Planning - Bridgeport Interact 1 linuxCNC Retrofit

I am in the middle of doing a retrofit on the same machine. Over the holidays I installed the new controller and powered it up. Overall things have gone well, all of the controls work and the servos are tuned and working smoothly. But I ran into a big glitch with the encoders. I am using the original ERO-115 encoders and 4 EXE 602D interpolation boxes. The scale is off and also inconsistent. I looked at the A B quadrature signals with halscope and they look bogus (inconsistent phase, symmetry). I am surprised it works as well as it does. Not sure what is wrong.

Being farther down the path I can probably save you quite a bit of time. I would be happy to share details about my configuration and the land mines I ran into. I created a custom GUI with a touchscreen that you might want to look at.

Chris

I recommend leaving in the relay diodes. They will not cause any problems and will keep open the option of putting old-style relays back in. Were the relays missing?

Most of the relays could be omitted and the logic handled in software. I considered bypassing most of the relays and implementing the functions in software. That would have been a more flexible approach with better visibility of what is going on in the machine. But I determined it was too much work. But if you don't have the relays it may make sense.

csbrady,

I actually fried my relays I posted about it a few pages back.

I plan on using 601C or 702B exe boxes. The 601C can do 5 fold and the 702's can as well.

Hopefully I won't run into your issue. Have you tried a different exe model? I was reading through your posts a bit ago.

I would love to get your files for the custom panel. I definitely like your setup. What size monitor did you go with and how did you mount it? That is my next job.

Also, did you build a custom panel for the space the original controller was installed in? Looks nice.

For the VFD you only need a 2 HP unit. I used a Hitachi SJ200 from AutomationDirect with good success. A larger unit may be more difficult to fit into the cabinet. I added external braking resistors and put an encoder on the spindle.

What size braking resistor did you go with?

I have only tried the EXE 602s. There are a lot of version of the EXE's but documentation is really hard to find. Do your 702's have any jumpers inside? The 602's have 5 but I don't think their function matches the documentation. In hindsight I would have used 610 to get 10 fold interpolation. It would be nice to have a little more encoder resolution. If I can't get the EXE nonsense sorted out I will probably put in AMT10 encoders. It would require fabricating a mounting plate and cover, that I hoped to avoid.

I am using a 15" HP L5006tm touch screen that I got on ebay for $80. I was not sure about how well the touch screen would work. With my limited experience so far must say that I am really happy with the usability. I divided functions so that the touch screen only has setup and I only use physical buttons for operation. That ended up being reasonable, but after plying a bit I would be less hesitant to put more functions on the touch screen. You should plan on having a wireless keyboard available for the rare, but important times when you need it.

I built custom panels to mount the monitor and the new controls when the original monitor and TNC151 were. Since my machine was initially working (before I broke it) I used it to make the panels.

For the braking resistors I used 7, 6 ohm, 50w resistors (DigiKey part # A102165-ND) wired in series and mounted on a piece of 1/8" aluminum. That provides 300w of dissipation and it barely gets warm after repeated braking.

I am assuming you are talking about fly back diodes? Yea you can reuse old ones, they keep voltage spikes off of your field power when coil is turned off, magnetic field collapses and drives current, diode let's it drain through coil, there is not really a good rule for sizing those, so old ones will probably do fine

Got off the phone with Mesa Electronics today.

The person I talked with was very helpful, I was concerned with the hold placed on my order since it "fell off", I'm using USAA banking. I'm hoping Ill get my hardware soon .... here is hoping! And I have only been waiting for a short time so far

csbrady,

Yes my 702b have jumpers. I called the manufacture to get the documentation for mine. They were extremely helpful and had my documents within minutes.

I'm contemplating removing the casing from my 601'c and use just the boards stacked up with nylon spacers. However I'm concerned with noise. Ive seen another do it this way and takes up minimal space.

I plan to go with a 3 hp or above for the VFD, I plan to mount it externally. Re-using all the existing hardware as long as it works. When it goes out I will probably upgrade to AC drives/servo's - then rewire. But for now Ive got my fingers crossed.

Also, is there any possible way I could get your configuration folder files and custom panel? I would love to tinker with it while I'm waiting for my Mesa hardware. You wouldn't happen to still have your drawing file for the panels you built as well would you? I planned on doing the same things when I get my mill running. Would save me a lot of time measuring, ect...

Nice breaking resistor setup! I'm going to copy you!

TntSalad,

I was talking about keeping my existing fly-back diodes installed, Im replacing my relays with new ones that already have a fly-back diode installed. I was concerned with having "double" diodes per relay.

Ok, I thought so. If they end up in parallel no big deal, smaller one will break down first. However, if new relays have diodes already than I would just pull old ones out if it's not too difficult.

I had the same issue as you with USAA and mesa btw, it will go through fine don't stress over it.

I looked at the 702 documentation for hints that might help with my issue, but the 702 is a really different animal. I see that the 702 have 25 fold interpolation so you can get a lot more resolution. Did you call the USA distributor number or Germany?

Attached is a tar file with my configuration files and the new GUI.

Chris