What do you find to be the hardest part, longest part, figure out part on doing a RetroFit of a Mill, lathe, router.....

Today, I have a problem.

I started researching this retrofit of my CNC mill about 2 months ago. First, it was try to fix what is there.

IF anyone here can give me insight to what is wrong with my mill today, I will happily pay you $100 at least with paypal or MO, and even more if we have long conversations by phone or emails... Why do I want to fix what is there? I have a WebbMatic 800. Its interface is Fanuc 0M-A with Siemens drives, and Siemens DC brush motors... My problem is in the Siemens drives. I have a fault at V1 and V4, and this is causing the 401 Alarm : VRDY not ready.... I have voltage to the Siemens drive. So it is not a fuse or transformer issue.

Now to the orginal topic... So, I set out to get a PC  based CNC conversion. I have read about these for several years, and being a networking computer guy, I loved the idea of using a PC based interface. However, I did not understand what a Fanuc controller really was either, except some special PC mother board with deciated tasks. Now I understand this hardware a little better today. I like my Fanuc interface, but being a 0M-A, it is extremely limited on what it can do. However, my projects are not even complicated and this can accomplish what I want to do today.

I still read and read.. 1000's of hours in reading all the various forums. Watching Galil videos, ordering Centroids, AjaxCNC videos, Camsoft, and anything else I could find on information. They all talk about each piece just enough to make you want it really bad, but they want you to buy from them, and get all that great tech support.

So, I purchased a Galil DMC1880, and DMC1740. I have the interconnect 1900 and the 2900. Purchased some AMC drives that can handle DC motors up to 190v... Ok, how to wiring.. I cannot find anything about my Siemens motors. They are General Numeric branded, but I have been told they are Siemens. The encoders on the back have about 8 pins. There are 2 DC power wires, and then 2 other wires in that same junction box that are really small. I have been told they might be brake wires.

I wanted to use these motors. The cost of motors for my mill is at least $800 per motor, and most want closer to $1000 per motor.. If I had schmatics to these motors, I think I could figure out how to wire them to the AMC drives.

BUT... today, I decided that if I can fix the Mill like it is, I want to build a CNC plasma table and install all the stuff I have purchased to do this. I already have a Miller plasma cutter. My hand is not steady enough to cut nice straight lines, so I can just build a X Y with a manual Z and connect my plasma head to that. I am enjoying to learn this PC based stuff, but I really need my mill running today. The motor issue is killing me however with the cost of what it takes to run this large mill.

thanks for any helping coming........

So, what is your story out there about what was hard to find / do / learn?

It all depends on your background I would say. It is a relative question, for my part, the hardest part is getting information and applying the information on software issues. I have a suggestion for you regarding your mill. Have you run some advanced searches with a good search engine like Google? You will be amazed at what information you can find if you look hard enough. An example "WebbMatic 800" +service +manual
What is the model number of your Siemens drives? We used Siemovert Siemens drives on the big Lazers which is AC drives. If you post the exact model number, I might have a service manual on the drives.

Whacko

I see you have been on cnczone forum with this one, did you try to get the manual from Siemens? This is the link http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=36225

Whacko

The manual is here
http://support.automation.siemens.com/WW/llisapi.dll?query=6RB2100&func=cslib.cssearch&content=skm%2Fmain.asp&lang=en&siteid=cseus&objaction=cssearch&searchinprim=0&nodeid0=4000024&x=32&y=14

Whacko

Never mind, I emailed it to your email account!

Whacko for fast fingers

Yes, thank you for the PDF.. I had that one from Siemens site.. I however was told it was not for my drives at one time, but I see today, that it is SimoDrive 210 I have.

I thought you were Bill in TN when I got your email. Sorry about the strange return email I sent.

Yes, I have LED's on what is G0 V1 ( red LED ) then N1 V6 ( Y axis ) ... I have checked all the power, but I cannot find what the outputs/inputs at X121 are on the G0 card. I think this is the problem area.

thanks for your help..

It seems like you lost the backup voltage for fault memory. Do you have a multimeter? I'm going off the the factory now, I will return to the post later. The manual I sent you is for the SimoDrive210X the X could be different numbers, for instance 2105 etc. It covers all the drives in this category.
You could start by checking cables that have movement on them. Disconnect all power and check the cables to your motors from end to end with a multimeter and check if you have continuity accross the tacho's. The SimoDrives do a bootup diagnostic test and will fail if there is any discrepancy.

Whacko

I have lots of cool tools...

I cannot read those schematics from siemens... the voltages are not marked what they are suppose to be, and then in the reading part, it only references to things like the DC Link voltage, but not where it orginates, and terminates..

seems that the fault is "speed controller amplifier at maximum" V2 , V6, V10 at card N1.

I have read the voltages at G0 on 73.1 and 73.2  and 72.. they are :

9 = 19v DC
64 = -1v DC or 1v AC... cannot decide what it is suppose to have.
72 = 24v DC
73.2 = 0v - .2v DC

Apologies for not replying sooner, I have too many things happening at the moment. I'm going to check on the drives and tell you what the voltages should be. You said you overun the one axis. Did it cause any strain to any limits or cables?

Whacko

Across 64 and 9 you should have 0 volt. If not your enable contact isn't closed.
The voltages you stated, what was your reference point. Did you measure to chassis ground? And remember to reset the fault. Do you leave the unit powered up? You can reset the fault by powering down, but that means everything, if there is a backup standby voltage from the Fanuc, you should disconnect it for a while after you powered down. You can bridge the terminals 64 and 9 manually to enable the drives, but stand by in case the motor takes off, especially while the CNC is booting up. On some systems there is an drives enable pushbutton, once the CNC controller has booted you press it to enable the drives. Is your system like that?

Whacko