Allen Bradley Banit 1 controller problems PLEASE HELP!!!

[notchtopper]

Hi all this website is great, I'm not new to machining, but I am new to problem solving cnc controller issues. I have a machine, it's a old shizuoka mill with a old allen bradley bandit 1 closed loop servo controller. I seen the machine run from manually input code before I bought it. I had the machine jogging around, I also was able to enter code and it would move it. But then I had a problem because it's missing a few of the buttons and a little light bulb knowing if the code I was entering was being saved and ran. I didn't know that it was missing a light bulb untill I contacted some guy that allen bradley referred me to this guy, he's like supposabley the only guy in the country that even has parts for this thing. Well he was no help and infact told me to disconnect a driver board. So I did it, then he told me to do something else "this was a while back ago so my memory is a bit foggy" so I did, then he told me to put the board back in, so I did.

Now all the controller does is turn on, the little screen that shows the line of code is blank and the motors aren't getting any juice. It totally paralyzed my machine. If somebody, anybody could help me out I'd greatly appreciate it.
Thank you all in advance!!

[notchtopper]

I've been really busy and have been neglecting to check my thread. The machine is a shizuoka model AN-S.

As for motors it has them all, but the labels are quite worn. Here is what I could pull off of them.
---------------------------------
X axis is a permanent magnet DC

Res. ohms -.6

Ja lb. in. - .0198

torque - 660
---------------------
Z axis

torque stall - 500 oz. in.

no load speed - 1675 rpm

60.00 v/krpm

max volts - 120 dc

cont. 7.00 - 20.00 amps peak

tach output - 7.00 v/krpm
----------------------------

[notchtopper]

So nobody out there know's of a cost effective way to go? Any direction would greatly be appreciated.

[notchtopper]

So I've looked around and I think what I want to do is use some gecko drivers and maybe a keiling or I think they're called cs labs controller "I think". Really it's totally unknown if they'll work together or at all for our machine, I've been trying to get ahold of both and it's been just a wait to get any response. What I need to know is what drivers will work on these permanent magnet servo motors? I'd also like to know if there's anybody out there with any experiences they've had with retrofitting these older knee mills with older motors with these seperate driver/controller setups and what would be a already proven way to go. Thank you in advance!!

[Al_The_Man]

If your thinking of Mach or other step/dir controller, you could look at Larken drives, they go to the higher DC ratings, this allows you to use existing DC supplies.
Otherwise the drives you presently have are most likely analogue control, something like the A-M-C. drives would work.
Al.

[LASCHRIS]

CALL THIS GUY ABOUT YOUR BANDIT,BOB OTTO.






Automan Technologies
362 Sacramento Street
Auburn, CA 95603
Phone/Fax: 530-885-8815

[notchtopper]

If your thinking of Mach or other step/dir controller, you could look at Larken drives, they go to the higher DC ratings, this allows you to use existing DC supplies.
Otherwise the drives you presently have are most likely analogue control, something like the A-M-C. drives would work.
Al.

The at least one of the drivers on the machine I think is no good. I talked to some guy that AB refered me to, they said he's like the only guy in the country THEY know of that has parts. Well I told him the problem I was having and he told me to pull out one of the driver boards and put it back in. It's been quite a while since this happend so I don't remember why he told me to do this or which board it was I pulled out. What I do know is now the machine won't even jog around and the motors are getting no power to them. Before it would jog and I think everything was working fine, but the control was missing some buttons and lights. I bought the machine from a auction and seen it run right in front of me, so I know the machine DID run.
I wish I had known that mainly the light bulb was so important to load code, because if I did I would have definately spent the $20.00 on a couple buttons and bulb. So the AB parts supplier wanted to sell me a new driver board for $1200.00 and I don't think buying that would've been smart at all. The way I see it/ seen it was the controller is old, if one board went out, who knows how soon before another will go, just a money pit. Just to much money for me I can't afford it.

So what do you mean current dc supplies, the motors? Mach I've looked at them and centroid, from what I see I like centroid more, but they both are way way to expensive for me. If I were to spend that much money on retrofitting this machine with a new controller like that, I'd mine as well just go buy a later model used VMC. So I'm stuck not know what direction to go. I here of guys retrofitting with these low dollar drives and controller combinations, but have no idea how to install "but all I can do is try I guess" or put together a affordable system that will work with what I have. I thank you for your input though if I understand you correctly and any thing else you can think of I'd definately appreciate.

[notchtopper]

CALL THIS GUY ABOUT YOUR BANDIT,BOB OTTO.



Automan Technologies
362 Sacramento Street
Auburn, CA 95603
Phone/Fax: 530-885-8815

I will give him a shot, I really kind of gave up on the whole fixing the bandit. But if he might be the cheapest way to go and hopefully the easiest I'd definately consider doing that. Have you had experience with him?

[Al_The_Man]

I wouldn't pour alot of money into the Bandit system.
If it is just the drives you need to replace, the AMC should work if they are analogue input.
Probabally the cheapest way to go is to for a new system is Mach, you would need new step/dir drives also such as Larken.
The power supplies can be re-used.
Do you know if the motors have encoders or resolvers?
Al.

[notchtopper]

When you say a Mach you do mean something like this "Basic Digital CNC Control
X15-110-B" from machmotion.com? $2000.00 isn't too bad of a price considering, but I really was hoping to spend around half of that. But at the same time you get what you pay for and I don't need a bunch of electronics laying that is going to be a huge pain for me to put together.

Now the servo's I don't know how to tell the difference between the two you speak of. I think they're encoders, but I'm not sure. Can you tell the difference by just looking at them? Thanks Al I really appreciate your help!

[Al_The_Man]

http://www.machsupport.com/ I believe the full license is around $250.00
You need a suitable PC and drives, you have the motors and power supply.
Often the difference can be seen between encoder and resolver, or from part numbers on them.
Al.