Emco VMC100 Rebuild .. I need help..!

[enok1969]

Hi guys..! I have been an inactive reader and admirer of your work for quite some time now..! Waiting to find out if I want to buy or build..?

Well the answer gave itself the other day when I got an Emco VMC100 milling center in my basement. The controller cards are not working on it, and after several phonecalls to Emco and local distributors I have given up on ever getting it back in working order..!

BUT..! I have not given up on the Emco in general.. What I need your help with is to find out what stepper controller and stepper drive cards I can purchase and use instead of the "control panel" part of the mill..? I have decided to utilize the existing powersupply if that's at all possible, and just connect the original wires to new electronics..

It has 5-phase stepper motors that are 2,7A for each phase..?

Anayway.. Please help me guys.. If you need aditional info I'll post it here..

PS. If i'm on the please feel free to bump me.. Not quite used to CnC-Zone qet..

[DennisCNC]

Well, 5-phase drives are harder to come by now days it will be easier and cheaper to get 2-phase steppers and drives. Unless you find some 5-phase drives on eBay. I'm pretty sure the old power supply will work fine. As for cnc control software I recommend Mach3: http://machsupport.com/artsoft/index/index.htm
You can get a free demo the only limitation is 500 lines of code.

Not sure who to recommend for buying steppers and drives in Europe as you guys have the RoHs stuff there.

[enok1969]

Thanx for the info mate..

I'll be keeping my eyes open for some 5-phase drivers on e-bay..

Just started taken the old Emco apart now.. I hope I can ask you for help again if needed..!?

[DennisCNC]

Sure, anytime any day or night!!!! The digital age

[gunshot]

hi enok1969

Well i se that u haw had the same exprience that i haw had whit EMCO
funny enof i haw en vmc100 in my celler to.whit the same problem that i want to rebuild myself.
if u haw a schematics of the controler i ma be able to make the driver for u.
sins i am building one for my self

sorry for my bad english

[enok1969]

Your in luck..!

I have all the manuals.. Unfrotunately some of them are in Norwegian, but most are in english. I can scan the schematics and e-mail them to you.

Contact me on enokwang@hotmail.com and we'll work it out..!

[Markus53]

Hi guys,

i all ready have made a prototype 5 phase driver that can do max 1.8 Amp and have almost completed the design of a one that can go up to 3 Amps.

If enouth people want one, then maybe i could make some kind of build-it-yourself kit.

I have been thinking about making a Emco to Mach3 converter kit cause replacing those wonderfull 5 phase motors (2 phase does not even come close) is really a shame.

are there more folks out there you want 5 Phase driver cards ?

Greezt,

Markus

[enok1969]

Originally Posted by gunshot hi enok1969 Well i se that u haw had the same exprience that i haw had whit EMCO funny enof i haw en vmc100 in my celler to.whit the same problem that i want to rebuild myself. if u haw a schematics of the controler i ma be able to make the driver for u. sins i am building one for my self sorry for my bad english

I had a look at the schematics, and they are in english and german.. I can make a scan in pdf of both the schematics and the manual. But I need your e-mail adress or an adress to send it?

Originally Posted by Markus53 Hi guys, i all ready have made a prototype 5 phase driver that can do max 1.8 Amp and have almost completed the design of a one that can go up to 3 Amps. If enouth people want one, then maybe i could make some kind of build-it-yourself kit. I have been thinking about making a Emco to Mach3 converter kit cause replacing those wonderfull 5 phase motors (2 phase does not even come close) is really a shame. are there more folks out there you want 5 Phase driver cards ? Greezt, Markus

I can't asnwer for the others, but it sure sounds interresting to me..! PM me and we'll figure something out. I really need to get this machine up and running now..

[Adee]

Hi
I have a VMC100 great little machine apart from the drive boards, which like most of us that own them will know, keep popping. I must have done 14 plus boards since I got the machine 3 years ago.

I may have an answer to the problem, but the drive boards from Markus sound very promising.

What I have found after all these years, humidity plays a large role on how the boards act when you turn the machine on and I have had this confirmed by a electronics engineer who repairs them for me. Since I installed a de-humidifier 3 months ago in my garage and keep the humidity below 45%, no problems (touching wood, hee hee).

Hope this helps?

Adee

[DEM-Machinework]

hey guy's
Im a small retrofitter for CNC machines.
Yesterday i retrofitted a vmc100 whit a STOCK berger Lahr steppermotorcard . the problem is that the old card gives an status signal to the CPU of the VMC. so whe had to leave the defected card plugged in. has annyone of you acces to he plans of the steppermotor card???

[tinhead]

Hi All,

I've been reading the board for some time now so here's for a first post, just thought I could add something to this thread.
I too have a VMC100 which I bought in bits several years ago. After many repairs to the axis boards I had just got the darn thing to reference for the first time and it suffered mutliple 'pops' so I made the decision to give up on the old TM02 controller and go for retrofitting...that was sometime ago but I am finally getting things together. I looked around for 5 phase drives but came to the conclusion these were going to be hard to find so bought some new 4.2A stepper motors and MSD556 drives from Motion Control here in the UK. These coupled with 2 breakout boards from CNC4PC, a relay board off ebay, KBIC DC motor drive and couple of power supplies pretty much makes up the shopping list.
I've just got the Z axis working nicely now, using Mach 3, and the next task is work out how to get the ATC functioning - having a problem with one of the proximity sensors so just need to swap that out and then see how the tool shop works.

Cheers for now
TH

[Adee]

Hi Tinhead

Very interested in your emco vmc project, and would very much like to follow your progress. I was thinking of converting mine last year, but just wasn't sure on the MACH3 after reading up on it, plus I had one last go in sorting out my VMC and got good results with the the original boards.
I would be very interested on how you get the toolchanger to work. even if you but a word.doc together and charge for it.

I will PM you.

Adee