Acramatic backup memory battery charging problem

[cnc1000]

Hi, y'all....
We have a Cincinnati 5VC-750 mill with Acramatic 900 V2 controls. During a move, the batteries died. We want to keep the batteries charged without having to keep the machine hooked up to 440 3-phase power all the time. There is a battery charging board in there that derives it's power from somewhere. Any ideas how we can power the battery charging board from a common 120 vac cord? There are 4 Gates Cyclon 2 volt cells in series, with a center tap. 3 wires come off of the cells, hot, cold, and center tap.
Every time the batteries die, we will have to reboot the machine with a paper tape! Argh! That's the closest thing to waterboarding that I can think of.....

Jim

[Al_The_Man]

Lots of fun!
You can get a BTR for these, BTW.
You should be able to find the AC source of the charger. It has been a while since I played with one.
I have a big double axis drive and spare cards, if anyone needs one.
Al.

[cnc1000]

Uh, 'BTR"? Whazzat? I'm a novice at this stuff. Jim

[Al_The_Man]

BTR= Behind the Tape Reader, it is an electronic interface that allows the loading of machine executive and program tape information via a PC, you have to have your tapes converted to an electronic data file, however.
Al.

[cnc1000]

Hi. Id'a never guessed that one! I think the tape is ok, so long as I only have to run it once or twice. I have no idea how I would transfer it to a PC file, anyway. If I can just figure out how to power the battery charger from a common 120v outlet, I'm good. The Gates cells appear to have a center tap for some reason. The connector has ground, 4V and 8V wires, so the battery charger can't be a simple one. It has to have two output voltages. Jim

[Al_The_Man]

I seem to remember either the batteries were being discharged fairly quickly or they were not being fed to the memory, new batteries did not make a difference.
I fixed the charger a couple of times, but the machine was scrapped some time ago, so I am just going by memory.
Al.

[Mudflap]

If you're still looking, there are a pair of yellow wires in the control that feed the battery charger. They should be the only yellow wires in the control cabinet. Cut them, put a plug on and plug an extension cord onto it, you're good to go. I put a big UPS on mine, will run it for 4 hours during a blackout.

[cnc1000]

Yes, I am still looking, so thanks for the tip. Assuming there are two yellow wires in there, will it be obvious which side of the cut to put the plug on?

[cnc1000]

If you're still looking, there are a pair of yellow wires in the control that feed the battery charger. They should be the only yellow wires in the control cabinet. Cut them, put a plug on and plug an extension cord onto it, you're good to go. I put a big UPS on mine, will run it for 4 hours during a blackout.

Hi. Am just getting back to this project. So you cut the yellow wires, install a male 120VAC plug and then use an extension cord to go to a UPS? Sounds like a plan to me. I hope the Cyclon cells aren't toast by now. Been hooked up for months with no juice to them. Do you know the total battery supply voltage? Appreciate your help. Jim