Problem with a Milltronics VKM3 Centurion 6

[WrenK]

We have a Milltronics VKM3 here that was purchased in 2002 and has only accumulated 140 hours on the machine since then.

yesterday I fired it up to make some parts and it would not boot(this has never happened before). It hung in different spots of the boot cycle at different times. I got frustrated and went to lunch, when I came back and turned it on, it booted fine on the first try and I was able to make the parts. This morning, it was dead again.

I talked to Bob in parts today and he thought it was acting like a motherboard problem and gave me a few things to try(reseating the ram, checking the powersupply). Neither of those appear to be the problem and the machine still will not boot. If it requires a motherboard replacement, that will be ~$1600, seems a little outrageous for a machine that is essentially new.

Has anyone else had this problem, does anyone have any ideas?

TIA

[jkford96]

Maybe the battery is not holding charge there for loading off disk everytime you boot up???

[WrenK]

I did not know that there was a battery in there. Where would I look for that?

[single phase]

What did you check on the PC power supply? I would pull it out and put it on the bench and run it on a scope.

Or better yet just go get another one and stick it in. Make sure you get the right connectors on the power supply.


There is a battery on the mother board but I am not sure how it could cause this problem. It powers the BIOS configuration memory. For it to fail at different points in the boot that to me points to the power supply or ram. I am still going with the power supply.


Good Luck.
Dave

[WrenK]

I have probed the leads on the power supply while they are hooked up to the motherboard and I got the voltages that I was supposed to get. I did not probe every single lead just one each of the +5, -5, +12, -12. tomorrow I will try to probe each individual wire to make sure that it is working properly, or maybe I will just pull it out and put it on the scope. That would give me the opportunity to look at the connectors and see if I have a power supply around the lab that has the same connectors(I may finally be glad we never throw anything away).

I'm not sure I understand how the powersupply could be making it hang at different spots at different times? If I am ever able to get it to boot all the way to the interface, it will stay on and I can use the machine until I shut it off again.

Thank you for the advice.

[single phase]

Those power supplies are notorious for going bad. They will look OK one second and not the next.

Of course I do not know if it is the PC power supply, it could be something on the mother board but if it were me I would replace the power supply first because it is a cheep thing to try. If it does not help, let us know and we will try some other things like ram or resetting the BIOS.

Intermittent problems are often caused by heat. To get this to be a factor leave the machine running for several hours to heat it up.

[skycop927]

TIA
I have seen some very, very wierd problems like yours that were solved when a new CMOS battery was installed. I'm thinking that the processor loses a few bits & bytes if the battery is low, especially when it sat idle for awhile. It'll be locate at the bottom of the Motherboard, and should read around 3.15 VDC, (usually have to disconnect one lead from the board to get an accuate reading). You may be able to get a 'plug-in' replacement for it, but in any case, they are usually a $10.00 item at any larger battery store (try Interstate Battery).
Might NOT be the cause of your problems, but for the price, I'd give it a try.

Regards
Dave

[single phase]

Are you required to replace the battery with the power on?

[skycop927]

NO, if the machine has booted up, you can read across the battery to see what voltage is on there, but if you are replaceing the soldered in version, you'll want to power down the machine. I usually pull any boards that are plugged in the vicinity of the battery out to get better access.

Regards
Dave

[Mark Hockett]

My VKM3 did the same thing. Turned out I had too many programs loaded and overloaded it. I deleted a bunch of programs and its been fine every since. Mine is an older machine than yours so that might not be your problem but its an easy and cheap thing to try.

Mark Hockett
Island Tech Enterprises
Clinton, WA 98236
360-914-6026

More chip less lip

[WrenK]

The problem has been solved.

There was something wrong with the RAM, so 2 new sticks of 8mb RAM solved the problem.

Thanks for all of your help

[JEHOVA11]

please i need help ! i need to locate the battery on my machine to replace can you guys tell me where i can find it , thank you my machine is a milltronics vkm3 it has less than 40 hours on it but it seating down for 4 years now when i start it i get a square frame around the screen which does not let me to see all the bottom keys to control my machine thank you