Looking for replacement battery for Meldas M3

[smirob]

Hello,

Can someone direct me to a good source for a replacement battery for my Mighty Comet 500P, which has a Meldas M3 Control? Mine's not dead yet, however, I would like to replace it.

Thank you,
Rob, Mi

[Caprirs]

If you're not picky about the originality, you can use any battery that meets the electrical requirements. It does need to be a nickel cadmium, no nickel metal hydride or lithium. The M3 control's charging circuit can be damaged by using a battery that is not NiCad. Just make sure it is 3.6V and at least 250mAh. Higher mAh will allow the machine to be powered off for longer periods without losing parameters.

I used a cordless telephone battery from the hardware store. About $10 and some creative mounting.

[smirob]

Hmmm...

So there is more underneath the battery cover that I see there.



I run a Rotary Phase Converter, so I'm not 3 Phase all the time. Now, I do fire up the machine at least once a day, however, I was not aware that it was a NiCAD. Is it correct to assume that I will have to have the power on, when it comes time to pull this? I'm a bit nervous until I can see what's underneath the cover.

Thanks,
Rob, Mi

[Leelund]

Intrestate Batteries used to make a cheap replacement if you didn't need it yesterday. Mittsubishi and Mazak still sell replacements but are steep. That cover will come off easily and under it you will see a card with the battery pack screwed on to it. You have to pull the card to replace it so you will need to power down and rely on the super capacitors to hold data during the change. Always have current data backed up to disk just in case!

[Caprirs]

Under that cover is a battery like the one shown in the attached image. I replaced it with the phone battery. A very smart guy at Mitsubishi told me it would work fine and that it had to be NiCad. On the M3 controls, the charging circuit is not able to handle other battery types. Change the battery with power off.

As Leelund mentioned, back up all important info on the machine before replacing the battery. Copy parameters, tool change macros, and anything else to your PC first. When the battery is pulled, you'll have to re-initialize the MC-161 card, format the memory, and re-load the canned cycles. Then set your RS-232 parameters and transfer the parameter file, tool change macro, and programs back into the control.

The battery only charges when the control is powered up. In other words, just having the machine's main disconnect on does not charge the battery. According to Mits, the control will charge the factory 250mAh battery fully in 24 hours and that should last about 3 months. A higher mAh rating will take longer to fully charge but will also go longer between power ups.

[smirob]

Interesting.

Let me ask this then. Is there a warning in the control that pops up when the battery is going to fail? For instance, in my Bridgeport Interact 412, the Heidenhain control would display a warning that the battery needed replacement and you had roughly 2 weeks to get it done.
Is it safe to assume the same for this machine? If so, maybe I'm just looking for trouble, by replacing the battery right now, without any real problems, or would it be smart to replace it?

Also, on a side note, what type of lube should I run in the automatic way oiler? I don't have documentation on any recommendations. I run Mobil Vactra #2 on the other machines, but wonder if I should use #4 or something else, since this machine is much newer than the others.

Thanks again for the help guys.

Regards,
Rob, MI

[Caprirs]

Your M3 should give a Z52 low battery alarm when the voltage is low. If the alarm occurs after long periods (weeks) of being off, that can be normal. If it seems to occur everytime you power up the machine, that would be a sign to change the battery. A new fully charged 250mAh battery is supposed to be good for three months (or more)without power.

Can't help with the way lube. I run the same #2 in my mills but that is something the builder specs.

[smirob]

Thanks for the info.

I'm curious now though. You said to re-format the disk. Wouldn't I loose everything, even OS? Maybe I'm comparing apples and oranges, but what is the purpose of formatting? When I think of formatting, I think of PC style formatting that destroys data. Well, not completely wiping the disk, but you know what I'm saying.

Also, if the disk is formatted, how would the basic operating system function as I don't have any disks or any means to upload an os (other than RS232) to the control. This seems somewhat antimidating to me.
Finally, I havn't run any large MB programs yet, as all the work so far is 2D but what is the proper settings or maybe better word being procedure, for drip feeding a program to the control? I assume its tape mode.?.. And is it possible to restart at a particular line or do you have to begin again if you pause or stop the program?

Thanks again for all the help.
Rob,MI

[Caprirs]

No disk. No "OS" in the same sense as PCs. But you are correct that formatting will erase everything.

If you've just replaced the battery, the entire procedure to get the machine running again would be about 10 minutes as long as you have the machine's parameters, atc macro, and any programs saved. The "OS" and canned cycles are re-loaded from eproms in the control so no external disk is needed for those. Parameters, atc macro, part programs and tool data should be saved to a PC before replacing the battery.

Drip feed (also called DNC) can be done. There are zillions of softwares that will do that. I use Andy Carter's software.

Restart can be done from any line if required. There is a procedure explained in the Mitsubishi manual on how to do this.

[smirob]

Thanks again, you are truely a wealth of information.

My question about drip feed is basically, to put it in Tape mode>Input the Name of Program? then hit input> Start feed from computer> Then press Cycle Start?

Is that about right?

Best Regards,
Rob

[Caprirs]

That's pretty much it. Also, in the last field in the search set TAPE to 1.

[Captdave]

I’m using an aftermarket battery on a T32 control that has a high draw on the MC-116 card (dead battery after 3-4 days) that I can’t isolate and not willing to pay Mit’s 1600.00 to overhaul. The only negative I see is when the control is first turned on the battery malfunction alarm comes on, clear it and good to go.

Been like that for all most 2 year now and haven’t lost anything even after being off for a month while on vacation.