Need Help!- Amada Pega 244 w/ Fanuc 6m B controller memory replacement

[MetalForce]

We own a Amada Pega 244 turret punch with a Fanuc 6m b controller. Our BMU has been going bad for some time so we purchased a Tulip Electronics Fanram board to replace it. Does anyone here have any experience with these units? I cannot get my info to autoload on the fanram board. I have attempted to manually enter the settings and parameters, but for some reason they won't input.

The machine is in MDI mode, write enable is on, all parameters and settings are zero'd out. I have changed the settings back and forth on the original Fanuc BMU board so the procedure works on original hardware. The gentleman at Tulip mentioned that I might need to ground out the E-Stop to get the board to accept changes......why? Is there another way? Help Please.

Also when I attempt to store my programs I can't seem to find the 8000 & 9000 series programs. I have gone in and changed parameter 318 bit 7 to a zero, and 319 bit 7 to a zero also. But I cant see any 8000 or 9000 files and when I attempt to output to our pc no data is transferred. If I load a program into the controller I can see it fine, even send it back to the pc but these "protected" programs, that everyone says I need for macros and such, I cant find.

Please help

[Dan Fritz]

Later model 6M-B controls also have a "password" function that locks access to programs. Parameter 168 should always be "0". If you put any number other than 0 in parameter 168, it locks things until you put the SAME number in parameter 407. This may or may not be your problem.

With parameters 318 bit 7 and 319 bit 7 both set to "0", try manually entering a new file in the 8000-9999 range in EDIT mode. Turn off the memory protect key switch, set EDIT mode, then key in letter "O", then a 4-digit number and press INSERT. If it creates the file OK, then you're not locked. If you are locked, you may have to jump through some hoops to unlock it unless you know the password.

I've always heard good things about the Tulip Technologies boards, and I don't know of any reason why you can't manually enter parameters. The Fanuc 6M does let you enter the parameters in E-stop, so push the big red button and give it a try.
Enter your option parameters first (000-005 and 300-305). Next, key in parameters 340, 341 and 311. That should enable your serial port and let you load in the rest of them from your PC.

[MetalForce]

Thanks Dan,

I'll take a look at those parameters and try this stuff out.

I've tried inputting with the E-stop pressed, to no avail. =(

The gentleman at tulip was talking about a circular redundancy problem with the e-stop....That on Amada machines its actually a software based estop triggered by the mechanical stop buttons. He was talking about having to ground out the e-stop on the main terminal block, because since the new memory board is not setup yet the pc board inside is not fully activated, hence not activating the software based E-stop mode (also it doesn't seem like it actually switches to MDI mode when you flip the switch) grounding out the e-stop apparently will bypass the pc board and force an E-stop.

Does that sound right?.....

Thanks again for the reply

[MetalForce]

My parameter 168 is set to 1004, and my parameter 407 is set to 0. Could this be why the Tulip FanRam board is not "auto-loading"? I can't "play" with the machine parameters until the end of the day, they're running parts using the old BMU, but at the end of the day I will try changing the 407 to match and retry the autoload feature.

Thanks again,

[WGoyer]

We have a 6T at our facility that has the same problem when loading a bubble / Tulip board from scratch. Our E-Stop button is only a "soft" E-Stop. We need to force a "hard" E-Stop too. We do it by unplugging the bottom plugs from the input unit board ( the longer than high I/O board). You could have two, but the hard E-Stop is probably on the first one. You'll need a small phillips screwdriver to release the Honda plug locking screws.

Tulip boards are great. You might even notice a little faster scrolling.

Warren
www.uptimecorp.com

[MetalForce]

Warren,
Did you have any success using the autoload feature on your tulip board with the fanuc 6? I would much rather transfer everything over automatically vs manually. If so, any tips?

Thanks,
Paul

P.S. I am a computer tech, with basic maintenance skills, not a skilled service tech. Any additional help is much appreciated. Also, the maintenance manual I have is in very, very sad shape (torn and missing pages). I have located the input boards, I have 2. The photo attached shows the boards, with arrow pointing towards the plug (I believe) I need to remove. When grounding this out, does it require the plug to remain grounded during the procedure? or is it just a matter of grounding it for a sec. to trigger something?

Thanks again

[WGoyer]

Paul,
Yes, Autoload works well on a Fanuc 6 with a couple of exceptions:
1) PC parameters, if any won't Autoload. They must be done by hand.
2) Tool length offsets, part programs, 9000 macros (even the invisible ones) and macro variables won't autoload either.

The picture shows the correct area. Just keep pulling them (with the power off) until you find the one with the E-Stop signal. I just pull all of ours at once.

Warren
www.uptimecorp.com

[MetalForce]

Before I force the hard e-stop I want to make sure I have all the info I need for the new board.
I have been able to create a parameter file and upload it to our pc terminal, I have also done the same with my offsets. But am unable to save the pitch error comp. (goes through the motions but leaves me with an empty file) the same goes for saving a part program file(I have cleared out all of our programs, and I have tried and tried to access the 8000-9000 series programs and I am unable to locate them.
I matched up parameter 407 to match parameter 168, to see if this was locking me out, no change.

Any ideas?

Also, simply unplugging the proper Honda plug forces a hard e-stop? Do you leave it unplugged, power up, then input data?(powering down and replugging when done) Or do I physically have to jumper a pin to ground?

Thanks,

[supreme_hinge]

Have a Amada coma cnc turret punch with a fanuc-c controller. Was running machine had to hit e-stop. Gives me alarm 14. I cant get it to reset. How do i get it to reset

[ferneygomez70]

Originally Posted by supreme_hinge Have a Amada coma cnc turret punch with a fanuc-c controller. Was running machine had to hit e-stop. Gives me alarm 14. I cant get it to reset. How do i get it to reset

lo que tienes que hacer es presionar el boton reset + del o can en simultanea con el boton power asi se resetea.

[Applicam]

If any of your 6M based Amada turret punches fail, we offer a full CNC retrofit for these machines at a competitive price using the existing servos and motors or replacing with new. Our control is PC based and designed specifically for punch presses and you can run all of your FANUC programs on it without reprogramming. HOME for details.