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Thread: MG System 80 Help!!

  1. #21
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    New update!

    My Friends came by today and help tinker. They were pretty discouraged when they walked in almost overwelmed but after about 10 mins of talking we plugged in the control unit and hit the power on button!! After the initial flinch it sounded ok and nothing was energized! We stared Pushing buttons and to our amazment every seems to be in working order. My cable track on the side needs some help so we didn't try to run a program that is stored on the machine. So all I have to do is make a tray for my cable track, get my Max100 to work with it and figure out how to comunicate with it and I have got it made!!!! There are two modems that are with the machine one goes into the back and the other has a comuter conector. What program with work best with operating. Will corel Draw work to convert dxf files to G Code??? Thanks again for all your help



  2. #22

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    Hi,
    I am located in Canaan NH, about 900 miles from you. A long days drive.
    My shop is about 3 miles from Jim Colts Garage and 10 miles to Hypertherm.
    Jim was my boss when I worked there 16 years ago, so I still bleed Hypertherm Black when cut!!

    The SM1000 machine is a slightly newer version of the Metal Master (Jim thats the same one we installed at Hypertherm so long ago).
    I just sold one to a customer for $40,000 with a used HT-2000 plasma unit.
    Anyway,
    MG usually put a Burny DNC 2.8 CNC/Drive unit. As this one has a System 80 then it most likely has a seperate Burny Servopak 150 2 Axis drive box.
    It uses 150 Watt DC Brushed Motors. The gearboxes are specu=al units from Bison Gear. The ratio is either 19:1 or 33.9:1. You have to get them from Burny as they were custom made for them. On the other hand the gearboxes are ruged and I have seen them run for years after all their oil leaked out. They are not rebuildable. At about $300 each they are concidered disposable.
    The CNC and all the motors plug into it.
    It sounds like that part is mostly working.

    You can remove the gears from the gear rack and run a program without worring about hitting anyrhing. MG also installed overtravel switches that would stop the machine if it came close to the mechanical limits.
    Check to see that they work.

    The removable box on the front of the CNC is a Shape Cartridge. This means it is one of the first units made in the late 80's. Spare parts are hard to come by unless you start snapping up old Burny 3's/System 80's on E-Bay. Burny upgraded the internal PC boards a few times and eliminated the Shape Cartridges in the early 90's.

    The serial link requires a communications program. Burny had one called DNC.
    You can set the internal baud rate, parity and stop bits on the Sys80 and Im told that you can communicate with Hyperterminal, but it is cumbersome. I have never done it.

    As fopr software. Croel Draw, AutoCad, CheapCad and all the rest of the CAD (Computer Aided Design) programs help you design your part not cut it.
    Your cad progran does not know that you are cutting, grinding, spinning or painting your part.
    You need lead in and lead out lines for the Plasma. you cannot start or stop the torch in your part. You will have a larger hole where the torch starts than the actual cut line. The part will be smaller/ (Hole larger) due to the Kerf.
    Kerf is the material lost to the cutting arc, think of it as the sawdust when cutting wood.
    Kerf offset calculations are done in the System 80 and sometimes in the post processor.
    For plasma cutting the torch needs to go in the proper direction for the best cut. CCW for outside cuts and CW for inside cuts.

    A Post Processor will convert the dxf or dwg file into a useable machine code.
    It will add the lead in and lead out lines, set the proper cut direction
    MTC has a post processor and DNC program. It will take your .dxf file and convert it to a file type that the B3 can read. I think this package costs $2,200. Sigmanest also has a similar package/price. Are there cheaper packages, most likely, but I do not know of them.

    If you get real busy you can add nesting that makes the most efficient use of your plate, but that is when you get into the $5k and up software.

    As Jim said this is an industrial quality machine and not one of the hobby machines. The SM1000 sold for over $80,000 new.
    So even if it was free or very cheap to acquire, it may not be cheap to get intop operation.
    On the other hand you can expect to run this 3 shifts a day 5 days a week.
    With minimal maintenance and cleaning it should run 5-10 more years easily.

    I would recommend getting a good industrial quality line filter for the AC in to the machne. This will help the CNC boards to live a much longer life.

    As far as the Max-100, make sure you try to keep the torch leads as far away from the motor and encoder leads as you can get. The Air Cylinder is driven by the CNC so you can still use it until you get a real THC.

    Put the torch leads to one side of the power track, and all the other cables to the other side.
    The Gleeson Reel power track has/had a center divider to help keep the cables straight. Use them if they are still there.

    Well hope this rambling on has helped to answer some questions.

