Fanuc RS232 problems

[wsuwrhr]

Hi Everyone,

Newbie poster, but not a newbie machinist. I'll try and keep it as short as possible.

I have encountered some serious communication problems this week. I tired searching around this forum, but I was unable to find anything close to my situation.

I have a Kitamura Mycenter 1/Fanuc 6M and a Mori Seiki AL-20/OT in my shop.

At times I have had spotty problems cummunicating back and forth in the past, but never to the point where it wouldn't work at all.

I am running 4800 baud on both. This last week I have been getting consistent error messages 001, or 085. Both alarms having to do with
baud rate/framing/parity issues.

I replaced the cable thinking maybe that was the problem. No help.

I tried a different computer, it will send one program to the lathe, but will give me an alarm sending the same program to the mill. The normal computer wont send the same program to either machine.

I am so lost, it is unbelievable. I have parts due this week and at this point I don't know if I will be able to finish them.

Please help ASAP.

Brian

[Al_The_Man]

Are you using a three-wire cable with hardware handshake jumpered out both ends?
Also try using 2400 baud, see it that helps.
Al.

[wsuwrhr]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Man Are you using a three-wire cable with hardware handshake jumpered out both ends? Also try using 2400 baud, see it that helps. Al.

I am using cat5 from AMP. 4 pair data cable.

I have the wires jumpered on the "machine" end. Do they need to be jumpered on the PC side also?

I could post up the wire color/pin location.

Brian

[wsuwrhr]

Why the switch to 2400 baud, will slower help the problem?

[Dan Fritz]

I'll bet that your "stop-bits" settings are not correct. A mis-match of stop-bits between the CNC and the PC will result in very "iffy" communications. Sometimes you'll be able to send data one way, but not the other.

On the Fanuc 6M-B and 6T-B controls, the stop-bits are set with one bit of parameter 311. Parameter 311 is an "8-bit" parameter, and each bit has a special meaning for the serial port setting. Here's what I like to set for 4800 baud and 1 stop-bit:

Parameter 311: 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1
Parameter 340: 2
Parameter 341: 2

This setting in parameter 311 will give you 4800 baud, 1 stop-bit, DC code (Xon/Xoff) handshaking, and no "leader/trailer" sent by the Fanuc. To match these settings, your DNC software should be set to 4800 baud, 1 stop-bit, 7 data bits, Even parity.

A setting of "2" in parameters 340 and 341 just point to parameter 311 as the effective IO device.

If you want to change a parameter in the Fanuc 6, here's how to do it:

1) Turn on the "Parameter write enable" toggle switch on the CNC's main circuit board. (you will get an alarm, but this is normal)

2) Put the control in MDI mode, and press the PARAM key to display the parameters.

3) Page or cursur up to the parameter number you want to change, then press "P" then enter your new data, then press the INPUT key

4) When finished, turn off the Parameter write enable toggle switch, then press RESET to clear the alarm


Note: If you have an older 6M-A or 6T-A control, you won't have any parameters higher than about 160 or so. If that's the case, let me know and I'll try to find the old 6M-A manual and get those parameters for you.