VQC 15/40 4th axis with M2 control

[jimiscnc]

I recently acquired this wonderful used machine and I'm in the process of restoring it, with the help of a former Mazak tech, who took early retirement.

We have got the machine to full manual operating condition, but we get the dreaded alarm 22 when ever any form of program is used - auto or MDI.

I'm going to send a few boards to Mits for them to check out, and I hope that goes well.

In the meantime, a few questions:

Are there other people out there that have a good rep for fixing Mazak control boards besides Mits? I'm doing all this on the cheep and for me there's a big diff between $250 and $500, for example.

Have any of you found a way to DNC this control, which looks like it needs a special DNC option from Mazak to feed direct to buffer, unlike most other cnc's of the day, which are more DNC friendly. This is needed because I anticipate die/mold surfacing programs are going to be much larger than the standard memory can handle. I do have G code and user macro option, thankfully.

Is there such a thing as an "obsolete Mazak club" out there? I know I'm not alone in owning a Mazak of this vintage and it seems we would all be better off if we got a forum and shared our solutions with each other?

Thanks for your help, guys and girls!

-90% Jimmy

Ps - this is the second of 2 internet cnc message boards I like that this is posted on. If you all happen to see this elsewhere.

[MTSS Service]

Hi There;

There are other companies that I use since I do repair Mazaks and other CNC machines.
Have you ever tried Electrical South. There are others that I use, but without their authorization I can not list them on here.
I have used Electrical South in the past and they do have nice rates. Repairs times vary on cards and components. They are on the WEB so check em out.

Larry (MTSS)

[gridley51]

I`ve had M2 FX784 boards repaired by Mits.Cost was a flat $200 for each board regardless of what it needed and a 12 month guarantee.Most outside places would find that hard to beat.
When the monitor went I found it cheaper to fit a new lcd screen.
I have a VQC 20/40 and NLH who also posts on this forum has one too.
Mark.

[jimiscnc]

Thanks for your responses. I'm going to send FX27, FX784-8 and -9 to Mits today. Their set up to do this is a wonderful thing!

One extremely nice surprise with this machine is that I have a retrofitted FX717C board in the machine. This is the board needed for the Mazak "DNC" option, which allows drip feed of programs, so I can also do EIA die-mold work, program size only limited by the external PC, instead of std mazatrol memory!

-90% Jimmy

[chippy1]

Alarm 22 is a sum check. Did you have red LED's on any of the three boards that you are sending to Mits? If so, which one? Usually there are three LED's in a role. Top is battery, Middle is Ram, Bottom is Rom. Which one was it. If none, then look at your versions on the diagnostic page. Is there any astericks? If so, then what are the letters to the left?

Regards,

Chippy

[jimiscnc]

Chippy - My tech guy dealt with Mits. I didn't catch the state of the lights before shipping out to Mits. I dont think any version list on the control had any "****" characters, though.

thanks very much for your response. Nice to know people out there that know these older controls. MY instincts tell me I'll have a tiger by the tail when i go to make the DNC stuff work!

-90% jimmy