Bridgeport CNC1 Controid Control Upgrade

[warrenb]

Howdy Y'all

I have an old Bridgeport Series 1 CNC that had a 1999 Centroid retrofit. Recently the board stopped recognizing one of the limit switches. The limit switch is good but it doesn't make it to the control to saw it is homed. Centroid wants $750 to troubleshoot and repair. Being that it is nearly 20 years old, doesn't DNC, and still runs on a floppy I am going to upgrade the entire controller.

Has anyone ever bought the M-15 CNC control trade-in to M39S upgrade kit. It is advertised at $5350 on their website for a plug and play system. Other options I have thought of are a Weihong controller with new AC motors for roughly the same cost. Money is not as important as is time since I have a bunch of projects to get finished.

As old as the machine is it's in decent shape and I have thousands of dollars of tooling that was hard to come by and it is the perfect size machine to stick in a corner for secondary operations once parts come off my large CNCs.

Thanks for any insights

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[Marty_Escarcega]

Howdy Y'all

I have an old Bridgeport Series 1 CNC that had a 1999 Centroid retrofit. Recently the board stopped recognizing one of the limit switches. The limit switch is good but it doesn't make it to the control to saw it is homed. Centroid wants $750 to troubleshoot and repair. Being that it is nearly 20 years old, doesn't DNC, and still runs on a floppy I am going to upgrade the entire controller.

Has anyone ever bought the M-15 CNC control trade-in to M39S upgrade kit. It is advertised at $5350 on their website for a plug and play system. Other options I have thought of are a Weihong controller with new AC motors for roughly the same cost. Money is not as important as is time since I have a bunch of projects to get finished.

As old as the machine is it's in decent shape and I have thousands of dollars of tooling that was hard to come by and it is the perfect size machine to stick in a corner for secondary operations once parts come off my large CNCs.

Thanks for any insights

Hi Warren,
I assume the machine has DC Brush Servos with encoders? Since you are used to the Centroid software, I would suggest doing an upgrade to the All in One DC control. CENTROID Allin1DC CNC controller for Milling Machines, Lathes and Routers
That would get you back to the lastest hardware revision, PC based, Windows 10. The next revision of software coming in the next few months will have a Virtual Control Panel for touchscreens. Its a Virtual Jog panel. I did a retrofit of my knee mill a few months back, you can follow the progress on my YouTube channel, martyscncgarage. I am an electrician by trade.So it wasn't terribly difficult and I followed the install guide nearly to a "T".

Recently Centroid started embracing and supporting the DIY crowd much more. Their DIY line AJAX went away and is simply now called Centroid DIY.
You can ask for advice or assistance on their forum here on CNCZONE or go to their Centroid Community Support forum Centroid Community CNC Support Forum - Centroid Community CNC Support Forum and post there as well. It is monitored by Centroid Support Staff and users.

I like the Centroid control, so much so I have been helping Beta test their new Step and Direction motion controller "Acorn" for the last year. Same software as on their Industrial controls, true spindle encoder port too.
With software for under $300 for the time being. Acorn CNC controller, Step and Direction 4 axis CNC Control board with ethernet communication.

So I would not hesitate recommending that you do a hardware upgrade and keep your mill. Your familiar with the software and you have all that tooling.

Marty

[warrenb]

Thanks Marty,

Yes the motors are Baldor DC brushed. I will check out their new software upgrade you mentioned. I will do the purchase for next year's tax season.

[Marty_Escarcega]

Thanks Marty,

Yes the motors are Baldor DC brushed. I will check out their new software upgrade you mentioned. I will do the purchase for next year's tax season.

Its also hardware. I suggested you upgrade to the All in One DC motion controller
CENTROID CNC controller technology for AC and DC servo motor based Machine Tools

It has 3 DC Brush Servo amplifiers built into it. It comes with their basic software. I don't know if you have any special software unlocks in your current machine.

As long as you can tackle the hardware upgrade, or have someone with basic electrical skills it will be worth the effort for you I think.

Do you know which Centroid Control you have now? Post it on the Centroid Support forums or go to the Centroid forum here on CNC ZONE
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/centro...trol-products/
And post there. Centroid monitors it and with a little more info on what you have, we can help give you more direction.

Marty

Marty