Retrofitting a 1986 Maho MH400E

Hey y’all

your work and your colected know how in this forum is so professional, i thougt i could be able to do also a Retrofit.
So i bought today a Maho 500C, with a problem on the control, i atached a picture with the screen,wich shows the error.
Im a mechanical engineer, and know CNC, CAM ec. but have no skils in Linux.
Maybe i can disturb you sometimes with my questions, and one more Maho gets a new life

greetings from Southtirol

Bernd

Mark;
As you can see your work on this project is inspiring others! Thank you. I will eventually be doing the same. I've just started a thread on converting my Deckel FP5NC and will try to include the levels of detail you have. My DC BBC driven spindle motor died and I am installing a VFD controlled motor in its place. Initially I hope to get it running with all my other existing hardware so it can handle shifting etc.

The work done here on the shifting .hal is going to help immensely during an actual LinuxCNC conversion.

In you spare time........ I am sure the group here would appreciate a synopsis of how you went about the reverse engineering of all the relay based logic chains these machines have. Sort of a 'getting started' guide. You could call it "Deckel / Maho LinuxCNC Conversion for Dummies"

The 3TRM2 is the amplifier for X,Y,Z-axis (3 axis 2 pulse) driving permanent magnet DC motors with tacho generator. A 1TRM does the same for 1 axis and is usually built in when the machine has a 4th rotary axis. The DC spindle motor is driven by a TRK6 which is called 6 pulse controller capable to controll the rotor and field current thus enabling something like a constant torque drive. Christian

Mark, my scales are equipped with a remote m23 socket, connected by a 20cm cable. These connections where performed by Heidenhain and are a bit difficult to service. I expect the sensor head and the glass scale to be fine. If there had been a scratch or dirt on the scale, the failure would always occur at a distinct position. The Heidenhain EXE has a separate failure signal to indicate a missing edge or false differential signal. Maybe it is worth getting one and check the scale if you are sure the wiring is fine. The original 3x2 + 1x2 cable itself is quite robust, meaning as long as you can't see a mechanical damage it is electrically fine. Maybe you already wrote it but did you swap the scales of different axis (with the drives off!) to check the EXE? Christian

Is the EXE boards interpolation level adjustable?

Bob,
you may get flexible sleeves here, though I did not try them yet:
www.techflex.org/de/verzinntes-kupfer-ge...t-tinned-copper.html
From the EMI point of view it is not necessary as long as you use good cable, which has separate shieldings per differential pair and / or shielded power cables. It is not that easy to push the cables throught the metal slevees yet they give your machine a decent touch. Christian