Phoenix router retrofit

[diemaker]

Hi Guys

Proud NEWBIE third owner of a 1994 Phoenix GS44 CNC router. Machine looks great.
Problem is the ancient Centroid CNC4 contoller and lack of a machine manual. My goal as a hobby is to be able to machine 3d artwork as I have some limited experience with cnc programing and have seen many examples of what must be huge programs that could never be run on the current controller.
So here is what I know....
MAE HY200 3450 700 A8 motors translated ... HybridStepper,Low Rotor Inertia, 200 step/rev, Nema size 34, 7 amp, 8 wire
Power supply I assume is useful in any new configuration as it operates fine as is. PC has been newly upgraded to a pent 1.5 Ghz Dell XP Home that would run mach3 fine.
So if you were in this situation with budget in mind would you replace all the remaining I/O boards and breakout boards with Gecko products ?I According to the gecko website, I need G201 or G210 if I do not need thermal protection,500 uH or higher winding inductance ,short protection and other unanswerable questions. Is this a accurate fit for my motors?
Does Gecko provide generic break out boards as well? or where do you find them?
Also this machine has no limit switches, I assume any good micro switch normally closed would work.
Are the newer grex drives worth the extra cost ? What would you start out doing.? I like the idea of the LAN connection and skipping the parralell port connections.
Please Advise, thanks in advance
diemaker

[kenbrem]

I just picked up a phoenix router yesterday that was given to me. I would like to also upgrade the controller. Any help from others out there would be greatly appreciated. I am basically confused as where to start looking as the company doesn't seem to exist anymore. Thanks for any help!

[iamthesnakeman]

I have the cnc lathe by phoenix. I had the computer till it had a major meltdown. Eveything seemed to work ok. No disks to upload old system. Do you have the software? Does the system I have work with Mach2 or 3?
Bill "Iamthesnakeman"

[jjackson]

Hi!

Did anyone find the original software or manuals?

I am bidding on a Phoenix Lathe AND a Phoenix Router, and after buying it may be a few months before I can afford new electronics.

Any help would be appreciated!

[diemaker]

If the router has a centroid controller I have a manual for it.
I have the software discs as well .
If you buy it and your interested, send me a message

Good Luck

diemaker

[jjackson]

Thanks Diemaker!

I have received and email that my bid was successful, but I am out of town until next week to consumate the deal.

Do you know if any other software can be used, or is it proprietary?

Do you have the lathe or the router?

[jjackson]

Both the Phoenix Router and the Lathe have a serial interface cable.

I connected the router to Windows XP running a terminal program and plugged everything in. And voila, I got a menu in the terminal program coming from the router's controller. So far I cannot determine any brand names, but from the main menu I can change system settings, upload or download programs, edit programs with a line editor, run programs or step through programs and finally I can jog x, y, z.

It still had a program in memory from the last time it was plugged in in 2000!

So I uploaded a simple g-code file I found online, and with the router off it started to execute but just stopped on one line. I am wondering what flavor of g-code this is expecting.

Also, I understand these steppers are 7 amp, and the software setting is to output 1.5 A max. Not sure if that is a controller limitation, power supply limitation or just a nice safe value.

Diemaker, I am not sure what manuals you have, if they are for the machine or for the DOS software? Most of all I would like a schematic of the controller box with the relays, fuses, etc. There are relays and switches for both the dust vacuum and for the router motor, as well as an overall kill switch.