Newbie- Hercus PC200 Retrofit

[isjohn]

Hi all,

First post, so bear with me if this is a little long winded. I have been asked to investigate the viability of resurrecting a Hercus PC200 Lathe that has sat in storage for some time. The original PC and I/O hardware have long since disappeared so I am looking into the possibility of a retrofit and would appreciate some advice.

The machine runs two Electro-craft E586-SA (586-024-24) servos for the X and Z axis and a SEM (Small Electro Motors) DPM30L2 Motor, 180V 0.37KW 2500RPM 2.3A for the Spindle. The encoders are HP HEDS-5540-I12 units and the PWM boards are proprietary Hercus, as is the main machine interface board.

I would like to eventually run the machine using MACH Turn and as such re-config the controller and servo drivers to suit. Has anyone any experience in these machines or any of the component parts that could give me some guidance?

[Al_The_Man]

Do you know if the PWM drives were 10v analogue or step/dir?
This will probabally influence the fact as to whether you can use them or fit new drives.
If the motors have tach's you do not need these with modern drives.
They are 20oz-in 5000rpm motors.
Al.

[isjohn]

Al, thanks for the reply.

Sorry, no info available on whether the PWM cards are step/direction or analogue. Hercus have nothing to do with them any more; the most I got from them was "sorry, it won't run without the original I/O controller".

I have already resigned myself to replacing the drives and this is where I was hoping to get some guidance. Handy to know that the tacho output is irrelevant, any suggestions as to what may work (spindle and axis)?

The sad part about all this is that when I started investigating the machine, the only issue I could find was a faulty E-Stop!

[Al_The_Man]

If you are going with Mach etc, you will need step/dir drives, there are plenty of links here for ones to chose from.
You need to know the resolution and pin out of the encoders also.
You have most of the info off the SEM spindle, so if you need any more on the servo's I should have it in the Electro-Craft manual.
The spindle controller could be any small PWM controller, If the spindle motor has a tach, I would look for one that takes a tach feed back as this gives precise speed control of the spindle motor.
Also I would look into salvaging the existing DC power supplies for both drives and spindle.
Al.

[isjohn]

Al,

I have limited info on the servo's so any thing you could provide regarding the electrical caharacteristics would be great.

No Tacho on the spindle, just an encoder off the gearbox but I have the datasheet for these so thats all good as is the PSU's.

Thanks again

[Al_The_Man]

The general info on the E586 I have is:
continuous torque 29oz-in (not 20 as I previously mentioned)
Peak before demag 240oz-in
max voltage 60vdc
max rpm 6000
Kt 9.6 oz-in/amp
arm inductance 3mH
Tach 14v/1krpm
There is a bit more info but it is not usually needed for general sizing etc.
Al.

[isjohn]

Thanks for the info Al, much appreciated.

[robwhi]

Hi John

I also have a Pc200 in storage without a I/O card and would be very interested in being involved

[isjohn]

Robwhi,

This project is still in it's infancy and as such I haven't got a lot to offer just yet. I have done most of the leg work regarding the existing motors, encoders etc. and all appear usable with new drives so I'm now waiting on quotes from a couple of vendors.

I'm hoping that it should be straight forward; new drives & tuning. I intend keeping the original switchmode PSU and Transformer (replacing the bridge rectifiers, filter caps & fuses which are part of the original interface board). All the remaining hardware checks out OK (statically) so when I get the go ahead to spend some money I'll have more info.

[robwhi]

Hi John
You have got my interest going to get mine up and going as well I will dig it out and start looking at what I can do as well.

Has your lathe got the toll changer fitted?
Regards
Rob

[isjohn]

Hey Rob,

The lathe actually belongs to a local school and I sort of fell into the the task of investigating the possibility of a retrofit, more a case of "while your here....". The lathe is pretty much bare bones, no tool changer. Still waiting on a response from a local vendor regarding pricing, will have to start chasing that up.

Ian

[robwhi]

John

Mine has the tool changer. I have the origional computer but the I/O card is missing. I will dig mine out on the weekend and see what I can find out and do to get it running as well. I wonder if it can be run with geco drives or similar.
Al do you know if this is possible?


Regards

Rob