    Contact me with any questions.
    alan@plasmatechnologies.com

    Alan Bradford
    www.plasmatechnologies.com


  3. #23
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    Hey I have been making alot of head way. Should have everyhthing working but still haveing problem comunicating from the computer to the Burny 3. What software are you guys using. Nesting and DNC?? I am looking for something easy to use and inexpensive. I have down loaded some DNC software but after I had it all set up all it would do is lock up the computer. Now I am Trying CNCConnect. Will let you know how that goes tomorrow. I found some programs that also do Post Proccessing. I tried Cam Expert but, The only thing is I can't figure out how to set the kerf and lead in/out. Let me know what you guys think. Thanks

    Jon



  4. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by 4linked View Post
    Nesting and DNC?? I am looking for something easy to use and inexpensive
    We recently launched a dxf automatic nesting program that may be useful to you. It works on a pay-per-export model (around $5 per nest job). The full software can be used free of charge (i.e. you can see the results without spending anything) it is only when you're happy with the nested solution and want to export it back out to dxf file that the $5 charge applies.

    As Alan said in his post, good quality auto-nesting software usually costs upwards of $5K but, hopefully, this approach will make automatic nesting more affordable for more people.

    Check it out here: www.mynesting.com

    Good luck with your project.

    Glenn



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    Thats a great advertisment!!!!

    In using sheetcam what post proccessor should I us with the burny 3??



  6. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by 4linked View Post
    In using sheetcam what post proccessor should I us with the burny 3??
    I do know that the post-processor is customizable in SheetCam so, in the unlikely event that there isn't a Burny 3 post already, it should be fairly straightforward to modify an existing one to suit.

    Les, the author of SheetCam, is very knowledgable on these kind of issues. I recommend you contact him for further info.

    Glenn

    BTW, there is also a MyNesting plugin to SheetCam!



  7. #27
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    There was a Burny 2.5 / 3 post processor posted on Sheetcam's Yahoo Group. Haven't tested it myself.

    Here's the link: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/s...m/message/5293

    I have also PM'ed you with a copy as you probably need to join the group to view it.

    Glenn



  8. #28

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    Hi,
    Sorry for the delay. I have been on a job site in Connecitucit and Arizona the past 4 weeks and had limited time for the forums.

    I actually do not have much experience with the low end Cad programs.

    It looks like Glenn has a solution, and @ 5 bucks to try, it makes it a no brainer.

    Glad to hear the B3 is working for you.

    Good Luck,

    Alan Bradford
    www.plasmatechnologies.com


  9. #29
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    Default System 80 Plasma

    We have a System 80 made by MG Industries that is done. There is no display now and we are interested in buying any used parts or circuit boards for it!



  10. #30
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    Default System 80

    Adam...we are located in London, Ontario. Where are you located?



  11. #31
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    Default System 80

    Sir,
    Why ot do a new post asking specifically for what you need. There ae a lot on this site that likely can help you.

    Regards,
    Jack C.



  12. #32
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    Question Mg System 80 trouble!!!!

    I also have a gantry style system 80. I got it a few years ago, her name is "Birtha". Shes a big girl. I do love it, except now im getting memory problems and i need some memory for it, does anyone know where i can get an old system 80 or new memory card, they want 1,600.00 for a card at mg. Ralph at mg has been helpful diagnosing issues, he thinks i need to clean all contacts and check a battery so i hope it works, a real mother to get parts huh????>/
    buisness hasnt been so good so i dont have alot of money to fix by proffesional!!!



  13. #33

    Default System 80/Burny 3

    Hi All,
    The MG System 80 and Burny 3 CNC's are the same critter.
    MG had Burny change the front panel to make it look a bit different.

    That said, Burny made 3-4 different internal variations on Processor/Memory/IO cards, and they do not mix-n-match well.
    The easiest thing to do is replace the CNC.
    We have some B3's kicking around for $1k each.
    You will have to keep your drive interface card, as Burny made about 20 different types just to keep the confusion factor up.

    Individual boards, or a complete system, are $1k.
    Tearing apart B3's will make them useless to us as future systems.
    The market is not that big, as most users do not want to deal with the problem of downtime. It can cost more than the price of a replacement CNC.
    Right now it takes 3-4 weeks to get one from Hypertherm, and Burny is longer, due to the company move.
    If you have production down for that long of a time, it will be expensive.

    Thanks,

    Alan Bradford
    www.plasmatechnologies.com


  14. #34
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    Default Re: MG System 80 Help!!

    I have a complete MG SYSTEM 80 including the components discussed, and 28' table system



  15. #35
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    Default Re: MG System 80 Help!!

    sorry to bring this back from the dead.

    I have one of these machines ( was left in a building I bought by a previous shop )

    Anyone has a picture or schematics of how to hook this thing up?

    it was disassembled when I got it.



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