the reseller and he estimated $14000-$16000 to fit the M400 to BTC with the tool changer. DIY parts are only about $5000-$6000, so they want a lot of money to get the tool changer to function with new control. This has prompted me to begin to learn how to program PLC's. In addition to the PLC taking over the tool changing logic I would like it to run a small stepper motor to run the geneva gearing and replace the air motor. I plan to use the T100MD2424+ PLC made by Triangle Resarch Technologies. Any incite into this endeavor will be greatly appreciated.
Has anyone replaced the factory servo motors (I believe I have SEM) with say, Clevland Motion Control servo motor or similar?

Stephen

Check carefully, the motors may be Powertron.

George

I have two of the machines and a limited inventory of tooling. I have currently stripped down one of the machines for a retrofit. The machine I am rebuilding has contraves servo motors, and I have got them moving using rutex drives and the original 100v DC power supply. Phase two is the spindle. I am replacing the volkman with an updated VFD and I intend to script the gear change and spindle orient into Mach 3. (wish me luck) The rest of the tool change function will be PLC driven. For starters I will probably leave the air motors and see what happens. If I am straying to far someone with more experience please slap me back onto the straight and narrow. Other than that we will see how it goes. Nice to meet you fellas and I am sure I will be calling on your collective knowledge before this is over. Thanks in advance

Vince Ebers

Hello Vince,
Sounds like your already heading in the general direction I would like to go with my BTC. You say you have 2 of these critters, Are you currently running the other machine? Have you picked out the VFD you are going to use to replace the Volkman?
I am very interested in your project Vince, keep me posted on your progress.

Stephen

Stephen

No neither of my machine would work when I brought them home. The first time I saw the table move it was Rutex powered. No I haven't picked a VFD yet. The spindle orient has me a little befuddled. I have never seen one of these machines run so I have a hard time imagining how slow the spindle is turning when the shot pin shoots in. I am going to try to control the spindle gear change from Mach 3. Past that I am not sure how I want to handle the orient. I am confident that if I can get this part worked out well the tool change won't be much of a problem from a PLC. I do intend to output the tool number using mixed outputs to a PLC much the same way the tool changer currently works however I am going to allow tool mumber all the way two 254. I figure I can call slot 1 for tool 1,25,49,73, etc. all the way up and the control will recognize the diffrent tool numbers/offsets and it won't matter to the changer.
Well off to read more about VFD's

Vince

Please remember the amount of switches involved with the tool change, from orient verification, arm position, ground plane engagement, tool release pot firing, moving to the next tool, etc, there is a lot going on and timing is critical.

George

vebers,

Here is a video link that Grifftek posted on another thread of a retrofitted BTC 1 with a AHHA controller. You should give him a call his # is in the video.
http://tinyurl.com/a6a8p

Tony

Hey guys thanks for your input. You are right there is a lot of input to get this right. I am howerver less concerned about the I\O once I get to the PLC. I have done several PLC projects before. What concerns me is the script writting. I have never done that before. I had never done a servo project either and so far that is going well to my relief. I do have a question. I am considering going to 120V AC on the inputs. The micro switches are rated for 120 V but I don't know about the Reed\Hall effect sensors on the shot pin cylinder. I can't read the numbers on them to look them up. I also don't know about the Proximity switches on the tool changer. No part number I can find on them either. If they are 24 VDC then I will put everything else back that way, but I prefer to wire 120V. Is there another way to get to that video I was unable to open it. I kept getting a communications error.

Vince

Hello all,

Kevin, asked me about my spindle speed since I increased it to 6500 RPM. I told him so I'll share with rest of you.

I installed a Safetronics 3P7 5 hp VFD 3ph in/out in between the control cabinet / spindle motor. It only regulates spindle speed when I want it to. Machine controls everything else as normal increase/decrease, forward/reverse. I use it for LIGHT finishing passes in aluminum ONLY!!! I would not recommend it for heavy roughing since the spindle bearings are probably originals in your machines. A friend of mine rewound the motor and upgaded the bearings (motor only) to handle the extra speed. The spindle seems to be fine with the increased speed but like I said finishing light passes only.

As kevin stated in his opening post I am doing a retro on another BTC 1 but it's slow going as I have alot on my plate at the moment but that is another thread.

Tony

Hi guys What spindle adaptor does the BTC use qc30??
Vince have you noticed that you are on the max voltage limit for a Ruetex drive. You might want to reread the recomendations from Ruetex on running at that level. I don't have a BTC just an old BOSS that has been retrofitted with new 1kw brushless drives and motors. I also added a VFD for the spindle. I am now wanting to install an ATC. Any info on this would be appreciated. If any of you have any extra QC30 adaptors I would be interested. Thanks Terry Parker

Terry

I am running ok. I purchased the 200v-40amp drives to run this machine. I wanted to be sure I was good on power, and I didn't want to compromise on speed by cutting voltage.

Vince

Vince I am Sorry, I forgot all about them having a 200v series of drives. Terry Parker

VMAX549 The BTC7.2 SerisI takes MT35 holders that erickson made for BPT with a intregal rention knob The head of the machine is a lot diffrent than a Boss 4,5,6 ect The Seris II BTC takes MT40 with a built in ret. Knob has stepper motorsXY&Z and less spindel speed I think 4500 max The controle for a serisII is the size of a refrigator
there is a picture of one on machine manuals.com They also have nothing good to say about a BTC I Will try to get pictures to you this weekend Kevin

Ok where is everbody no new ideas I started on a quest today to build a encloser for my BTC . A three sided shower stall with two back panel's mounted to the base with the magor part on wheel's so it can be moved to do setup and scoop chip's hopefuly they will stay inside of the cabnet. Two question's for the audince can anybody tell me the dia. of the top of the base casting of a serisI Where the head elbow bolt's on. I have a waistful idea for a billet mount for the back of this project and has anyone tried to use a servo power knee on a Boss to lift the knee A couple more relay's an air cylinder and a couple more selonid valves {as if there aren't already enough to operate climent control on a Boing 777}and you could control it with the M funtion for a indexer Good night all Kevin Taylor

Hello out there in the US all this talk about auto tool changers makes me jealous I once bought a BTC II but it was to big to get into my workshop so I finished up wit a series I boss 5 unfortunately in the UK there were very few BTC I machines imported. still the reason for the Thread is that I retained the set of 20 BTC II 40 Int toolholders with the correct solid pullstuds made by Bristol Erickson from the machine so if any one is looking for a set I'm looking for about £200.00 ( about 340.00$) E-mail me at colin.wildgust@virgin.net
Cheers Colin1544

Kevin,
At work we have a series I Bridgeport with a SERVO II cnc package. The Z axis is driven by the Knee. The servo motor is attached directly to the knee shaft, No gear reduction. The system is closed looped with .0002 scales and the knee uses the factory Acme screw. Works EXCELLENT, the tools are ALWAYS stubed up in the spindle for maximum rigidity! I Wish my BTC was knee driven rather than quill. There is no counter balance cylinders for the knee. the servo does all the work. 100 IPM is the maximum rapid or feed. I have never felt the motor even slightly hot after peck drilling a large number of holes. This retro is an early 80's. So yes it can and has been done succesfully. How is the encloser comming, ya need to post some pics!!
Stephen, Cartesian Machine Works

I believe the toolholders are effectively btc only, 35 taper, integral pull stud, could be wrong

Thank's for the suportive input on the knee feed steve will post pictures tomarrow I hope if my IT guy is avalible "youngest son". Gus the serisI BTC is MT35 the BTC serisII is MT40. Hoping to make headway on encloser this weekend first panel bent welded and program's for mount's on disk tonight will cut am cautiously going to drill four holes for 10-32's in the front of the cpu encloser can't see anything to drill through . Have to make the back panel's easy to remove to fill way lub and deal with cable conection's. Anybody found TG100's or they a BPT tooling legend ? Could use a couple have other stuff to trade. How about puting a column riser in a BTC has any one done it with a Boss 3-6 S1? Would make 4th axis work easer Back to making chips Kevin

P.S. colin1544 and kumaichi need bob vila to come by and do a episode of this old home shop!!!! Kevin

Encloser Bracket's finished for one of the back panels and put to bed in the vib finisher for the night need more angle to make bracket's for the left panel, back to the aluminum store on monday will post pictures of progress sat. or sun.
Good night all Kevin

A few pic's of progress on encloser bracket's and two of the panel's should have most done by week's end Kevin Taylor

All right I know some of you have looked at it any comment's good or bad havent got much done this week just got away to pick up last piece of angle I needed today hope to get more done this weekend It's been monday all week Got a air indexer off of ebay hope to make it jump and jive to the BTC control It's a nicholis and if anybody has a book on one it would be helpfull look's like it was a add on for an older machining center will post pic's of it and progress later this weekend . Got welder drug over to the mill aeria to weld frame of encloser up this weekend All for know P.S. any body got tooling to trade or want please post a note Thank's Kevin :) :)

Hey guys its been awhile. I am retrofitting my btc it has been a slow go. I had all three axis up and running right off the bat, but was having some real problems with realiablitly. It took a couple of months but I have been able to chase down noise inducing rats, and put them to bed. So now all three axis are up and running correctly. While I was scratching my head on that one I went ahead and set up a new VFD. It is currently working from the dial on the front, but I haven't started interfacing it with the PC control.

As a side note I have stripped off everything from this machine. The only things I am keeping are the Three phase ac transformer and the 24VDC and 100 VDC power supplies everything else "In" the boxes I have no use for. If anyone is interested in my spare parts please email me or post. The board from the operator panel has a burn mark on it so I am sure it is no good. Past that the parts are untested. I would be willing to take a picture for anyone interested, or a visit for personal inspection could also be arranged.


