A guy I work with has four cnc machines hooked up to a 4 position switch box. He has been using it for a LONG time. today he could not send his programs to any of the machines. I am computer savvy so he asked me to help him check it out. This is all RS232 ports. So I took one of the rs232 cables(really long) and went straight from the computer to the machine, it threw error dr off something. So since I was going straight to the machine from the computer with a cable and it still didnt work I though probably the rs232 adapter card. Well I did some research before making an unnecessary purchase and come to find out really long rs232 cables are custom made and can be pinned differently. Now I am wondering if the cable I was using is pinned wrong? if it is pinned wrong would it have worked from the box to the machine? When I go to device manager it says the rs232 adapter card is working properly. Any ideas? Maybe switch box and the cable is pinned wrong or the adapter card is bad and the device manager says its okay? Thanks
It's possible the cable from the PC to the switchbox has the necessary wiring and the cables from the switchbox to the machines are wired straight through. If this is the case, then connecting from the PC directly to the CNC won't work. You didn't say what kind of controls the machines have, but if they're Fanuc-alikes, jumpering pins 6-8-20 on the CNC end usually defeats the DR DOWN errors.
This is a typical Fanuc cable:
CNC DB25 PC DB-9 (DB25)
1 <---------- shield ------ (no connection on PC end)
2 <-------------------------> 2 (3 DB25)
3 <-------------------------> 3 (2 DB25)
7 <-------------------------> 5 (7 DB25)
4 & 5 jumpered on CNC end only
6, 8 & 20 jumpered CNC end only
Thanks. My question is once I open the connector on this rs232 wire is there four wires? Also how do I know where to count what pin to start from? Kind of a guide on how to jump them?
Sometimes the wire is labeled with the gauge and number of conductors. Otherwise, you won't know how many there are until you open the "hood". The pins are usually labeled, but you may need a magnifying glass to see the numbers.
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