Esab Ultrarex UXD-P2000 Upgrade Project

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01 Jun 2020 21:21 - 01 Jun 2020 22:06 #169717 by Esaber
Hello CNC World !
First post here. Complete cnc nooob so bear with me please.
A friend bought an Esab Ultrarex UXD-P2000 and is having a hard time using it and tranfering files from his windows pc to the machine. The machine has two floppy drives. One for the OS and one for user files. We haven't been able to transfer files to the machine yet. But that's another story.
What I suggested to him is a complete upgrade of the machine to have more user-friendly interface.
I did a quick search on cnczone and asked there. A guy, Mike, who upgrades this type of machine gave me an invoice but that's beyond my friend's budget. So here I am asking you guys for help to make this a DIY project.
Bear in mind that I don't know the technical jargon of the cnc world. He know better but he only speaks french. He has a manual plasma cutter in his shop and he never used a machine like this. The Esab came with a Hypertherm Max200.
So how do we go about this upgrade?
Do we have to replace all components? He would like to get rid of the hypertherm max200 and use his smaller plasma cutter.
Is there and affordable upgrade kits ready to use?
I prefer going DIY and assemble the pieces to be able to troubleshoot it in the future.
I'm uploading pictures of the machine. A linux based control module with keybaord or touchscreen would be the perfect choice.
I'm good with computers and he is good with customizing stuff so we are ready to go for this upgrade.
Thank you guys for any advice or info you send my way. If you have any questions please shoot.
I'm going to browse the forum and see what I can gather from the different mods. My problem is I don't know the jargon. I will educate myself asap so bear with me please. I see three components I will have to deal with:
1. The Dos based computer using the floppy drives => upgrade to a linux pc
2. The motors moving the machine => Keep or upgrade to newer motors capable of working with the new pc
3. The automatic height control => keep or upgrade to newer device capable of working with the new pc

For the moment I don't know what these devices are called in the cnc world so off I'm to learn some jargon :-)
Last edit: 01 Jun 2020 22:06 by Esaber.

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01 Jun 2020 21:22 - 01 Jun 2020 22:08 #169718 by Esaber
Pics of the plasma cutter tool
Last edit: 01 Jun 2020 22:08 by Esaber.

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01 Jun 2020 21:24 - 01 Jun 2020 22:15 #169719 by Esaber
Additional pictures.
Last edit: 01 Jun 2020 22:15 by Esaber.

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01 Jun 2020 21:25 - 01 Jun 2020 22:09 #169720 by Esaber
Pics pf the full machine
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Last edit: 01 Jun 2020 22:09 by Esaber.

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01 Jun 2020 21:28 - 01 Jun 2020 22:13 #169721 by Esaber
Pics of the wiring box.
Last edit: 01 Jun 2020 22:13 by Esaber.

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01 Jun 2020 21:30 - 01 Jun 2020 22:10 #169722 by Esaber
Pics of the second motor.
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Last edit: 01 Jun 2020 22:10 by Esaber.

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01 Jun 2020 22:26 #169729 by tommylight
forum.linuxcnc.org/show-your-stuff/34986...nuxcnc-and-proma-thc
When you get tired of uploading pictures, relax reading that ! :)
The main and most important part : does the machine have the documentation including schematics ?
The absolutely not important thing is: how much did he quote ? :)
Another not important thing : can you throw that MAX200 my way ? :)
There are already 3 of them retrofitted with Linuxcnc, so adding another one is a good thing.
From the above link, you can get a general idea of what it takes to do the retro, granted someone has to know electronics and be good at it. The rest is pretty easy.
-Keep the drives and motors for the axis, all 3 of them, no use for the Z axis stuff and the existing THC, very old and very cranky on it's good days, uses serial RS232 to communicate, Z axis motor must be changed to a servo or stepper, and that is about it .
For control a mediocre PC with Mesa 5i25 or 6i25 and 7i77 is plenty, more than enough IO and axis control., in total under 500 Euro.
Two additional 24V relays are needed for floating switch and torch on just to keep everything separate from the existing installation.
It can be done even without the schematic, but will take much longer to figure out what and how and ........

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01 Jun 2020 23:19 #169735 by Esaber
Thaaat's pretty good news there thaaanks for the quick reply.
I will do the homework. I know he has a manual plus the Hypertherm schematics.
We are located in France. He will probably be ready to part with the max200 as it is just too much for what he wants. And it trips his power installation as it needs 3x90amps or something. He has a smaller unit he has almost finished wiring to the esab.
As for the quote it was around 10.000 euros plus expenses. That sounds reasonable for the amount of work to get something running quick but that's not what my friend is ready to pay. He got the machine for 6000 euros.
I will go through the link you posted there and come back with more questions.
How much are we looking at for the upgrade, approximately?
I'll have to get to know wat the drives mean :-) In my world the drives are SSD or HDD :-) So some reading is necessary here. I've come across the term THC too. Will look all that good stuff and get back to you.
Where are you located in case the hypertherm would like to join you?

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01 Jun 2020 23:50 #169737 by tommylight
Well 10K is to much for that kind of work.
It took about 2 days to have it fully functional, and it has not stopped working since, even during the pandemics this one was working.
Probably now it will take me a day to have it retrofitted and fully functional. That is assuming the drives and power supply box are in working order, and having all the needed parts.
As a guideline, these are the parts needed:
-A normal motherboard or PC with a monitor etc, from 150 to 300 Euro,
-A small Nema 23 servo or stepper drive and motor for the Z axis, the existing motor can be used by adding an encoder and a new drive, from 50 to 200 Euro,
-Mesa 5i25 OR 6i25 OR 7i92 and 7i77 and THCAD, all under 400 Euro from eusurplus.com,
-2X small 24V relays, about 5 to 30 Euro,
-Shielded cables for the Z axis stuff, for the motor, sensor and encoder, CAT6 cable works fine, some 30 Euro
-Some mechanical work might be needed if the Z axis motor is to be changed, ????? Euros.
I can not get it to 1000, cr@p ! :) So close !
-Oh, you also need a decent DVM or multimeter.

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02 Jun 2020 08:50 #169777 by rodw
I think you should invite Tommy to your part of Europe for a holiday. There is none better qualified to get your machine up and running.

Its a shame you are not considering keeping the MAX200. It might be cheaper to upgrade your power supply than replace it. But I am sure Tommy will help you to dispose of it once he's got you up and running.

I was having a good look at the MAXPRO200 manual the other day. I don't know how much different it is to your model. You just need to be particular with your wiring.
The following user(s) said Thank You: tommylight

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