Vince

While the power supplies are getting old, much of theat wiring is pretty usefu, mostly the power part down, lower right of the rear cabinet, the big kickout relay and such, did you have a manual, I could scan you the wiring diagrams if you haven't torn it all up yet. l

Here are some pictures of the components I am willing to part with.

Vince

I couldn't get the pictures to download they are a little to big for CNC Zone. email me at sales@mvmprecisionmachine.com and I will send them to you directly. I am sure there are some real solid components in this lot of stuff.

Thanks

Vince

Been seriously considering a reto from centroid for my BTC. But I must maintain the tool changer! Talked with Ajax, My opinion is the one-man band is strecheched thinnnn. Had an oportunity to meet with a Centroid Rep and was very impressed with his professionalizm and knowlege. He did not need to spend 50% of his time on a phone to a REAL tech. (0 time on phone he was tunning a Atrump machine and was verrrrrry knowlegable.) I feel he is very capable of makeing the BTC change tools with Centroids control. He is Marc Leonard of CNC Services Northwest (http://www.cncsnw.com/) I hope to make the conversion from bridgeport to Centroid soon and I am certain Marc will be a big part of the transition.
Stephen Bergman, Cartesian Machine Works

That toolchanger will take a TON of plc inputs, I mean half a dozen for hte spindle ground plane widgety alone, bafore you actually get into the toolchanger itself

I may of started a bad thing with this post but I think there is a lot of work left in thies old thing's with out trying to reinvent the wheel I know gus dosent use his tool changer I have found with it working it's easer to load tool offset's and imput a program in mdi than it is to change tool's in my manual mill short of drilling and tapping one hole I almost always do it in the BTC . With a few new micro switches and the proper adjustment's I would chalange a lot of machines to a tool change event plus you figer in the investment of new . I bought mine for two reason's I could afford it and the space it takes up is less than most VMC's of it's X&Y Also I was afrade of finding myself in the position of needing to hire a trade school kid to run it and I figered if it wasen't a Hass of Fadal they wouldent want to learn it or go backward's to G code. The inderistry I work in " Automotive machine" primerly just became CNC savy in the last ten year's but the majorty of the work is so part spefic or short run it's not practical or cost efective . I'm macking replasment tooling and part's for twenty yer old machines that are paid for for shop's who are working on toy's , hot rod's , and daly driver's . Sometimes It's beter to be the best at what you do than be the fastest or do the most of it . Let's all look at what we are doing and each deside what we each need . I think the enginer's at BPT were ahead of the tecnoligy avalible at the time this machine was concived and the IT guy's don't like to admit that The whole tool change operation is something that monstergarage would come up with . Keep it adjusted keep it oiled and keep it tight and it work's well let's look at replacing the switches and some of the other component's with more modern ones and I think there is a lot of time left for thies old hulk's. Several mounth's ago I was talking to a tec at EMI who was about the same age as my BTC and he said I just bought a hobby and I explaned to him that in twenty five year's of buying new and used Equ. I have out of nessiety learned to fix a lot of it on my own because the rep vaperises shortly after he get's the comission check. It's been a long day after a long week it's time to end this tirade and let somebody else talk Thank's for listening

Kevin Taylor P.S. not responsibal for spelling and puncuation error's

Don't get me wrong, if the toolchanger works, great. Retrofitting it with a new control might be daunting. Getting parts for a late 70's control is getting difficult, and this one has wire wrap boards!

Thanks gus, your correct there are a lot of inputs necessary for head grounding plane, Hi/Low range shifting, spindle orientation, tool release ect..... however dont overlook the obvious, its being accomplished quite successfully now with 26 year old PLC. Altohough I am still researching, it appears that Centroids PLC with 36 inputs and 39 outputs should be sufficent. Some of the inputs are of coarse dedicated to xyz limits and the like, but some current inputs like the 5 proximity switches on the carousel I believe can be eliminated.
I agree with Kevin, some of these older machines have a lot of life (money making ability) left in them. I believe the machine I have including the tool changer has many more hours left. As Kevin stated keep it lubed,tight and adjusted and I think the Rub-Goldberg of tool changers will live on.
My motive for the retro is not to get the machine running (it works great) but to avoid the certain interruption in work flow when one of the boards,motors or amps dies and I need parts! This is currently my only CNC. Additionally I would like to be able to use cutter comp and not have the machine decell/accell painfully slow at every intersect and tangency. Helical pocket entry and multiple work coordinates that I have grown accustom to would be nice as well. I also have a interest in electronics and computers and this project ties them all together. Hopfully soon I will have those hard to find BTC Boards and the like on Ebay!

Stephen Bergman, Cartesian Machine Works

Do find out how many "free" plc inputs, and outputs you will have. 6 limit switches and 3 trip dogs, are nine right there, spindle brake, coolant pump... it all adds up

Hey Kevin, Not sure if anyone answered your diameter question on the turret.
used my framming square and 6"scale and calculated 15" to be real close to the diameter of the turret or andy part therof.
Stephen, Cartesian Machine Works

Hey the enclosure looks great, Beats the dickens out of the hartdboard-tie wire mess
I cobbled together!!

BTC control bug Have today had the spindel stop in a part, sometimes looses position but most of the time I can switch to MDI and Retract the Z and go to the start pos. and hit restart and it will go for a while then the same thing the last time I noticed my laptop was displaying some sort of code 000000 002000 @000002@?000004@?@174370@?@174374@ Maybe If george sees this he can shed some light on it This was after I had exit'd edit Hyperterm is still conected but not in edit mode also sometimes during setup changing tool's seting offset's ect. I will hear a psit sound like air dumping and will go into set up from powerenable will not always reset any idea's would be aprecieated Thank's Kevin

I have had similar things happen on my retroed BTC, suspect ground loops in the rs232, or a power supply starting to go south[causing stray voltage spikes]

Gus I has an arc when I powered up sat morning and found that the gromet on the disconect arm was gone on one leg of the disconect and the blade had worn through the shrink tub on the rod so I inprovised an insolator and went on now the thing is stuck with the display showing 60006 all00's on the left FS&T led's on and run,goto,and hold light and key pad is non responsive even if you reset/clear also when switching to setup on main control it dosent switch to setup on the front switch panel ? Any thought's anybody Thank's Kevin

Gus my spelling was bad this morning need my glasses I think proubly not much better tonight it's been a long day I found the LSI card to be practly unpluged so I cleand it and reinstaled it and it booted up so I made chip's for a couple of hour's then it started shuting down the spindle and stoping usily dident loose position so I could rehome and start over but the last time got some more werd #s on the laptop and the Y axis was displaying 320 with no decmil point Will start tomarrow with the voltage's in the right hand cabnent What rs232 ground loup's were you talking about? the jumper's in the cable at the plug Im still using the origonal plug on the front of the cabnent Sound's like your getting wet on the east coast today All for tonight Kevin

i can't believe i found this! i hope you welcome me into this btc group... i don't know how much help i'll be right away... i'm new to cnc and the machines... but i'm a pretty good jack of all trades.

i just purchased a pristine btc1... and i mean pristine, except i don't know if the electronics work yet. i just tried firing it up today for the first time.... hooked up the air, and 3phase rotary power. the consoles light up... but i get a "err" light and a buzzing sound that seems to be coming from the spindle drive area. none of the axis move when i try and jog it around (assuming because of this "err" situation.

any tips... please?

are there still any bridgeport scanners around to plug into the test port? i don't have any manuals as of yet... just trying to get a little direction before i proceed spending money that i should or shouldn't on this machine.

thank you!

What part of the country are you in? sometimes there are manuals on ebay before you power up you should make shure the power is configured corectly for your sourse heater strips in the spindle drive cabnent and the jumper's on the transformer's if it isent allready configured 220V. then when you first power it us the display will light up and should show all888 on the left display and all000 on the right hand one no err light on , clear reset and you should be able to in setup jog the table if it's not on the limmet switches I will look through my ebay find's and try to foward info on who has book's PM me if you need help getting started Machinetec is verry helpfull on tec question's and has a lot of service bulition's Good Luck Kevin

kevin, i just replied to your pm's. i bought those ebay manuals right after i read it!

i'm from port washington, wi. just north of milwaukee 30 minutes. i guess i'll wait for the manuals to see if i can shed some light on things. what area you from? is there anyone from the milwaukee area with a btc1?

Williamsmotower
Will try to find time to Emale buliton's to you tomarrow Thank's to JonP I got mine back on line tonight Finished from where I got stuck monday without a hitch now I can get back to work and maybe get some more done on my encloser

i finally got my machine to light up a little bit more with checking all the connections... found a few loose.

my "err" light is now off... but in the led lights "70006" shows up.

i don't have a maintenance manual can someone look this number up and see what this means?

thanks in advance! jesse

Jesse PM me a address and I will mail you wiring bulition's for power switch. start with reseating the board's and clean the contact's with a pencile erasser be extreamly carefull there werry delicut and take note of the wiring plug's and there arangment Did you get your book's Keep watching there out there god luck. Kevin

just reserecting this thread... any more btc 1 owners out there?

yep I've got one. Running under mach3.

Matt

saw this post for a btc1 for sale on the manufacturing forum maybe
one of you guys could use another btc located in CA. price reduced to $750.00
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php/topic/4/4314.html

yep I've got one. Running under mach3.

Matt


keebler did you take pics along the way with your conversion?

or do you have any pics info you would like to share with your conversion?

