RS 232 connectionc - 1993 Triac pc

[biggles]

Hi. I have just aquired a 1993 Triac pc mill.Unfortunately th RS 232 cable has been torn out at the 25 pin end.I have had some info from Denford but it does not tie up with the cable I have.The 9 pin end is intact and is wired as follows

Pins 1,4 and 8 strapped
2 Red
3 Blue
5 Orange
6 Pink
7 Brown

The 25 pin end has pins 6,8 and 20 strapped but the rest have been torn out.
Can anyone please help me with the connections as I am itching to get this machine running.

Many thanks in advance

[Martin]

Take a look at the "IBM-Machine" in the "cable diagrams.zip" section.Hope you can read it ok.



http://www.denford.ltd.uk/index.php?opt ... &Itemid=51

[biggles]

Thanks for that.I wired the connectors as per the IBM diagram but it will not communicate.The Euro card display just shows a 5 and the software faults out with error 128.I still don't understand why my 9 pin connector has pins 1,4 and 8 strapped.Is it possible that this machine has a different 232 connection.

[Martin]

What is the version of the Eprom on the Control card?(Left hand card in rack).

What version of Triac software are you using?

Have you tried plugging in to both Com 1 & Com 2?

Have you tried booting the PC directly into DOS or running in a DOS emulator window?

[biggles]

The software version installed on the PC that came with the Machine is 2.73,with this version it gets as far as Mint 3.28 and hangs.I downloaded the later version from the Denford site and with this directly from a floppy it does the same but comes up with the error message and unloads the drivers.I have tried booting from a boot disk and it does the same.The Eprom on the Euro card has Mint/3.28 v1.05 F/S on the label.The custom card next to it is an OC 0012712 and a chip on it has D403-4 on the label.I have just made up another serial cable with 9 pin connectors on both ends(with 2-3 3-2 crossover) and connected this directly to the euro card bypassing the 25 pin cable,it is the same.I now have a figure 8 on the card(had an E stop problem that's why it was displaying 5 before) as soon as I power up regardless of whether any cable is connected.According to a previous posting this should be a flashing L,is this correct. By the way I have the tutor panel plugged into port 1 and the panel into port 2.I have also tried reversing these.I have also booted with a serial mouse in these ports individually and the mouse worked Ok.

Many thanks for your help

[Martin]

The "8" on the LED means that the controller is powered up & running. The "5" is as you say actualy a "s" (E STOP).

I have a lead which I call My Baldor Cable.
It is 2 x 9 Way Female D types.
It links directly from the pc to the control card .

The pinouts are,

1 Blank
2 to 3
3 to 2
4 to 6
5 to 5
6 to 4
7 to 8
8 to 7
9 Blank

Hope this helps

[biggles]

Thanks for that.This is the wiring I have just tried.Do you think that plugging a mouse into the serial port proves that the ports are working OK or do I need to prove it another way.If the tutor panel was faulty could this cause the problem.Can I run without it.

Many thanks

[Martin]

It all depends on the version of windows you are running from.

Try booting the pc straight into Dos (Think it`s F8 while booting) or using a Dos emulator.

http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/news.php?show_news=1

[biggles]

I tried this and the PC threw a wobbly.Now it does not work at all (won't boot from HD or boot disk).I have another machine with 2 serial ports. It is a 66 mhz P2.This has only DOS on it without windows.I have tried running the software from the hard drive and from a boot disk to no avail.Is this machine suitable.Does the 8 on the euro card mean all is well (this is on all of the time even without any connection)or could the board be faulty.What version of DOS do you reccomend.

An answer to these questions would be most appereciated

Many thanks

[Martin]

The 8 means that the card is up & running. I have come upon one instalation where all appeared OK but the coms were down.

[biggles]

Hi Martin. Many thanks for your help today.Comms are now working as they should be.

Do you know where abouts the Z axis home switch is located I can't for the life of me find it anywhere.The axis does not seem to find it before stalling before the Estop switch.


Many thanks again Paul

[Martin]

Hi,
The Datum\Home sensor is located directly behind the spindle motor. If you stand directly behind the machine & look between the motor & colum you will see the proximity detector. (8mm thread).

It may be that the little bracket that activates it needs bending slightly towards the sensor.

Have you tried keeping the overtravel switch pressed in while homeing to make sure the sensor is ok?

[biggles]

It's nearly working!. Still got a problem with the Z axis homing.If I disconnect the switch the drive runs smoothly straight through to the E stop.If the home switch is connected, upon making it the drive starts to vibrate and it does not home.If I manually make the home switch with the drive going to home position it stops and the position (200.0)is shown on the screen.I can then run the spindle and drive the X and Y axis around smoothly However when jogging the drive(Z) sounds bad and can go in either direction when the Z + is pressed.
Anybody got any Ideas ?

Many thanks

[Martin]

It sounds like you have a bad connection to the Motor or a faulty Stepper Drive Card.

Try swapping the drive cards in the rack over.

Check the resistance accross the Z Motor windings at the plug on top of the rack.

2 windings
red-yellow
black-orange

both about 1.6 to 2 Ohms when unplugged from the drives.

Have you checked the pins in the socket between the Machine & Electical box?