Bridgeport Series 2 Interact 4 CNC Retrofit Log

So I bought a Bridgeport Interact 4 off Kijiji for 750 CAD (550 USD).
imgur.com/aLWqMha
Built a dolly to pull the 4500 lb mill down my driveway in between the tiny space between me and my neighbors.
imgur.com/a/ihdk7
I then hired a crane truck to transport the mill from the seller to my driveway (4 hours x 90$ = 360).
imgur.com/a/kSJw4
Next up was installing a concrete anchor in my garage and ran a cable to a winch which I used to pull the mill.
imgur.com/a/bRWci

Originally the dolly was supposed to be flipped so the mill would sit inside it. I made an unfortunate clearance error so I ended up with the mill 6" higher than what it should of been. This mean that to fit into my garage I'd have to get the mill off the dolly. Using a makeshift ramp I managed to get it off.
imgur.com/a/cSkuz

Last step was remove all the bits that stickup. The spindle motor was by far the most difficult part but it made it in.
imgur.com/a/kDqCU

Now that the hard part is over it's time for the retrofit!

The machine came with a TNC151 controller. After powering it up everything seemed to function unless the servo drives were turned on, the circuit breaker would immediately trip. Traced it down to a bad X axis servo and after a arduous teardown things weren't looking good. One of the brush holders had melted and the droplets had welded themselves to the commutator destroying the insulation. While potentially recoverable I don't think It would make for a reliable fix. A new motor is 400$+ so I think I'm going to retrofit a new AC servo in and keep the X axis motor and driver as spares.

The next issue is the spindle. It's DC and the field controller board is missing which is no big deal as I don't have 3 phase and the boards are known for being temperamental when powered by anything but a perfect 3 phase (so no rotary phase converter). Searching for a single phase DC drive seems to be hopeless so the only option seems to be a AC motor + VFD retrofit.

andypugh wrote:

mman1506 wrote:

While potentially recoverable I don't think It would make for a reliable fix.

It might be fun though

After spending 4 hours to remove the fiddly encoder and then a stuck tacho-generator commutator and then these stupid screws that are hidden below the main commutator just to take it apart I really don't want to ever do it again. It also requires tuning the tacho every time it's reassembled. I'll probably flip the z servo for the X axis as the Z is the easiest to retrofit.

mman1506 wrote:

So I bought a Bridgeport Interact 4 off Kijiji for 750 CAD (550 USD).
imgur.com/aLWqMha
Built a dolly to pull the 4500 lb mill down my driveway in between the tiny space between me and my neighbors.
imgur.com/a/ihdk7
I then hired a crane truck to transport the mill from the seller to my driveway (4 hours x 90$ = 360).
imgur.com/a/kSJw4
Next up was installing a concrete anchor in my garage and ran a cable to a winch which I used to pull the mill.
imgur.com/a/bRWci

Originally the dolly was supposed to be flipped so the mill would sit inside it. I made an unfortunate clearance error so I ended up with the mill 6" higher than what it should of been. This mean that to fit into my garage I'd have to get the mill off the dolly. Using a makeshift ramp I managed to get it off.
imgur.com/a/cSkuz

Last step was remove all the bits that stickup. The spindle motor was by far the most difficult part but it made it in.
imgur.com/a/kDqCU

Now that the hard part is over it's time for the retrofit!

The machine came with a TNC151 controller. After powering it up everything seemed to function unless the servo drives were turned on, the circuit breaker would immediately trip. Traced it down to a bad X axis servo and after a arduous teardown things weren't looking good. One of the brush holders had melted and the droplets had welded themselves to the commutator destroying the insulation. While potentially recoverable I don't think It would make for a reliable fix. A new motor is 400$+ so I think I'm going to retrofit a new AC servo in and keep the X axis motor and driver as spares.

The next issue is the spindle. It's DC and the field controller board is missing which is no big deal as I don't have 3 phase and the boards are known for being temperamental when powered by anything but a perfect 3 phase (so no rotary phase converter). Searching for a single phase DC drive seems to be hopeless so the only option seems to be a AC motor + VFD retrofit.

I know it's been a LONG time, but did you ever get this going? what side of Canada are you on?
I've just found one of these and it's partway through a LinuxCNC retrofit, I have a Series 1 manual bridgeport but this came up at a price I can hardly pass up ($1500 CAD)