I have a BTC 2, didn't start the retro yet. In two months or so I should be getting close to having all the parts.

Have been without emale for two week's and just got on last night lost contact's and arcived emales so If any one hasent deleted the ones you sent me with contact info please re send Will post new pictures of encloser soon progress is been slow with winter coming have to clean up out side and get ready for the cold . Any one with extra holder's or need's please post always looking . Thank's Kevin

I HAVE A BTC 1 SER#113
STILL RUNS GOOD SINCE 1983!!
I'M HAVING SOME TROUBLE WITH THE X AXIS
IT'S OVER SHOOTING AND KEEPS MOVING A LITTLE
OVER SPEC
IF YOU HAVE ANY INSIGHT PLEASE LET ME KNOW
THIS MOTOR WAS REBUILT ABOUT 2 YEARS AGO
BRUSHES SEEM OK AND HAVE SWITCHED DRIVE BOARDS

ALSO MAY HAVE SOME TOOLING FOR SALE LET ME KNOW WHAT
YOU NEED
TRANSATOOL@AOL.COM

Transtool Check the decell part of the overlimit switches If it happens at ner the limit of travel or check with jonp about board repair I had a similar problem on mine it would go to setup or overlimit at the end of a rapid move
in diaganol move I think it was the RRS board? large TG 100 holder's , Shell mill holder's and boring head's Thank's Kevin

keebler 303, did you keep the tool changer working and what did you do on the servo drives.

Hi You all. I am very new to cnc infact I am trying to get my first mill. About 15 years ago I did some time on a small Supermax with Bandit control.I am looking at a Bridgeport 1 BTC. One of the problems I have with this millis is no CTR, with the Bandit control I had a screen and could look at the tool path.Also I have been told that the tool changer are a pain in the rear.I have a small pattern shop and do some machine work.The machine work is alum and SS all small parts.I'm not even sure what to pay for mill.Any input would be very welcome.....

Mansuper Most of the tool changer problem's are concureuble if you have any mechinacal skill's even if it's trouble it beat's no tool changer You can still load tool's by hand there is one in so cal for sale on the classified's in cnc zone for 750.00 has been in storage for year's so it should have a lot of life left in it with tooling and book's you cant buy a junk bpt clone for more than that check it out search the post's in this fourm and you can see what you are in for Good luck Kevin

Thanks Kevin I'll check that one out on the zone and I'm sure i'll post to you experts when I get the mill.I have a close friend who works at a local machine shop here and he keeps there cnc running and well help me.the one mill I have located close he wants 6250.00 but I hope to get him down on that price.I would feel better at 4500 if everythang works and he said they do i'll know the 20th.....Thanks again Kent

Mansuper
What part of the country are you in I know of several machines that could be avaliable also looking for certan tooling Keep me informed Thank's Kevin

Kevin
I live in Okla north east corner up by Joplin Mo. I could pick up a mill within say 600 miles myself.I have a house in Texas and go there at least once every four weeks its about 10 miles east of Galveston.I e-mailed the man who has the mill listed on the cnc zone to see if its still for sale. I know shipping would be around 1500 form Ca. thanks...Kent

keebler303

Do you have the tool changer functioning under Mach3 ?
I have been looking at this retro for my BTC-1 and would
like to know your trials and errors!

Thanks, Stephen

Kevin, I e-mailed the Cal. guy about the btc but no responce as of yet. I guess he has sold it.I think I was just a little late Do you or anyone else in the BTC clubhouse bunch know of another one out there maybe close to Okla.?One that a green horn could puck up and make a few parts on and get his feet wet on?...Thanks Kent

Hi U-All (red neck for hello) just looking on ebay and pulled up Progamming manuals on the BTC-1 they have 10 and going for about 55.00each.maybe a buy for us new-bee....Kent

help needed.
have boss series 1cnc & need help for collet. what universal standard collet should be used for this nice mill. it is written qc 30 on it. thanks

ajitsing What model of Boss? For QC30 there could be several different collet's depending on the holder a part# from the holder might help try erickson's web page they might have been bought out by Kenametal MSC catalog or Mcmastercar may shed some light on it Look on ebay in machinetools tool and workholding then surch collet's Good luck Kevin

Has anyone got a sugestion on where to get and what kind of rubber the mud flap's on a BTC are I was looking in MSC at buna rubber and it look's like the ticket but would take anybody's idea's have gotten back on the encloser project and hope to have more pic's by tomarrow night P.S. I was looking for 7/8' setscrew holder's and it look's like there wern't any made acording to my tooling manual But Im still looking for TG100's !!!! Thank's Kevin

More Pic's of encloser still have to finish the front I found the rubber to replace the way cover's at MSC. I'm looking for help with com on a boss3 anybody know about a blackbox. got one with the machine it's wired up to the control but I need help with a cable and maybe some softwaire . Enough about that here's the Pic's

Kevin looks GREAT, when is mine on the way:cheers:

Kevin this is sweet as soon as I get this P&W running I'll put this on my list.I would have already get it going but they loaded me up with work and all has to be out the first.....Mansuper

I have got ATC's working in Mach3. I have a BP 2 at home.
I have interfaced to several different types of ATC's with Machx and ADC PLC's. (Yes, I do retrofits to make extra money.....just like most of you).
1). Standard Carracell type, (with tool ear indexing if needed and swing arm).
2). Chain drive type
3). Read-ahead swap arm type, (custom job here)
I drive the ATC functions including the servo's through the PLC (with motion modules), BTW, this allows you to control More than 6 axis through machx, obviously, the axis controlled via PLC would NOT be machine cutting axis. Stuff like ATC's, swarf convayors, pallet changers....ect. You can even run your VFD through the PLC through Mach as well. The advantage here is you can run Volt, current through an analog module with PID if you want it.

I control the PLC, completely through the Mod-bus and VB scrips in Mach.
I/O requirements really don't matter you just add more I/O modules or upgrade to a larger PLC. The great thing about a PLC, (in my opion), is it is Intellegent I/O. You can have the PLC do ALL or almost all of the ATC or what ever work for you. Mach just tells it what to do and when, and the PLC just tells mach it is done with what ever. You can have it report Error messages to Mach as well. I even use my PLC's for pendant control I/O and set up the Macropump to poll for stuff.

BTW: Would anybody like a complete 200v, 40a 3 axis Rutex, with supply, mother board, and 3, 1300w (42in/lbs), DC brushed servos (allen bradley)? I am selling mine, since I am gonna go with ADC Medium inertia AC servos.

I add an ATC page to Mach with screen designer for setting up your ATC. I put software and hardware ATC indexing buttons for loading. As well as a ATC tool length touch off screen to load upto 256 tools in your library.

Scott

DennisCNC look at this Ebay#170084483241 four holder's have been under the weather and got behind on paperwork will try to find contact info on the two machines and tooling up hear Thank's Kevin

^^ Kevin I was watching them and then when to install a kitchen and forgot about them:(

While waiting for help with a programing manual for the "out of style Analim Crusader II Lathe I bought I decided to make a chuck adapter for a 4" three jaw to one of my TG75 holder's I have a part I make for one of my customer
that I'm trying to produce with a minuim of hand's on time. I have done everthing up to this point in the mill except facing the one end and face and turn the first .800" in the Lathe manualy I Drill the large hole chanfer and thread in the mill Then I turn end for end and Drill and tap the other end and hog off the excess material on the od then comes the lathe part see pic's I hope Note ICRD in the third pic" Inprovised coolant regulating device " The finished part is on the right Took some playing with tool's and speed and feed to be satsafied with the part the only critical OD is the very bottom last .750" I hope to make the next batch on the Lathe but I will still do the internal thread in the mill It's slow but it is a weard metric thread and I have a proven program for the inside of the part P.S. any one with any pointer's on the lathe Emale at ktaylor253@earthlink.net Also need to finish the encloser lathe throws the birdnest all over!!!

Have finally gotten back to the retro of the BTC I bought a few months back, and wanted to get a sanity check on something:

Are the original servos (Powertron from Contraves) 100VDC??? This seems outlandishly large... I am going to build a supply for this, but at 100VDC and 15 amps apiece I wanted to be sure before committing to that size components.

Any info is appreciated!

J

That is about right, I am still using my original power supply, and it is at lest 80 volts.

Hello to the Btc Club,
I'm in the Pittsburgh, Pa. area. My btc was completely operational when demonstrated before I purchased it. I'll complete a rotary phase converter this week, then find out how well it survived the 10 mile trip to my shop. Any pointers on what to check before initial power up, or what sequence to follow when powering up?? Although I received 26 tool holders with it, there are no collets in the collet holders, does anyone know what type they are?? I will have a lot more questions shortly. Any other thoughts on getting the most from this machine??

Chip

The most inportante thing is Voltage If you have a service manual it has the places to check double check everthing if not I can foward a page to you The tool holder's small ones with extened length take DA300 the stanard large ones are TG75 There are suposed to be some TG100's out there I haven't put my hand's on any yet the tap hiolders I will have to check the # of there are large and small make shure the iner part of them moves in and out freeely or you will break tap's I have a tooling manual with part#'s post some pic's of holder's and I can identify I should have some extra collet's for the TG's and maybe some tap collet's will sell swap or whatever you must have air hooked up and fill the air oiler with marvelmistry oil and turn up the oil for a while to lube the selonid's there pron to sticking you can use a pick and manualy accuate the valves to free them up also fill the glas bowel on the tool changer cylinder if it is empty the changer becomes a treblejay fil the way lube res. or it won't move or come out of setup keep us posted Kevin

i Just had mine delivered yesterday, MY GOD THIS THING IS HUGE. at least it is in a 2 car garage.i'll try to get some pics up by tommarrow. it needs a little TLC and i still ned to get a converter. any sugguestions?? the tag on the mach says 320 3 phase on it.

the machine came with all of the manuals, i was thinking of scanning them and makeing a .pdf so everybody can have them

Are you shure 320 how about 230V 3phase hope it's a typo Need a tall garage for them good luck Kevin

Thanks for the info Kevin. I have the installation manual with the page you refered to in your message. I don't have a tooling manual, but none of the holders appear to be tap holders. I could use a tooling manual and the first two sections of the maintenance manual, any sources?

