Messages

1

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Hurco MB1 retrofit

« on: July 08, 2009, 09:15:12 AM »

Everything I have is on paper. When I get home from work Tonight, I'll try to scan the manual on the drives and send it to you.

Based on some of the other MB-1's inner workings that I have seen on the web, I believe this one has had it's share of upgrades. Probably due to the fact that it was owned by a large defense firm here in the states.

2

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Hurco MB1 retrofit

« on: July 07, 2009, 07:51:09 PM »

Hood

The Drives are:

Hurco MAX-400
PWM servo drives

I do have full documentation on these drives and most of the machine. Did you notice the build date on the servos? Possibly upgraded since the mill was built in the mid 80's?

I have to get some pictures up soon!

Thanks

3

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Hurco MB1 retrofit

« on: July 07, 2009, 06:11:42 PM »

I left work early today to see if I could read the nameplate on one of the servos. Here's what I found:

Electrocraft

model E26-2
pt# 727-902-0767
build date 08/1991

I also pulled the rear cover to see what type of encoders are in this thing.

BEI industrial encoder divsion

model E25BG-4R-1000-ABZ-7406R-LED-SC6-S
pt# 924-01029-754A


Does anyone have the specs for these servos? I was able to find specs for the encoders online but I have no idea what I'm looking at as far as resolution goes!

4

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: Hurco MB1 retrofit

« on: July 07, 2009, 11:02:28 AM »

Hood,

The machine is currently buried with stuff in the corner of my brothers' shop so I won't have an opportunity to clear a path around it and pull one of the servos out to study it until this weekend. Based on the documentation of the drives that are currently in the machine,

Peak Motor Current                                    +-30.0 Amps
Max Continous Motor Current                       +-15.0 Amps
Motor Supply Voltage                                 30-120VDC

Is it worthwhile trying to retain the original analog drives or should I ditch them for newer ones that already accept step & direction? I dont mind sacrificing some feedrate speed if its going to simplify and streamline the conversion process. Keeping the cost low would be nice too!


Thank you in advance.

5

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Hurco MB1 retrofit

« on: July 05, 2009, 03:06:31 PM »

Hello everyone, new member here getting ready to take on a Hurco MB1 mill retrofit. I've read just about everything on the web that I could find and not much is out there on these mills. This was a perfectly good running machine until the controller started to systematically fail and let it's smoke out! I have a few basic questions and would appreciate any and all feedback that I can get.

I would like to retain the stock Electrocraft DC servos and Max400 drive amps. Can I use something like a Rutex R2040 per axis to convert step & direction to +- 10volts?

As far as motherboards go, I like the features of the C-11 from cnc4pc. Does anyone have any experience with this product or other recommendations?

I look forward to hearing from everyone soon.

Thanks.  

6

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: New people welcome !! Come in here and introduce your self!

« on: July 05, 2009, 11:22:34 AM »

Hello Everyone, My name is Silvio and I've been visiting and absorbing as much info from this site as possible. I will begin a retrofit shortly on my brothers' Hurco MB1 mill who's controller let out it's smoke twice since being repaired. Based on the support and knowledge that I've seen other members get, I'm confident about moving forward with this project. It looks as if the feeling you get when you take one of these outdated machines and bring them back to life to make new parts is worth the work!

I look forward to posting some more info on my upcoming project soon.