Cincinatti Milacron arrow 500 retrofit

Hey guys.

To cut a long story short, I brought a arrow 500 approx 2 years ago, of another shop who had the machine for approx 8 years before that, and never used it, they originally purchased the machine through a company here in Australia, was suppose to come with a contract, but the contract fell through, as they didn't know how to use the machine, it sat there going to waste.

I purchased the machine approx 2 years ago now, and it's just sat there, havnt had time to even look at it.

The other day I thought I get the machine going, power it up, and turned it on, came up with memory failure, checked batteries and they had leaked everywhere. Anyway after doing some reaserch, I thought a retrofit would be ideal, and after doing a lot of reading on another forum, I've been advised to ask you guys the experts.

Anyway I spoke to the original owner of the machine, who purchased the machine new, and he told me, the machine had very little use as they were using it for prototyping back then, for aviation parts.
I spoke to him about retrofitting the machine and he said, that would be a great idea, as the motors have had little use, but the software in the machine will only handle small files, and what parts i machine, will be a headache.

Originally I decided to retrofit it to run mach3 software, only because I have another cnc that runs mach3, but after reading more and more, I've decided I'm going with the linux cnc software.

Anyway on another forum, and this forum, I've been reading all about Petes cincinnati adventure, and now it's I'm going to make it happen.

I understand it's not going to be a walk in the park, and whilst my build will be similar to Petes I plan on using my servo motors and servo drivers, and I'm wanting to keep the machine 3 phase.

What meca boards do u recommend I use, I would like to eventually upgrade the machine to have 5 or even 6 axis, would like the tool changer to work, and I understand I will need a computer to run the machine, what do u recommend.
Look forward to your feedback, will be greatly appreciated

Regards Brad

Welcome Brad,
it should not be as bad as you think to convert , i'd go with mesa using the 5i25 pci express card for the pc and the addon 7i77 for servos and encoders
adding additional io using the serial expansion port , if you need help sorting it just shout

do you have any of the manuals for the servos etc ,

i'd go with a resonably up to date pc with a dual core , mid range 2.2 gig proc , and 4gig on memory will do just fine , you dont need fast or indeed high end boards for this job
perhaps add a touch screen later etc



Dave

If it is a battery problem, replace the battery's.
Go to the retrofit if your repair cost is higher than $5000 USD, in other case, stay with the actual controller as it is tuned to your machine.
Retrofitting it can be easy, but ending in a full working solution, without errors is another story.

id prefer to do a retro on the machine, so I can use touch probes, tool setters etc etc, and can load files bigger than 500kb.

I can't find anywhere here locally to even have a look at getting the machine running in its current state

cncbasher wrote:

Welcome Brad,
it should not be as bad as you think to convert , i'd go with mesa using the 5i25 pci express card for the pc and the addon 7i77 for servos and encoders
adding additional io using the serial expansion port , if you need help sorting it just shout

do you have any of the manuals for the servos etc ,

i'd go with a resonably up to date pc with a dual core , mid range 2.2 gig proc , and 4gig on memory will do just fine , you dont need fast or indeed high end boards for this job
perhaps add a touch screen later etc



Dave

Thanks Dave,

I found on the net, detailed information on the servo drivers and motors, can I post them up to see what u guys think, if they'll work properly, there is another guy who retrofitted his cincinatti but was using his original z axis servo and driver, and had that all working

As for vga card anything spectacular required, also what ports do I need on the motherboard.

Thanks in advance Dave

The servo motors are 115's

www.driveka.ru/upload/iblock/a31/dutymax%20emsp%20brochure.pdf

And the servo drivers are

X and y axis maxax 100
Z axis is maxax 200

mediaserver.voxtechnologies.com/FileCach...heet1-1332340537.pdf

Enhanced wrote:

id prefer to do a retro on the machine, so I can use touch probes, tool setters etc etc, and can load files bigger than 500kb.

I can't find anywhere here locally to even have a look at getting the machine running in its current state

Ok, the machine is yours, I just gave you my opinion.
I use linuxcnc everyday, and I retro fited several machines. Maintaining the original controller is in most cases still the best option, that sounds your case, from your first post (it seams that the controller is ok).
Your original controller is probably able to use all that you want to use with linuxcnc, and if cannot have files of 500Kb, maybe it also can deep feed those files, despite the fact that from my experience, a file with 500Kb is the result of a poor generator.

Your avatar is not Andy's avatar?

Your avatar is not Andy's avatar?[/quote]

I guess not

No it's not emcPT, although I see Andy is another nut case, as we get called.

It's hard to get any information on these machines, and no one here in Australia, wants to even look at it, I think that's why the original owner sold it on.

Andy, do I need to use an encoder or do I use the original resolvers, will I be able to get the tool changer working do u think.

How hard will it be wire the machine up, is there anyway I can get a wiring diagram from that I will. Reed to wire everything up, my understanding if I'm to retrofit the machine is the following.

New pc, as mentioned earlier
5i25 & 7i77 as a combo
Vfd 5.5kw 3 phase to control spindle motor
Can I use the original servo motors and controllers, will they work and work correctly with the mesa boards
And what do I need to get the tool changer operational.
Do I need to install encoders or can I wore the resolvers back to the servo drivers, like they are already in the machine

They're is also another attachment for the 7i77 for reduce noise is this suggested.

Regards Brad