Have a great day,
Chip

i have all of the manuals, they came with the machine. let me know what pages you need and i can scan them for you.

it was a typo its 230 3 phase, any one have an idea on what kind of phase converter to get???

also here are some pics, i know alot of the sheilding is missing, i took it off for the move so it wouldent blow away down the road

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g141/nodder_2006/P1010042.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g141/nodder_2006/P1010044.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g141/nodder_2006/P1010043.jpg

I have been using DES-CO 10hp rotary phase converter on my BTC-1 with great success. They can be purchased on ebay for $545.00 www.deselectric.com The BTC has a 3hp spindle motor so you may be able to get by on a 5hp rotory converter, However that would be all you could feasibly run from it. I chose a 10hp with the intent of having a small amount of added 3ph capacity. Originally I purchased it with the electrical box attached to the motor...This was a mistake. The vibration caused trouble with the components. Des-CO sent me a NEW mount on wall unit at NO charge and I have not had any trouble since.
Heed Kevins advise on checking your incoming power and when wired in your output from your rotary phase converter BEFORE powering up the BTC-1
These machines run on the SMOKE theory... If you let it OUT they quite working!
Happy Milling, Stephen

do i have to use a rotary phase converter??? what about any of the other styles?
the reason i ask is i have access to an electronic one for free.

Define "electronic." There are such converters called "static." They are worthless.
A good digital phase converter goes for a minimum of 5000 dollars. But they work very well. Good enough to run high end machines with fanuc controls.

George

I run my Conventional BP mill from an AC inverter. It takes the 220v 1ph and turns it into 220v 3ph.( aproximately $400 new) This works well on my 1hp motor. The inverter is rated for 3hp or 2.2 kw The power is very clean and I believe would work fine on the BTC-1, IF you could get one with a 7hp or more rating. I have been looking but have yet to find an AC inverter with the 7hp+ rating that will convert 1ph to 3ph. (At least in the under $1000 range) I have been told that the phase converter should be rated at twice the hp of the largest motor it will run. I have seen this rule ignored with no significant trouble. However I prefer to error on the higher end when it comes to electrical power. Perhaps someone else here on the forum can add credence to this Rule of double hp for phase converters.

Stephen

i tried to correct my post to "Static" after i posted it i must not have hit the save button. in any case i meant static.

looks like im going to have to buy a rotary. im most likely going to get the
DES-CO 10hp reccomended earlier in the thread the price is right.

thanks guys for the input

Why did Oleg and the BTC part company?

he never had anybody to help set it up, the way he put it was, he had sombody working for him that was going to set it up and operate it but i guess him and that other person parted company so the mill just sat in his work shop for a year then i bought it. i guess he decided to contract out for the parts he was going to make.

out of curiosity whats your relationship to him????

Sold him the Btc.

oh cool i got your old machine

anything i need to know about it :):):):):):)



UPDATE: i just picked up a anderson (andersonconverters.com) 7.5 hp phase converter hopefully should have the machine running this weekend!!!

I looked at the Anderson converters and did'nt buy theirs because of the OPEN motor. The TEFC (Totally Inclosed Fan Cooled) will not cause you grief done the road. You can purchase the 10Hp Desco on ebay for 545.00 + shipping. Im not trying to sell Desco I just believe it is a better product for a few hundred dollors.
Stephen

i know the downsides to the open motor but you cant beat 500$ delivered, the desco 10hp was 695$ shipped. i'll probably have to come up with some sort of filter system for the anderson

Interesting conveter information. I'm building a 15hp rotary to power the BTC and other small three phase equipment in the shop. What size compressor (cfm) do you guys use or recommend?

chipmakes,

I have a 2 cyl, single stage, 5hp on a 80 gal. tank. It is plenty for the BTC-1 even when constantly changing tools. I think I have it set to 125 psi with a 25 psi. differential. I have my BTC-1 set at the recommended 70psi.
Stephen

finallly got the machine powered up and all is well.......except!

i have a few Questions for all of you guys

when i jog the machine to the LIMIT of every axis it sets the limit overide lamp off and i have to reverse direction and hit both the jog and the overide button at the same time to get it to move then its fine?it only does it right at the extremes of every axis. is this normal ??? any of you guys run into this??

the cable i have for the machine connects to the local port on the machine and has a lpt-1 connector on the other side, from what i understand it needs to have a COM end on it for me to communicate with the machine. can i use an adapter or would i have to splice a COM connector end onto the cable. if so does anyone have the pin diagram so i splice to the right wires.

thanks!

I should have known better....
I went through the start up proceedure in the manual, which includes removing all the circuit boards, but I didn't make a diagram of where all the "K" connectors go. After putting it back together it doesn't fire up.

Could someone please take post a few pictures or a diagram of where the connectors from each cable go and where the jumper cables go. Since it did run when I purchased it I want to be sure it is assembled right before I look further.

All ideas are welcome.

Does anyone have the programs or tapes mentioned in the maintenance manual?

Thanks,
Chip

hkfanatic,
It is normal for the machine to enter an "LIMIT" When ever a axis limit switch is active. The BTC-1 even after homing the machine has no "SOFTWARE LIMITS". The hardware limits keep it from overtraveling. As you have discovered when the RED "LIMIT" lit is active then you have to push it in and Jog off the limit.

As for the machine communications you need to use serial communication via a DB-25 or DB-9. Which ever you computer uses. The RRS board on the BTC-1 uses a rotary switch that selects the Baud rate. 0=110, 1=150, 2=300, 9=600, 4=1200, 5=1800, 3=2400, 6=4800 and 7=9600
There is only 4 pins used and they are Send, Recieve, Signal Ground and System Ground, At the BTC-1 you should have a AMP connector with pin 5 System ground, Pin 6 Recieve, Pin 7 Signal Ground and Pin 8 Transmit.

Connect DB-9 or DB-25 As follows:
Pin 1= AMP connector Pin 5
Pin 2= AMP connector Pin 6
Pin 3= AMP connector Pin 8
Pin 5= AMP connector Pin 7 (DB-9)
Pin 7= AMP connector Pin 7 (DB-25)
Your comunication software on the PC should be set to the appropriate Baud rate as selected on the BTC-1 RRS card with 8bit, No Parity, 1 stop bit. I use Hyperlink in Windows XP and it works just fine.

If you have any trouble let me know,
Stephen

A HUGE Thank you to Cartesean and HKfanatic for their assistance!! Between pictures and a phone call we determined that the boards were in the right place and all the cable connections were correct. That was a big relief! The thought then came to us that maybe a connector in the display enclosure had come loose. I didn't find anything obvious, but after reseating all the connectors and lots of prayers, it powered up correctly. Three cheers!!

In checking the axis motion, I discovered (the hard way) that the cam which operates the X deceleration switch is missing. I now know how to un-jam the ball screws!

The BTC Clubhouse really saved me!

Thanks again,
Chip

im still haveing trouble getting the BTC-1 to communicate with my PC,

i reconfigured the cable the way its shown below i have configured hyper terminal as described by other memebers but i still cant get the machine to talk to the PC, after i boot up hyper terminal and press the edit button on the mill nothing happens.

i have rechecked all of my configurations and then double checked them, i am at a loss.


any one have any ideas????

BTW: my machine is not equipped with the tape reader, or the remote tape reader panel. where it go's is just a flat panel and abouve it is all of the toggle switches, could that have somthing to do with it???

hkfanatic,

I did some reviewing in the BTC-1 maintenance manual and I believe I see your problem. Your BTC-1 is wired for asyncronous communication using the 20ma loop optocouplers. They use pins 1,2,3,4,5 on K6 and K8. (K6 Local communication and K8 Remote communication).
You want to use EIA serial communication with voltage logic. (this is what you computer uses.) This is avialable at pins 5,6,7,8 as I discussed earlier.
You will need to trace your input and outputs on you existing plug at K6 and hook pins 5,6,7 and 8 up to your PC pins 1,2,3 and 5
If you have a Bridgeport maintenance manual you can find this information on page 4-47 thru 4-50. If you dont send me your email address and I will send you a PDF file of the entire maintenace manual.
Have fun!

Stephen

ok so connector K6 on the RRS card, terminals 5,6,7 and 8 has to be hooked up to the AMP connector at the front of the machine, is that correct?

i was curious last night when i was doing a resistance check on the local connector wireing why none of it had continuity to K6, maby this is the reason

Thanks to you all I'm making progress! Everything works. I started doing some clean up and found that the way wipers have deteriorated to the point that I can't tell what they were made from. What has anyone used with success?

Thanks, and have a great weekend,
Chip

hkfanatic,

Yes you are correct. Does your machine have 2 AMP ports outside the logic cabinet on the lower left hand side? If so the Local port is the left one and should have its pins 5,6,7 and 8 wired to K6 of the RRS board.

