Problem- Millpwr problem...

[Jaff]

Bit of a long shot as I don't think theres many of these systems around...

We have a Bridgeport fitted with an Acurite Millpwr CNC system, [which I have to say is a great conversational CNC control for simple machining op's]. Recently however, we have been experiencing a few problems. It is giving a number of error messages, the most common of which is that the gaurd is open.. when it isn't... checked the wiring to the guards it's all ok, even tried wiring it out but still get the error message. There are other errors, such as low on lube oil, and it will start and stop the spindle on it's own occasionally with the direction switch in the off position, when the machine isn't even set up.... which scared the &^%$ out of me one evening when I was working at the bench all on my own!! Another frequent message is 'AMI output fault' when in program mode....

Any thoughts??? could it be a software issue perhaps??? Anybody else running one of these???

Grah.

[idtkid]

Ran one of these in school for a few years, only issue we had was with it not homing properly, we reinstalled the software via the floppy disks and it cured our probs. Do you have the floppy install disks?

[jmelson]

Originally Posted by Jaff Bit of a long shot as I don't think theres many of these systems around... We have a Bridgeport fitted with an Acurite Millpwr CNC system, [which I have to say is a great conversational CNC control for simple machining op's]. Recently however, we have been experiencing a few problems. It is giving a number of error messages, the most common of which is that the gaurd is open.. when it isn't... checked the wiring to the guards it's all ok, even tried wiring it out but still get the error message. There are other errors, such as low on lube oil, and it will start and stop the spindle on it's own occasionally with the direction switch in the off position, when the machine isn't even set up.... which scared the &^%$ out of me one evening when I was working at the bench all on my own!! Another frequent message is 'AMI output fault' when in program mode.... Any thoughts??? could it be a software issue perhaps??? Anybody else running one of these??? Grah.

Extremely unlikely to be software. almost certainly it is bad electrical connections in all the internal wiring. You might check the connectors on the circuit boards, look for oily stuff or
metal debris on them.

Jon

[machinehop5]

Check Power Supply output/input Voltage's maybe. Low 5v Logic might do stange things like you are talking about.

GoodLuck,
DJ

[Jaff]

I've replaced the AMI socket on the input/output board as there seemed to be some issues with this connection. Some of the little pin sockets in the old connector were a bit loose on the pins of the plug. It was working ok when I left it to come on here to post this..... time will tell!!

Thanks for your pointers guys!

Grah.

[Jaff]

... spoke too soon!!

... same problems again... time to call the man in I guess!

[normski]

hi jaff we run one of these and it does strange things, have a look at the filters which may be blocked, this causes over heating and puddles its brain, it worked for us anyways cost nowt

[Jaff]

Hi Normski,

No filters/fans on our model, [which I would have thought is an oversight] but we have discovered that some of the components on the board in the back cabinet, [AMI board, controls the spindle, E switches etc], get hot after a few mins, which is when it freaks out... cooling the board down with an airline restores order again for a few mins. There appear to be a couple of voltage regulators with heatsinks fitted on the board, one for 12v and another for 5v... I'm wondering if it is worth trying to replace these... and/or fit a fan or two...

Ours was one of the earliest versions, 2004... what year is yours?? [wondering if fans were added because of this problem???]

Thanks for your input!

Jaff

[normski]

hi jaff ours is a 1998 machine, obsolete now, we also have a 1965 dean smith grace which is far from obsolete, how times change, i have no other ideas only to say try temprature control or get someone to go over the power supply, best of luck i know how frustrating it is trying to aviod the highway robbers!

[Jaff]

Is yours an EZtrak DX?.. we have one of those too, [2 axis], of similar age! Needs recalibrating at the moment tho', may end up getting both machines sorted with the same visit!

Ran the Millpwr machine on Friday for quite some while with an air conditioner cooling the board... a bit 'Heath Robinson', but at least it proved a point!

G.

[Jaff]

We have found that the 5v voltage regulator on the AMI board in the back cabinet and a resistor in the same circuit have got very hot. We are looking to replace these, we have the regulator, but the colours on the resistor have burnt and are no longer readable.

We would love to know what resistance this resistor should be. If anybody has a Millpwr control and can have a quick look at their board for us we would be very very grateful!! It's the only large resistor on the board, close to the transformer and two largish capacitors.

Please, please help... we are hopeful this will fix the problem!

[johnbora]

Hi we have a 3 axis mill controlled by a 2 axis acu rite millpwr system. when we turn the machine on it comes up with an error saying that there is a problem with the hard drive controller. does anyone know what this means as the machine cant even turn on due to this. many thanks for any help possible.
the machine is 20 + years old. also if anyone knows of any acu rite service engineers in the uk, there numbers would be handy too. cheers jb