So, let me start somewhere near the beginning...
I bought a Fryer MB-11 with a Milltronics Centurion 1 control to replace my old Bridgeport a couple of years ago. I’m a hobbyist with a reasonable amount of manual machining experience, but I wanted to learn more about CNC, and this popped up. It has worked well, the little I’ve used it; the conversational programming has helped me learn a lot quickly, and I’ve been teaching myself CAM, though I have yet to plug a file into the mill and cut chips. I was hoping to do that nest week, but my machine just died.
Overall, the machine has been fine, but a few things have never worked. The flood coolant switch has always been funky - on the control panel sometime I’d see the flood on, sometimes not. The PO just used it manually, I just dont use it. For me, air/manual oil is fine for the simple stuff I do. I include this because I’ve heard stories about these needing to have the coolant on to have the spindle work, but personally I never noticed any relationship between this and the spindle. Also, the manual spindle controls on the quill head - fwd/off/reverse - which are suppose to be usable after you set set speed and spindle (S2100 M3) never have worked. Supposedly this system had a completely upgraded motherboard around 2005, and the spindle controls didnt work after that. Also, FWIW, there is no electronic spindle override switch that I can find - I make speed adjustments when needed via the variable speed head. So that is an unlikely culprit. Spindle speed always shows as 100% on the screen.
It died while I was messing around with the coolant switching a few days ago, trying to see how I’d hook up an MQL mist system. I was just turning things on/off using M codes, when at some point I realized the spindle wouldnt start. M3, or M4 Sxxxx shows the spindle running on the screen, but nothing beyond that. The VFD is getting good fwd/revers signals, but the stop switch flashes when its supposed to run, and there is no voltage at the analogue input. If I put voltage at the VFD analogue input (I tried a 1.5v battery) the VFD (and spindle) work normally.
So - according to the screen everything is fine, and everything looks good from the VFD down. But no analogue signal. I can trace the 0v signal right up to the plug going into the computer, and from there it gets dicey, and I have no internal schematic. So that’s where I stand....anyone have any pointers?
As far as asking the manufacturer, I know Fryer will refer me to Milltronics. When I called them a couple of years ago, Milltronics implied that this is obsolete enough that no one really knows much about them and all they could do is quote repairs/replacement. I have no budget for this right now, so I really dont want to waste their time. Or anyone else’s, for that matter but, that said, I appreciate any help anyone has to offer.
Thanks,
Sam
I bought a Fryer MB-11 with a Milltronics Centurion 1 control to replace my old Bridgeport a couple of years ago. I’m a hobbyist with a reasonable amount of manual machining experience, but I wanted to learn more about CNC, and this popped up. It has worked well, the little I’ve used it; the conversational programming has helped me learn a lot quickly, and I’ve been teaching myself CAM, though I have yet to plug a file into the mill and cut chips. I was hoping to do that nest week, but my machine just died.
Overall, the machine has been fine, but a few things have never worked. The flood coolant switch has always been funky - on the control panel sometime I’d see the flood on, sometimes not. The PO just used it manually, I just dont use it. For me, air/manual oil is fine for the simple stuff I do. I include this because I’ve heard stories about these needing to have the coolant on to have the spindle work, but personally I never noticed any relationship between this and the spindle. Also, the manual spindle controls on the quill head - fwd/off/reverse - which are suppose to be usable after you set set speed and spindle (S2100 M3) never have worked. Supposedly this system had a completely upgraded motherboard around 2005, and the spindle controls didnt work after that. Also, FWIW, there is no electronic spindle override switch that I can find - I make speed adjustments when needed via the variable speed head. So that is an unlikely culprit. Spindle speed always shows as 100% on the screen.
It died while I was messing around with the coolant switching a few days ago, trying to see how I’d hook up an MQL mist system. I was just turning things on/off using M codes, when at some point I realized the spindle wouldnt start. M3, or M4 Sxxxx shows the spindle running on the screen, but nothing beyond that. The VFD is getting good fwd/revers signals, but the stop switch flashes when its supposed to run, and there is no voltage at the analogue input. If I put voltage at the VFD analogue input (I tried a 1.5v battery) the VFD (and spindle) work normally.
So - according to the screen everything is fine, and everything looks good from the VFD down. But no analogue signal. I can trace the 0v signal right up to the plug going into the computer, and from there it gets dicey, and I have no internal schematic. So that’s where I stand....anyone have any pointers?
As far as asking the manufacturer, I know Fryer will refer me to Milltronics. When I called them a couple of years ago, Milltronics implied that this is obsolete enough that no one really knows much about them and all they could do is quote repairs/replacement. I have no budget for this right now, so I really dont want to waste their time. Or anyone else’s, for that matter but, that said, I appreciate any help anyone has to offer.
Thanks,
Sam