Let me know how it goes!
Stephen

ok here is where i stand with my machine, its still not communicating this is what i have done so far

i did a continuity check and from my cable connector DB9 through the local port on the machine to connector K6 on the RRS card i have less then .5 Ohm in the wires on pins 6,7,8 there is no pin 5 on K6 pin 5 on the local connector is grounded to the machine caseing, which according to the diagrams is correct.

I triple checked the location of the pins in my connector and i Know they are configured correctly.

i have tried different baud rates, nothing changes

i have made sure all of my firewall software is turned off, made sure the port was active and correctly assigned in my PC's hardware profile.

i have hyperterminal configured as such,
bit rate 300
data bits 8
parity none
stop bits 1
flow control xon/xoff

now according to every one when i power up the machine and turn on hyper terminal, in setup mode when i press the edit button on the machine the display should say Boss 7.2 Edit just like useing the bridgeport editor outlied in the manual. it is not doing that.

i have pulled the RRS card out to make sure there wernt any smoked circuits and it passed the visual test,but it could still have a problem.

i am going to try a different PC just to make sure.

any one have any ideas?????

First off I just want to say I think it's great that you guys keep these old BTC's going. I know I have enough issues keeping my BOSS 5 going. I was just wondering if you ever tried EZ-Utilities, the old EZ-Cam communications software from Bridgeport. That's what I use and it works flawlessly even with XP on mine. Someone posted a zip file of EZlink on the thread called Ezlink in the Bridgeport forum. That is part of the EZ Utilities software. You just set baud and Com port under OTHER and select BOSS5 under TO CNC. We've used that since the mid 80's and still use it today to load programs back and forth to the Fanucs. Hope this helps.

Kevin

hkfanatic,

Looks like you are now wired to the proper pins of K6 connector for serial communication. Pin 5 at K6 is a ground and what you described is fine. The Ohm readings of .50 seem a bit high but I dont think that is the problem. You did not mention if you checked the RRS boards Baud rate switch and confirmed that it is set to 300 baud, Rotary switch position #2 ( You should be able to run at 4800 or more, 300 is really slow. I use 4800). Check your cable again!! the computer (SEND DATA) pin 2 must be connected to BTC-1 (RECIEVE DATA) pin 6, and computers (RECIEVE DATA) must be connected to BTC-1 (SEND DATA) pin 8, Signal ground Computer pin 5 to BTC-1 pin 7.
I have seen this checked and rechecked but wrong because of inverting pin numbering sequence. (viewing from back of DB9 or AMP vs Front of DB9 or AMP).
If you send me an email address I would be happy to send you my Hyperterminal setup file I use, Although it appears you have it setup properly for communication I did find there are some timing delays and the terminal set needs to be ANSI.
If you have anything other than your BTC-1 to test the serial communication with I would suggest you use it to establish the computer end is working fine (Windows XP has issues with serial comm at times!)

Hope this helps!
Stephen

i double checked the cable again and as far as i can tell its set up correctly following the numbers printed on both connector faces. i do not have any other serial devices to try my comp out on. anyone know of a softward that can test it?

also my machine is not equiped with a tape reader could that be an issue?
everything checks out to K6 on RRS board

any one have any ideas??

hkfanatic,

What about the RRS board baud rate! is it selected for 300 Baud?
Like a good KEY if all the parameters are not set correctly..the lock will not turn.
You need to get something to check the comm port on your PC. If you dont see
anything on your PC then there is a major problem with either the BTC-1 or your PC.
If it is just a Baud, parity or stop bit you will general see some garbage on screen verifiy that the communication ports are atleast working.
The PC is much cheaper to fix!

Stephen

yes the baud rate switches are set to 300, im going to try to find a com port tester, the other pc i wanted to try out was a lap top but it doesent have a serial port on it so im going to try to barrow one from a friend. i hope its not anything serious i really hope im just doing something wrong.


one thing i did notice when i was looking at my RRS board was that it was missing 2 IC's big long ones near the center. i cannot remember the locations i'll post a pic of my board tonight maby one of you guys can compare it to one of yours, seems kinda odd and i dont want to just rule them out as memory expansion ports or something like that



thanks for all of your help

Try jonP in the BTC clubhouse He repairs board's for this machine was a great help to mine try the other plug in the front of the encloser could be switched around and trace the wires to see if they go to the board rack and haven't been unhooked double check your cable for a short I had a bad experance with a cable that had the wire puled out of the pin's souldered it and got on line Goon Luck

i traced the wires on the LOCAL port to connector K6 on the RRS board, i did try the other plug just to make sure. i also did a continuity check between the wires in the plug none of them are shorted togeather.

im going to eliminate the PC as a possibility first, then i'll contact jonp

You really should try the EZ-Utilities before anything else. I had no idea how to make my Boss 5 work and on the third try I got it. The only thing it lets you select is the com port and baud and I just tried a couple combinations. It must have the correct protocols already set and since it was used on these originally I figured it was a good choice. I just cleared the memory and put it in edit and then experimented until it said data transfer in progress. You can't edit on it, just sends and recieves but it is pretty much foolproof. Probably worth a try since you're having trouble getting anything. Also has anyone seen the BTC-1 thats been on Ebay? There was on here in Wisconsin for sale a couple years ago. I wondered if any of you guys own that one now.

Kevin

Hkfanatic
Post your picture of the RRS board and I will compare to mine. The missing IC sounds suspicious as it could be the UART chips! If these are missing then obviously no communication can take place.
Stephen

Hkfanatic, I ordered the BTC new without a tape reader, it was removed at install time.
Back then I used an N.C.H.Q. to communicate, edit, and store programs. You should have the same cable I used.
It has 2 floppy drives and is way outdated….so I have no clue how to make it communicate with modern stuff.
By the sounds of it, owner #2 probably did not damage or remove anything. It worked when it left my shop.
Good Luck, AL

Hi my name is Ric46 and glad to join a group who share the same interest.

ok here is the pic of my RRS board there are three IC's missing and i apologize in advance for my horrible MSpaint skills :)

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g141/nodder_2006/P1090047.jpg

HKfanatic
I pulled my RRS board and find that I have IC-36 and IC-52 that you do not have....However I BELIEVE that these are memory chips and should have nothing to
do with communication. I think that the IC-38 and IC-39 are the UART chips....And you have them on your board. As for IC-29 I do not have it on my board.
As you are proceeding to check the PC comm port, I believe is the first step to eleminate the computer as it is the least exspencieve to fix!!
As Kevin Taylor mentioned jonp is an expert on these machines and helped me out
in a BIG way. I am out of suggestions, talk to jonp and see what he thinks.
Stephen

ok, i did a loop back test on my cable/ comport useing hyper terminal, if you jumper the send and receive pins (6/8) on the machine connector turn off flow control, and check echo typed characters, every letter i type in hyper terminal, shows double. which means im sending the letter down the cable and its coming back and showing up at the PC.

so that means my com port is working and my cable is config. correctly which only leaves the RRS board.

should i just try to find the 2 UART chips?? (and you are correct cartesian-xyz, they are 38 and 39)

hkfanatic

Are you preparing the PC with Hyperterminal listening prior to pusing the EDIT button on your BTC-1, and do you have the BTC-1 in SET-UP MODE? If you are following all the protocall as instructed in the owners manual and after checking your cable and PC then I would suspect the RRS board. Again jonp here on the forum is an excellent source of information and help. If your RRS board is damaged jonp can most likely fix it at a very reasonable cost.

Stephen

i am connecting with hyper terminal connected befor i push the edit button on the machine in setup mode

i have alredy sent a message to jonp im just waiting for a reply. im pretty confident its the RRS board it could have something to do with those missing ics or some other underlying issue.

worst case scenario i buy that other machine on ebay for 1400$ and have a whole load of spare parts :)

hkfanatic

Hold on Help is on the way
keep me posted!
Stephen

What Machine where is it I must not of searchrd Ebay close enough this week I may be able to put my hand's on some extra board's Thank's Kevin

the auction must have ended it was on there last thursday when i was looking for stuff for the machine, it was at 1400 with no reserve nobody had bid on it yet. if you come across an extra RRS board let me know

Are you close to mairyland I found one in a Ebay store there? I will try to call someone tomarrow that might give up a extra board for a test did you elemanate the PC as a proublem? What part of the country are you in I thought that was a requirement in BTC Clubhousee By laws to disclose your location still working on the twelve step's LOL Good Luck Kevin

im in southern california, i performed a loop back test on the pc serial port and the port was communicating. if you can find another board let me know.

That BTC has been on Ebay for probably the last month. I think it was at $1600 for a couple of weeks with no bids then $1400, now Buy it now for $1450. I have been watching it for at least that long.

Kevin

JonP still hassent conctacted me, in he mean time i though i might as well try replaceing the two missing IC chips, can any body get me a part number for IC52 and IC36 on the RRS board?

i hope sombody out there still makes them

hk, So do you really believe Oleg took some chips off the board in your BTC????? :confused:

I think you should be looking elsewhere, like others suggested.



Al.

as stated below the chips that are missing are on other peoples boards, i dont know if oleg took them off or not or the machine was never shipped with them ETC... but they are gone and other people have them. to me it seems worth it to give that a shot befor sending the board out to sombody to give it a once over.

i have tested everything else and the board is the only thing i can think of at this point, if anyone can come up with anything other then a cable or my computer i'll give it a shot.


BTW: 302xram i appreciate the fact that your communicating with me, most people i know when they sell something they never want to hear about it again, let alone problems with it.

