Upgrade to PP 2.xx on Tormach 1100 series 1 from Mach 3

Hi Apples,

The upgrade to PP is definitely worth it. You could also try the raw LCNC but there are many features that you will miss (conversational programming), etc. Machines up to Serial 200 had the earliest BOB and didn't support some spindle speed features (there was no VFD in the box). The later ones were pretty much what they have now, the BOB design hasn't really changed.
So, questions:
What is the part number of your BOB?
Do you have the spindle upgrade (inverter)?
Are your stepper drives Leadshine or Prodrive (Gecko clones)?

I doubt that you will have any difficulty upgrading, your .ini might need a bit of tweaking but that is all.

Cheers,

belli wrote: Hi Apples,

The upgrade to PP is definitely worth it. You could also try the raw LCNC but there are many features that you will miss (conversational programming), etc. Machines up to Serial 200 had the earliest BOB and didn't support some spindle speed features (there was no VFD in the box). The later ones were pretty much what they have now, the BOB design hasn't really changed.
So, questions:
What is the part number of your BOB?
Do you have the spindle upgrade (inverter)?
Are your stepper drives Leadshine or Prodrive (Gecko clones)?

I doubt that you will have any difficulty upgrading, your .ini might need a bit of tweaking but that is all.

Cheers,

My serial number is 325 built in 2007. I’ll have to look at the bob for part number when I get home Thursday, but it’s very large and doesn’t look like today’s bob’s. Definitely not leadshine steppers, and I’m not sure about the spindle upgrade but I doubt it. My VFD is a board with a bunch of pots on it. I bought the usb stick with 2.0 and put it on a Dell T5500. Now I think I need the 5i25 and then the 7i92? As far as the .ini goes, is it complicated to tweak? Thanks!

Ilikeapples wrote:

belli wrote: My serial number is 325 built in 2007. I’ll have to look at the bob for part number when I get home Thursday, but it’s very large and doesn’t look like today’s bob’s. Definitely not leadshine steppers, and I’m not sure about the spindle upgrade but I doubt it. My VFD is a board with a bunch of pots on it. I bought the usb stick with 2.0 and put it on a Dell T5500. Now I think I need the 5i25 and then the 7i92? As far as the .ini goes, is it complicated to tweak? Thanks!

There is a reasonable chance that you can configure LinuxCNC / PathPilot to work with the existing hardware (if it doesn't already)

Yes, the early ones had Prodrives (Gecko clones) that had 10 micro steps, PP is designed around the Leadshine drives that (I think) are using 16 micro steps. This is a fairly easy change to make in the .ini. I'm not sure about the spindle, I have one of the 'spindle drives' with the pots on but haven't bothered to figure out what it is or how it works.

If you use a 5i25 or possibly the 6i25 then the change is very easy. I have no knowledge if the 7i92 will play nicely as I don't know if there is a 1100 firmware for it, Uncle Peter would know better.

I'm pretty sure the 7I92 is supported by PP 2.xx, and it will likely write the appropriate
firmware to the 7I92 card, though I am not so sure about differences in Tormach
breakout versions

I was actually suggesting using the parallel port, if that is what the original Mach installation did.