Fanuc 6MB to Minifile

[eriksalo]

Hi All;

I have a Milling machine with Fanuc 6MB electronics. I also have a Greco Minifile (the kind with a 3.5" floppy drive). I'd like to connect to the Fanuc to to Greco act as a BTR so I can run longer programs.

Does anyone have a similar setup or know the cable specifications to go from the Greco to the Fanuc? Is is a straight through cable from the 50 pin on the Greco to the 50 pin on the Fanuc mainboard (where the tape reader sits)?

Please let me know and Thanks!

Erik

[MysticMonkey]

This site will give you all the info on the Fanuc 6 parameters and necessary cabling

http://www.machinetoolhelp.com/Appli...nications.html



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This pdf shout show you the configuration of the minifile output port

http://www.grecosystems.com/manuals/CNCMinifileOM.pdf

page 14.

[eriksalo]

Thanks for your reply. I already have a serial cable hooked to the machine and use it to transfer programs to the bubble memory. My Fanuc 6MB only has 8k of memory so programs must be small.

Unfortunately, the Fanuc 6MB won't drip feed through the serial port. To drip feed this machine you must connect directly to the 50 pin Tape Reader header and, 'fake out' the machine to think it's reading from an actual paper tape.

There are BTR's available and Dan Fritz has some nice software for a PC and a 25 pin parallel port. However, I already have this old minifile that should work, I just don't know how to hook it up. I'm looking for the pinout from the 50 pin connector on the minfile to the 50 pin connector on the Fanuc.

Thanks!

[MysticMonkey]

Looks like this it top secret highly classified information


you might have to buy one from the manufacturer

http://www.grecosystems.com/products/cables.html

[eriksalo]

I contacted Greco and they quoted me $400 to tell me how to configure the machine and to provide a cable. I can understand charging for the cost of support but it doesn't seem it should cost that much to hook one machine I own to another machine I own. I'll keep looking.

[greenery_fr]

Originally Posted by eriksalo I contacted Greco and they quoted me $400 to tell me how to configure the machine and to provide a cable. I can understand charging for the cost of support but it doesn't seem it should cost that much to hook one machine I own to another machine I own. I'll keep looking.

A
1 P1
2 P2
3 P3
4 P4
5 P5
6 P6
7 P7
8 P8
9 SP
10 *TER
11 RDT
12 *RWT
13 FDT
14 OPT
15 *RWDT
16 *CLT
17 *RVT
18*ALM
19 CLR
20*REEL
21 +5V
22 +5V
23 +24V
24 +24V
25 RMT

B
1 0V
2 0V
3 0V
4 0V
5 0V
6 0V
7 0V
8 0V
9 0V
10 0V
11 0V
12 0V
13 0V
14 0V
15 0V
16 0V
17 0V
18 0V
19 0V
20 0V
21 0V
22 0V
23 0V
24 0V
25 Nc
From PTR
P1....P8
*REEL: with reels
*TER : PTR error
RDT :Ready
Rewinding *RWT
SP: Sprocket

To PTR
FDT : Feed forward
*RVT: Reverse
OPT : Operate
*RWDT: Rewind
*CLT: Clear PTR
CLR :clear
*ALM:Alarm
RMT :remote
FDT: Tape feed
( All B pins is 0v(ground))
Hope it will help

[steedspeed]

I just upgraded my bubble memory to 512k

It is big enough for most of the jobs I do.

[kylef1978]

how much did it cost to do the memory upgrade?

thanks

[steedspeed]

Originally Posted by kylef1978 how much did it cost to do the memory upgrade? thanks

It was just under $2000 and I had a tech do it. You could probably do it for less by installing yourself. It is quite a usefull machine with 512k.

[kylef1978]

So you dont know how much the memory board itself was?

[cnc-it]

Try www.memex.ca I have one of there 512K Sram boards and it is really easy to install and use.
They can also upgrade your Fanuc 6 software (as long as you have 6MB11) by sending you a new set of Eproms which will let the Fanuc 6 drip feed without needing any extra hardware!!
It adds a key on the screen to change from RS232 memory load to serial drip feed. Expensive but less hardware to worry about!!

John

[kylef1978]

John, thanks for all the info.....how do i know if i have a 6mb11? and do you know how much the upgrade is for the eproms?

kyle