That machine and I go way back, if I can help...I will.
Send me an email, and I'll send you a contact #. I'm in Orange.
Al.
Machman631@aol.com

anyone have JonP's phone number???? he hassent been online since the 4/17

i still havent gotten my mill to communicate and could really use his help :)

Hi guys, I'm here, been very busy lately so I haven't been here too much ,any how I'll be glad to help if I can. I'm fairly familiar with the RRS board, if you are having trouble communicating it might be a UART ,I can also replace the ram if necessary and burn new EPROM if needed. There are two empty sockets with the latest version of BOSS, i'd have to look at my notes but I think it is baseline 3, level 4 if memory serves me right. Good luck Jon P.

I've found that after several of the same part, the Y axis appears to drift significantly from zero. It appears to increase with each pass (in this case a rectangular tool path). The gibs have been tightened and I read the backlash adjustment section in my manual. There are two potentiometers on the CPL board, but they are not labeled. Which one is Y? Is there anything else that would cause the Y axis to drift?

Thanks in advance,
Chip

hey chip the tapes and missing manual sections you need are in the mail you should see them soon i just droped them in today.

how far is your Y axis drifting?? a couple thousandths ?? i would wait for someone more experience with the machine to answer but at work the encoder on our transfercase servo is prone to electrical interference and dirt, it causes the servo to drift and can slam your transfercase into 4high without you pushing the button.

i know completely different technology and era but same principal.
good luck, btw i just sent my board out to jonp so hopefully in a week or two i can start making some chips.

-Nodder

Chipmakes,
More information is necessary to isolate the problem from a primarily mechanical or electrical issue. Most gererally if the diviation is +/- and in the same envelope then it will be a mechanical problem. However if the deviation is everchanging and or incremental in nature then I would suspect an electrical problem. (encoder, board, motor..ect..) However keep an open mind as it can be a combination of mechanical and electrical. (I.E. Loose coupling on encoder shaft ) Be carefull when adjusting the gibs especially on a worn machine. If you get them to tight you will compound a mechanical problem. ( higher load on motor do to friction, backlash, preload on ballscrews and thrust bearings) all producing varing results at different table locations effecting target accuracy and finish. It's my opinion for gibs like bearings...A little LOOSE is WAY better than a little to TIGHT.
I would start by writing a test program and use dail indicators to measure response. See if it is an ever increasing incremental change in the Y axis.

Stephen

There is another BTC just recently listed on Ebay. Item #170216700737. It started at $2500 and there is a bid on it. Looks pretty nice.

Chipmakes, We had a problem similar to yours years ago and it was a broken coupling between the encoder and the servo motor. You can check easily by putting a dial indicator on the problem axis, joging away from the indicator then push goto zero, if your readout indicates zero and your indicator indicates otherwise it is a mechanical problem.

Jonp you win the prize! I am the proud owner of a broken encoder coupler. I found one in Stock Drive Products that looks like it could work. Does anyone have a part number and supplier for the exact item or a suitable replacement?

While I have the unit torn apart, should I, and how do I check the motor brushes??

Thanks to all for the information, it saved me a lot of time,
Chip

Since the coupling broke at the point it mounts to the shaft collar, I thought I'd repair it if possible. The collars are soft soldered onto the bellows, so I cleaned up the end of the bellows, slid it and the collar onto a 1/4" dowel, then soldered it back together. So far it's working great.

That lead me back to the backlash adjustment. After loosening the gib as Cartesian suggested, both axis have less than .001" backlash. It makes a heck of a difference in the consistancy of the parts!

Thanks for the advise,
Chip

well thanks to JonP im am now UP AND RUNNING!!!! THANK YOU JON!!!!

now as soon as i can get the post in mastercam x modified to spit out the correct commands, decimal places etc...

thanks !!! jon,kevin, chip for all of your help

hkfanatic,

Glad to hear you are up and running! I new Jonp could come thru for you as he did me!
Jon is a first class mentor here in the BTC-1 zone.
However I believe I can take the PRIZE away from jonp as I posted your encoder coupler problem BEFORE jonp!
See previous post in this thread. (I.E. Loose coupling on encoder shaft ).
Well ....just looking for my spotlight :-)

Cheers to hkfantic and jonp, hkfanatic Welcome to our support group!

Stephen
Cartesian Machine Works

ok gentleman now that i am up and running ineed to pester all of you again. :)

i have been running programs on my machine and all is well except for a few things.

1) my tool carousel when moving to the next tool is very jerky it kind of pulses to the next position. it changes tools fine and does move to the correct spot but its kinda slow. sticking or plugged solinoid???? maby i know it runs on an air motor.

2) from the top of the tool changer i have 2 air hoses and 2 cables with plugs on them i cannot see where they go to i assume there not important because the machine runs fine, im just curious thats all. its no where in the manuals

3) this is my big problem. i am using autodesk inventor R2 to design parts and then exporting them into mastercam X. it works to post code useing a generic 3axis VMC post-p but i have to go in and change alot of the code manually like all of the Zaxis commands it posts downward commands with a positive interger when it needs to have a - one. as well as thowing some G commands that this machine does not have listed in the programming manule ( i connot remember them at the moment but will list them if it helps anybody)

does any one have a post for any of the mastercam's from version 5 and up?? for any Boss operated bridgeports?? i have a feeling that even a boss 5 post will work fine.

thanks for any help.

-Nodder/HKfanatic

Hk, Glad the machine works.

1) The tool carousel works like that...its faster to use only odd or even tool #s. It will go to any other tool but the next faster.

That machine had been sitting for over 10 years...it will loosen up with some lube and some time.


2) I added the hoses and cables for an Erickson air indexer. Take them off and plug one ( I think) of the air hoses. Or leave them.

3) I have a Gibbs Post only for the machine

BTW what was wrong with the comm. problem? I still have one more BP left that I would like to hook up to a modern computer.

Al.

the cable was actually the problem. the one i had made had the correct wires going to the machine but i diddint know to jumper a few wires on the other end of the cable to trick the computer into communicateing. you use hyper terminal in windows and follow the BP editor commands outlined in the operateing manule.

so far i have been copy and pasteing into hyperterminal, and it works fine.

kinda dissappointed about the tool carousel i thought it would move faster. no biggie though it works. i remove those lines this weekend.

unfortunately i have only really been trained on the newer software. in school they only touched on G/M code we never really wrote out too many programs by hand. it was all done on inventor and master cam. so its all i really know, i cant call master cam and get a post. because the copy i have is an educational copy that i got from school. ( few years back) if i cannot find a post i'll try to mess with perameters in the generic post it provides and see if i can get it to code correctly.

-HK

Hi all, I am Jim Reed in Indiana. I am now the owner of a BTC1. I went down to South Carolina to get this one. I used a borrowed 1/2 ton pickup and a borrowed 16 ft. trailer. Fuel pump died on me 3 miles from the mill. That took $640 out of the budget, and I got to drive a Ford 3/4 ton with 2.834 million miles on it while my (borrowed) truck was in the shop. Since it's memorial weekend, I was lucky someone would fix it at all.
Then I worked my way out over the Smokies, up through the Carolinas, and into Tennessee before I just quit for the night. I, my wife, and my son had all contacted some sort of really nasty cold, and I couldn't hardly see to drive. Yesterday, we continued on up to Indiana without incident.
Will let you know how it goes when I figure how to get it off the trailer.

hey goslojimbo did you ever get your machine up and running?????

Unfortunately, I only last Saturday got it off the trailer, and haven't completed the rewiring from 440 to 220 volts. Whatever I contracted during the trip kept me in bed all week.
My prints are partial as they were stored in the machine, and the mice loved them. At first I thought I had to change only 2 transformers, then last night, I discovered there are 2 more. Seems there is a single phase control transformer, and a 3 phase transformer in the rear most cabinet, and a 3 phase transformer and a single phase transformer in the left cabinet, for the Volkman spindle drive. Is there anything else I should change when I get the wiring done? I know about the fuses (or I think I do), and have the proper ones already.

My machine was alredy set up to do 220 3ph when i bought it so i didint really get too far into that aspect of it, i would contact kevin taylor (hes the one who started this thread) he should be able to hook you up. he and cartesianxyz helped me ALOT!

good luck

To convert from 460v to 230v it is not necessary to replace any of the transformers on the machine. However the jumpers on T1 T2 T11 T12 and T13 have to be reconfigured. As you mentioned the main fuses need to be replaced and additionally the heaters in the spindle contactor need to be replaced with B.C. P/N 1503387 Clark P/N 2444. This information is covered in the M-167 Installation Manual. If you dont have it I can copy the pages you need and email them. Be sure to follow the installation power check list...This will help keep the smoke IN the electrical circuits where it belongs!

Stephen

I believe I could use that bulletin. I don't believe I've done any damage, but I changed the transformer in the spindle drive and the axis 3 phase supply, and the control voltage. I checked the voltages for the computer and 24 VDC control voltage and all is ok on those.
I got to the point where the "power enable" light is on, and could turn the mister on and off, but that's about it.
On the control panel, the run, go to, hold, err and tool light was on. Over the 3 digit display, the F,S,and T lights are on, and the - sign is lit.
I tried what I thought would be logical to command a zero of the x and y axis, but to no avail. My email address is jay ess are eee eee dee at hotmail.com.
Any help is appreciated.

I just received the installation manual. Section 5.4 says a CRC check will be performed, then the displays will read 888 and 0000. If the CRC fails, the display will be blank, and the Err light will be on. SO - evidently I am failing the CRC check. The interesting thing is that sometimes the "T" light will be on when I finish the check, and sometimes it will be off. I am assuming this means a different failure is recognized by the processor - ?.
The X lamp never comes on, the N lamp doesn't come on, and the F and S lamps are always on.
Does anyone know who to talk to about this?

