Help Please. PC to Fanuc 10T

[PCGuy]

Greetings all,


I have an issue that I will need your advice and instructions on. My Father In Law needs to set up a PC to take the place of a Greco Minifile. The Minifile is starting to not read discs and has other issues. I can fix the disk read issue, but I told him that I thought I could install easyDNC or another free CNC program on a spare PC that I have at home. He has spoken with Greco, but they want mucho money for an updated unit (with USB). The onboard memory for the Fanuc was upgraded 10 years ago, but it is still horrid.
My father in law started with the company 35 years ago. He worked his way from the shop floor to management and then to a lead engineering position in R&D. With the way that the economy is, he has taken his position back out on the floor to save his job. He spends around three hours a day just entering CNC code, run 12 parts, wipe out what he had written and start again. He is frustrated because he is the guy that ordered the Fanuc 10t in the early 80s. He made suggestions on networking it before he left the floor. Nothing was done and now it is his baby. The physical aspect of the job is enough to deal with as he is 15 years older. I want to help him on the mental frustration end.
I have installed easyDNC. He has purchased modular adapters to use CAT5E cable . I understand that this is not the best way to communicate between the Fanuc and PC. He just needs to get it working so that he can convince the big boys that it is worth getting a PO cut for the shop. I thought that maybe he could order some Predator Cables when money is better at the company.
I am a PC geek at heart. I can make network cables all day long, I just need to know what protocol I need to follow. I have searched the forums and on the web. As my father in law dropped a bag of modular adapters off at my house and asked " What else do I need? I have had enough", I think I need to complete this in a hurry. I need a direct path to follow. Thanks in advance.

Josh


P.S. There will be a Fanuc 15 that I will need to do the same for at a later date. it is about 20 feet away from the 10-T

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[stevo1]

Josh,
The best way to communicate with this machine is through the RS232 port. The cables are very cheap. I use a RJ45 and DB25 connectors with Ethernet cable in between. Attached is the pinout for the cables.

I have also attached the settings for the machine parameters. The 10 series control can be a bit tricky to set up. I never run over 4800 baudrate on these controls as it seems to cause problems. Another common problem is buffer overflow because this series can only accept 10 characters so you are probably going to have to adjust your FIFO buffers on your PC.

I cannot believe that a shop does not use any communications on their machines. How can anyone possible think that it is feasible or acceptable to have a guy stand at the control and hand type code to run a few parts then delete it all(asking for trouble). If there is no communication then I believe it is safe for me to ass u me that there is no backup of the control (parameters, timers ,counters etc.). Once this is established then that should be his first order of business to make full backups of the control. I also attached a blank form to fill in the PMC data. This data cannot be sent out via RS232 in this control. It must be hand written.

If you can get the option parameters from the machine (9100 thru about 9131) and send them to me in a PM I will take a look at them to see what you have for memory in the machine and what can be done.

Stevo

[PCGuy]

Stevo1,

The back up of the parameters is a black book that was given to my father in law when he came back to the shop floor. The last operator had been let go and he kept his book of secrets. LOL. He gave the book to my father in law because he had been a good boss. My father in law had made suggestions on networking and went as far as having the maintenance dept run Ethernet cable to the station. That is when he moved out of the dept. I am trying to get it so he can back up everything to the local PC running easyDNC , the server and a USB jump drive that he carries. I will absorb the info that you attached. Thanks.



Josh

[stevo1]

Josh,
If the Ethernet cable is run to the machines then your 2/3rds of the way home. This is what I did at my last shop. Ran the cable to 5 machines and attached the DB25 connecter to the machines and off I went. This ran around a central computer in the shop that had all of the machines plugged into it. The DNC software had “remote request” so the guys never had to leave the control. If they didn’t have the program in the machine they just requested it from the control and had it within seconds.

Ahh the old black book, I think just about every machine has one of these. The only thing that will suck for your father in-law is if he loses the data out of the control he will have to hand type all of it back in instead of just loading it in a matter of minutes via RS232. I suppose he is use to typing all of that data if he’s already doing it with the programs.

Good luck. Let me know if you have any questions. It will probably take some playing around with the settings but it will work.

Stevo

[stevo1]

FYI...the 15 series is pretty much identical to the 10 series control so once the 10 is set the 15 will be a walk in the park.

Stevo

[PCGuy]

Excellent Stevo1 ...My FIL will be ecstatic. He had to order the DB9/ethernet modular plug from Amazon. They guys at Radio Shack laughed at him when he asked for it. They told him to bring in his equipment and they would determine if he should just upgrade to a new machine!!?? FIL shook his head and left. I have noticed a concern in some of the posts concerning the grounding for the Fanuc. I have asked my FIL about this. He says that he believes it to be grounded well. I asked him to check as my job involves DC/AC backup systems for Cellular/RBOC. Bad grounds are the causes of many of my best gremlins. Now do I make a straight through Ethernet cable or a crossover cable? Thanks in advance.

Josh

[stevo1]

If you have a RS232 port then no upgrading is needed. The only thing that is needed is a computer with a 9pin serial plug which is not on most newer laptops. However there are adaptors for USB to RS232.

I only know how to wire for the RJ45 jacks or straight wiring a DB9-DB25. The straight wiring for 9-25 is.
2-2
3-3
5-7
7-5
8-4
6,8,20 jumped together.

I am not an expert in wiring area as I have learned most by trial and error, gathering data and asking for help here at the zone. Dan Fritz is the expert in this area(along with many others). If he doesn’t chime in send him a PM with the link to this thread and ask if he has some time to throw his 2cents in on the wiring questions.

Tell your FIL not to worry this is standard and has been done millions of times.

Stevo