Problem- Fanuc 21i Mill

[jimmy111]

I have a bridgeport VMC with a Fanuc 21i controller. I had it in storage for a few years and now am trying to use it again.
When I hooked it up everything seems to work ok. It will home and jog on all axis. However it just flashes between the Diag and Prog soft keys and screens and I cannot seem to reset them.
Any Ideas?
Thanks

[gbowne1]

IIRC,

When I first finished building my 18iM control. it did something similar when I first turned it on.

Did you check all your batteries? If the machine was in storage I would check your batteries.

I will look in my build log and see what we did when the control did that

Greg.

[jimmy111]

I changed the battery and the same thing happens. It really seems like one of the soft keys is stuck active.
You cant enter any info and I noticed that the spindle wont run either. Just rotates at about 5 RPM and irregular at that.
Still flashes between Param and dgnos.

[gbowne1]

It could be a bad switch in the soft keys. Could be also stuck, but that would be a rare case.

Look at your spindle amplifier if you have one and tell me if you see any Alarm (RED) LED's. a very sluggish 5RPM sounds like something got goobered... although it's sat for a while.

Do you have the manuals?

Do you have the standalone version of the 21i or the one that is built into the LCD/MDI unit?

They are somewhat different.

I looked today and could find no specific notes on what I used to correct the problem we were having with our 18i control paging through different menus screens like that. Although I recall having re-initializing most of the cards because it is a new installation with old parts bought from eBay.

These are pretty decent controls.. the 18i, 21i, 31i..

Greg

[jimmy111]

Originally Posted by gbowne1 It could be a bad switch in the soft keys. Could be also stuck, but that would be a rare case. Look at your spindle amplifier if you have one and tell me if you see any Alarm (RED) LED's. a very sluggish 5RPM sounds like something got goobered... although it's sat for a while. Do you have the manuals? Do you have the standalone version of the 21i or the one that is built into the LCD/MDI unit? They are somewhat different. I looked today and could find no specific notes on what I used to correct the problem we were having with our 18i control paging through different menus screens like that. Although I recall having re-initializing most of the cards because it is a new installation with old parts bought from eBay. These are pretty decent controls.. the 18i, 21i, 31i.. Greg

Yes, I have machine manuals only.
The computer is built into the LCD. The MDI is a seperate panel.
Its all pretty simple and accessable. Ive cleaned the contacts and connectors. There was a suprising amount of moisture in the cabinet behind the LCD. But nothing on the electronics.
The Drive for the spindle shows no errors. Just indicated the RPM and the unstable low RPM.
I tried to post a video of the screen but no luck. I can e-mail it to you if you want.

DSCN1258.mp4 video by crappiewy - Photobucket

[jimmy111]

SUCCESS!

Crud in the MDI keyboard.. There is a mylar sheet that is two pieces of circuit board perhaps glued together. There was mold and other stuff that shouldnt be there....
Ill probably need another one soon.
Anyone got one?

[gbowne1]

Is it in a environment with a lot of moisture?

Always a good idea as a part of regular maintenance to clean the MDI switches..

Don't use simple green tho.

I'm still puzzled about your spindle issue.

Do you have the FANUC manuals for the 21i?

Greg

[jimmy111]

Its not normally moist. But I think that the cycling between freezing and thawing did it.

I have the 21i manuals somewhere. Just dont know where.
The spindle issue had something to do with the corrosion. Everything works good now.