I also posted this on the general Bridgeport forum for greater exposure.

Jim-

I had a similar problem when I first powered up my BTC. In my case it turned out to be loose connections on the display itself. When I opened the panel everything looked OK, after I disconnected and reconnected all the connectors it fired up. I suggest doing the same with all the connections on the other ends of the cable.

Chip

Yep, already tried that a couple of times. I have also thought of using the oscilloscope to check out the display. Just need to guess what the circuitry is on the back of the display. That usually takes me a little time.

Not knowing the past history of the machine it could be almost anything, usually if the machine does not boot past the bootstrap to the boss system it is on the RRS board. Do all the obvious first, cards in there right slots , voltages, connections etc. The LSI 11/2 is a tough little bugger, probably not the problem, most likley the RRS, I will be happy to help you if I can , contact me if you would like, Good luck, Jon P.

Looks like I am going to replace a couple of my machines, and my 10 year old retro btc is going to go.

First, I gave away the control electronics[control, servo amps, freq drive] years ago, so don't ask.

I put a NEW [$1600] z ballscrew in it in 1997. so I will pull that out.
All three servo motors work well, but I don't use the encoders[heid linears now]
The servo amps are Copley, the hideous old ones went with the control.

the tool changer I have not used and is hanging there. so all parts are available.

I don't feel the iron is worth saving, there is visible wear on the knee, but if someone wants it before I pull the ballscrew let me know.

Gus do you have any tooling to let go of let us know I could use some shelmill holder's and maybe a servo motor Thank's Kevin

Yeah, actually I have a fair bit, I never used a shell mill holder, but I could very well own one. Bunch of collet holders, some end mill holders. It has run one job with one tool for 5 years now, so I have forgotten what is sitting in the rack

Looks like I am going to replace a couple of my machines, and my 10 year old retro btc is going to go.

First, I gave away the control electronics[control, servo amps, freq drive] years ago, so don't ask.

I put a NEW [$1600] z ballscrew in it in 1997. so I will pull that out.
All three servo motors work well, but I don't use the encoders[heid linears now]
The servo amps are Copley, the hideous old ones went with the control.

the tool changer I have not used and is hanging there. so all parts are available.

I don't feel the iron is worth saving, there is visible wear on the knee, but if someone wants it before I pull the ballscrew let me know.
If you are in the northeast I would be interesed. I just bought another one in iffy condition and it cant hurt to have spare parts around.
Mike

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l317/t92006/m100/r2c3/th_HPIM1520.jpg (http://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l317/t92006/m100/r2c3/?action=view&current=HPIM1520.flv)

Gus nice fixture must be a secret part or invisible material Post a tooling list If you don't sell with machine Kevin

Just not advertising it's cutting prowess, plus all those chips make a mess, doesn't look good on video. ...............

People always advertise 'from working machine' or 'ran when parked' figured I'd prove it, at least for the parts.

Guess I can't come in the clubhouse anymore, the BTC drove off into distance this afternoon. Good luck with it Mike! The replacement VMC is coming in the morning

Hey Gus, from my prospective the BTC followed me home and my wife said I could keep it.:banana::banana:

Thank you for being a class act and helping with the loading.

The BTC is in the yard under cover and will probably go inside on Saturday, as soon as I sharpen the saw and cut a very large hole in the building.

Since the deal I had going for the other BTC seems to have fallen thru, I will be getting this one up and running instead of using it for parts.
My one true hope is that in time I will be able to get the tool changer going.

I hope that you stop by from time to time to say hello to the clubhouse.
Mike

P.S. I took some pictures during the move and will post them when I get a chance.

Does anyone have a list of definitions on BTC-1 error codes? I just got a 70107 on startup, and don't know what it means

having a new problem with my BTC, it wont seem to go into higher speeds the solinoid just pullses and the spindle speeds up then slows down again and again. i figured its just a sticking solinoid, sounds like its on top of the machine. any one have any ideas??

if i set the speed anywhere from 0 to 2500 it works fine

hkfanatic I think the proublem lies in the "shoe box" it's located on the right side of the head aprox 5"X7" inside there are at least three micro switches that read the position of the cam on the end of the back gear shaft the service mantance manual detailes the adjustment I hade a switch that the arm was bent and it would work for a while then it would act up usualy coming off of a taping cycle would run slow and not make the gear change .
take the fiberglass off and the lid of the shoe box and change speed up and down and you can see what is happining the cam has a split in it and if you take a screw driver and help it along it should lock in Good luck if you need maintnce manual I can email the instructions Kevin

ok new development the spindle is not starting no matter what speed i set it to in the program it turns but again kinda pulses i can hear the air solenoid pulsing. heres the odd part.

if i jump up on the machine (i know really safe) and put my finger over one of the exhaust vents on the block between the solenoid pack (i cannot remember which one exactly it was the 2nd or 3rd down from the top ) and kinda plug it just enough to give the air some resistance the spindle will start up just fine.

im figuring bad solenoid, i have some extra ones but my maintenance manual is missing the section on pneumatics. i'll get the number thats next to that vent tonight and post it.

what do you guys think?

Hkfanatic
There is a red button in the center of each selonid valve use a small screwdriver or a oring pick to acuaite the valves and get un stuck turn the air oiler up with marvel mistry oil in it and keep working the valves should free up I seem to rember having some trouble like this and went through all the switch adjustment's in the head and shoe box. will it orent the spindle M19 that would be back gear and check for lose wire on the spindel pickup or a lose wire on the term. strip at the selonid's Good luck Kevin

it orients the spindle fine, i assume your talking about like when its doing a tool change?? where the spindle stops at a specific point. i think its just a dirty or stuck solinoid like you said, i'll fill the air oiler up and turn the psi up maby i can get them to unstick.

hkfanatic
I woulden't turn up the air PSI. Just the oil flow volum then play with the selonid's I had a proulbem with the selonid that turn;s on the tool blow off sticking when I got mine and that worked Good luck kevin

Just a hello, I finally unearthed my BTC-1 out of storage where it's been sitting for 5 years and moved it into my shop. Kind of a low priority to get it running, too much other stuff going on, but I'll be poking at it here and there.

Supposedly, it came out of a teaching center somewhere around Indianapolis. Most got sent off to China, but this one wouldn't fit on the truck and got sold to a local dealer. I ended up with it and hauled it up to Detroit. It's a little grimey, but the frosting is present on all the ways, so it didn't get beat up too badly. At least the mice didn't get into the wiring while it was in storage.

Didn't get much in the way of documenation, anyone have any manuals? I have the Maintenance manual and 3 of 8 of the wiring sheets (1, 3 and 5). I'm looking for programming, operation and installation docs as well as the missing sheets. I'll be happy to trade scans.

Eventually, I'll probably do a refit with EMC once it gets too expensive to keep the old hardware running, but I'd like to play with it as is.

Paul

Paul Ebay#260023945804 Programing manual I will look at what I have for the wiring doc's I asume you want the voltage change diagrams you may need heater strip's for the contactor in the spindel drive the rest is jumper wires unless it is 208v or you need 208v then it will require a transformer . also the fuses in the main disconect are different for each line voltage Good luck Kevin

Thanks Kevin, that's one more manual down.

I'd like to get all the wiring sheets; I'm terrible tracking down faults without a schematic. I think it's currently set up for 220, but I'll need to check that. The dealer powered it up for me, but we came up with an error condition. It's been too long ago to remember what that was. I'm sure it will show up again when the power is applied.

Paul

Im haveing an issue and i do not think it is my programming. so far as of yet i havent gotten the machine to do any G02, G03 commands correctly.

i have tried useing R and i have tried useing I and J

here is a Section of my code, i have tried posting in the G code command section of these forums and have done every thing that was suggested to me. so im concerned its a problem with my BTC.

when it gets to line #10 the first G03 command instead of doing a radius it acts like a G01 command and tries to go to Y.938 in a straight line. i hit the set up enable button to stop the machine befor i destroy my stock or bit.

um help!!!!


T1/1.350
T2/2.230
T3/2.250
T4/1.860
T5/3.210
N100 G20
N101 G0 G17
N102 G92 X0.0 Y0.0 Z0.0
N003 T1M6
N004 M3 S500
N005 M8
N006 G0 X0.0 Y0.0 Z.1
N007 G01 Y-.938 Z0 F3.0
N008 Z-1.0 F1.0
N009 X.750
N010 G03 X.750 Y.938 I0 J.938
N011 G01 X-.750
N012 G03 X-.750 Y-.938 I0 J-.938
N013 G01 X0.0
N014 Y-.876
N015 X.750
N016 G03 X.750 Y.876 I0 J.876
N017 G01X-.750
N018 G03X-.750 Y-.876 I0 J-.876
N019 G01 X0.0
N020 Y-.814
N021 X .750
N022 G03 X.750 Y.814 I0 J.814
N023 G01X-.750
N024 G03 X-.750 Y-.814 I0 J-.814
N025 G01X0.0
N026 Y-.938
N027 Z-2.0 F1.0
N028 X.750
N029 G03 X.750 Y.938 I0 J.938
N030 G01 X-.750
N031 G03 X-.750 Y-.938 I0 J-.938
N032 G01 X0.0
N033 Y-.876
N034 X.750
N035 G03 X.750 Y.876 I0 J.876
N036 G01X-.750
N037 G03 X-.750 Y-.876 I0 J-.876
N038 G01 X0.0
N039 Y-.814
N040 X .750
N041 G03 X.750 Y.814 I0 J.814
N042 G01X-.750
N043 G03 X-.750 Y-.814 I0 J-.814
N044 G01X0.0
N045 Y-.938
N046 Z-2.395
N047 X.750
N048 G03 X.750 Y.938 I0 J.938
N049 G01 X-.750
N050 G03 X-.750 Y-.938 I0 J-.938
N051 G01 X0.0
N052 Y-.876
N053 X.750
N054 G03 X.750 Y.876 I0 J.876
N055 G01X-.750
N056 G03 X-.750 Y-.876 I0 J-.876
N057 G01 X0.0
N058 Y-.814
N059 X .750
N060 G03 X.750 Y.814 I0 J.814
N061 G01X-.750
N062 G03 X-.750 Y-.814 I0 J-.814
N063 G01X0.0
N064 G0 Z1.0 Y2.0
N065 T2M6

hk, try adding G75 to your program.
Al

After about a month of operation my repaired encoder coupling failed. I replaced it with McMaster-Carr part# 59925K92 and was back in business. Then my Y axis quit. I traced the problem to the drive. I decided to have it fixed rather than buy one in unknown condition on ebay. I found Controls Service & Repair, Inc. right here in Pittsburgh! It turns out that they are former Contraves employees who built these drives. They purchased the parts stock etc. when that division was shut down. I was very pleased with their service. They can repair the servo motors too.

Controls Service & Repair, Inc.
1948 Old Butler Plank Rd.
Glenshaw, Pa. 15116
Phone: 412-487-7310
FAX: 412-487-7313
www.ctrlsvc.com

I'm making chips again!
Chip

While HK is making straight lines, I'm making ovals!

The job is to enlarge a hole in a molded rigid plastic part about .100 thick from .500 dia. to .628 dia. I'm using a 1/8" dia. 2 flute end mill.

Program:

N10F30.0
N15S200M3
N20G00X0Y0
N25Z.020
N30G01
N35Z-.125
N40G90
N45G79J.251
N50M25
N55G00X0Y2.
N60M05
N65M02

The hole is oval with undesize diameter in the -XY to X-Y quadrants. The long axis measures .640, the short axis .610. It appears to me that the X axis is not responding as quickly as it should. I have loosened the gibs, adjusted the response on the X and Y drives per the manual, and adjusted the backlash pots. I have used G75 on another part with similar results. If I slow the feedrate to about 7.5 ipm (using the feedrate pot), then the error goes down to about .005".

A similar part with a rectangular cut out comes out right on size.

Your thoughts please.
Thanks,
Chip

I checked the other program where I thought I used G75, I did not. I used G02 and G03.

Chip

I tried a G75 command, but got the same result.

Ideas please!
Chip

G75 did the trick!!!!!! thanks !!!

ok G75 got it to cut an arc, but my arc is way to big in relation to my program.

its only supposed to cut a half circle on the ends of a 1" deep X 2.5" wide rectangle. when it starts its radius it cuts some of the stock and then continues doing an arc in mid air.

i really cant think of why its doing this, except maby i need to put the machine in incremental mode before each radius???

heres the first arc command in the program in ABS mode with G75 at the start of the program. starting at X.750 Y-.938, the G92 center is at the very center of the rectangle. im using a 1" cutter, it's taking 1/16 +- a few off the outside .

N010 G03 X.750 Y.938 I0 J.938

now if im correct it should do an arc to the exact same spot on the oppisite side with a rad. of .938

or do i have to put G91 into it?

the programming manual also mentions G74 as putting the G02/G03 commands in incremental mode but i tried it and it just dove into the stock like before when i didint have G75 in the code.

The book example suck's but If you do G75G90 in a sepert block and a streight line move coming into the arc and keep in mind the absolut arc center =I&Z pos.
G01 X.75 Y-.938F25.
G03 X.75Y.938I.75J0.0
G01X-.75
G03X-.75Y-.938I-.75J0.0
G01X.75

Are you using cuter comp I havent had much luck with it You could also do it in two 90Dig arc's

I may not compleatly understand the pocket but I think this may help Good luck Kevin

i havent tried messing with my I and J perameters, i have done the code in
G90 G75 and when it reaches X.750 and Y-.938 it tries to go in a line to Y.938 (the oppisite side) the part looks like an rectangle/oval the radii are on the out side its not a pocket.

i tried this earlier (not the actual program but the jist of it)

N000 G92 X0 Y0 Z0
N001 G90 G17 G75
N002 T1M6
N003 M3 S800
N004 G01 Y-.938 F1.0
N005 Z-1.00
N006 G01 X.750
N007 G91 G3 X.750 Y.938 I0 J-.938

i tried putting it into inc. mode and it started to do somthing that sorta looks like an arc but still too much of a straight line.

now if i got this correct I is the distance on the X axis to the arc start pt. and J is the distance on the Y axis from the arc center to the apex ( or its rather the radius)

now i have also tried usein R instead of I and J it didnt work either but i havent tried R in incremental mode.

still not haveing any luck, im sure its something simple i just havent gotten it yet, Kevin have you use G74 befor on your BTC??? i tried that and it didint seem to do much of anything it just did a straight line

Hkfanatic using G75G90 arc center's are absolute # the example in the manual has the I singed wrong in the first example Your G91 in N007 confused the control as did the I&J# the same thing happens if you try to cut multi quad with out G75G90 would cut streight to the end in X
N1 G0G90X-3.00Y2.00T1M6 {tool change position clear of part}
N2 G00 X0 Y0 Z0
N3 G75G90 S800 M3 {Set absolut/multiquad speed and CW}
N4 G01 Y-.938 F1.0M865903
N5 Z-1.00
N6 G01 X.750
N7 G03 X.750 Y.938 I.750 J0.0
N8 G01X-.750
N9 G03X-.750Y-.938I-.750J0.0
N10 G01X.750Z-1.50
N11 G03X1.688Y0.0I0.0J.938 {I&J is incermental start point to arc center }
N12 G03X.750Y.938I-.938J0.0 Two lines to do the same thing as N7 G74
N13 G01X-.750 is the defult mode
N14 G03X-1.688Y0.0I0.0J-.938
N15 G03X-.750Y-.938I.938J0.0
N16 G01X0.0

Don't try to give more than one M comand per line control will lock up and drop the leading zeros on line #'s saves memory space the BTC seem's to be very picky of the order that you enter comand's like S500M3 is ok and M3S500 might not work I know that M6T1 dosen't work for me I will try to send a file of a program I have that work's ok If it isn't to big of project doing a 180dig arc in two lines isn't that big of deal Good luck Kevin

ok i think i see where i messed up, i was programming my I and J for incremental. to i had my I at 0.0 and my J at .938 but be cause the machine is in ABS and useing G75

the I has to be .750 because the arc center is .750 off from my starting Zero point.

one thing i dont understand is your different perameters for Y and X in N11 is it just an example???

if the machine is in abs and X.75 is the I identifier for the arc wouldent i still have to put in J.938 to tell it how far away from zero the arc is going to be??

or will it to an .938 radius because the start and end point is at Y.-938 and Y.938

and about the controler i've alredy experienced the little quirks of the BTC i try to make sure my program has all of its M commands on its own line, so far i havent had any trouble doing T1M6 or M3 Sxxxx .

today i'll try changeing the I and J perameters to Abs not incremental and give it a shot tonight.

thanks again kevin you and this whole forum have been alot of help.

In singel quad G74 the defult mode the I&J are incremental diminsions from the start point to the center of the arc I/X, Y/J hence the +and - # depending on the quad you are in I'v seen sampel programs in the manual that show a R # but I haven't tryed to feed it from the PC with a R value would make complex arc's a lot easer Good luck Kevin p.s. look at the text file I atached to my last post

KEVIN YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!! thanks for all of your help your advice got it to work and cut correctly

thanks a million !

Hkfanatic Your welcome glad I could help I found a post on Bobcad site that helped me in the back door to copy drawings from my desktop that was displaying a program error and woulden't let me in p.s. I could use some help on programing a 3T fanuc Thank's Kevin

If anyone is looking for spares I just noticed on Saltlake City Craigslist some one has all the boards and the NC 400 servo amps for sale, in the picture it looks exceptionally clean, I know this stuff is getting harder and harder to find. Good luck, Jon P.

Hi Guys, I am the proud owner of Gus's BTC-1.
As I am almost done with the retrofit, I was wondering what is the DC voltage going into the motor drives. Gus had it running at 300 IPM and I get servo errors above 180 ipm I get 100v volts no load. I am using the coply 423's that gus had and they apparently ran fine. If I set the max velocity at 125 IPM it works great. I am OK running it at this speed but I think the machine was capable of running 300 IPM rapids when new.

I am also wondering what kinds of servo motors people have retrofit onto these. I hate the thought of spending $200- $300 on a replacement when the time comes. I don't need the factory encoders as I rolled my own.

I will be posting pics and some written accounts of my escapades shortly when I can sit back and type while it is making money.
Mike

Should be 10 volts

If you are allowed to view trailing error set it up to do so and turn the tach pot, you should be there. The error you are seeing is the difference between what your control sees as 300 ipm and what the heidenhain did, can't be much.

Good morning Gus.

I guess what I am asking is the dc power supply voltage. I have 100 volts at no load. I just want to make sure I didn't get the wiring wrong.

What would you say would be an acceptable following error? I currently have it set at 750 encoder counts on a 2000/rev encoder. Would one whole revolution be acceptable?
Otherwise I am making great progress and I have just started to jog the table. At 144 ipm I can't