6TB control. starting to have problems. Control shutting down middle of run

It's a 40 year old control and been reliable as hell. Now it will shut down mid run. It's intermittent and will usually display gibberish on screen or just go black. It did pop up a 920 error the other day so I dumped all the progs and reloaded but it still shuts down. I know how to reload but can't remember how to dump all parameters. I no longer have a parameter tape but have the printout so reloaded by hand in the past. Cabinet fan is out so I've left the door open for cooling until I get a replacement fan.


Ideas?

JohnF

If you are lucky it is just a video problem, that can be the CRT unit, or video driver.
In the fault condition try to jog the machine.
If you can't change mode or jog, it is likely an control problem.
6T main boards do fail.

ifixcnc,
How do you have to recover?
Is there a red light on on the "power input unit"? (Usually a clear plastic cover over it so you can see the lights on it, one red and one green)
I would check the power output of the Power Supply. +24 thru -5V and all the Black/white/brown connectors to the Master board and power supply. Make sure if there are door interlocks that the doors are secure

Hello.

One comment for whatever it may be worth.

Old electronics tend to overheat and thus start doing crazy things. You can try putting a fan so that it cools the inside of the electric cabinet. Check if your machine can work with the cabinet doors open. Any standard home or office fan will do.

It is possible that the machine still fails but if you notice that the lapse between failures is longer then you can be sure it´s due to overheating.

Another technique we use to isolate faults is by using cooling sprays. They should be available from your local electronics shop. Just make sure it´s the type that can be used on live circuits and that you´re not given a cleaning spray instead.

I strongly recommend that you get a service technician to do this. While it´s not difficult to perform this test he can confirm that the spray you get is the correct one and by being there can better decide on how to do the test.

When your machine starts showing the problem you spray the most likely card to be failing. Some 12 in. from the surface of the boards will suffice.

Those spray cans include a thin tube that helps the maintenance people in pinpointing the precise component that is failing but in your case I assume it won´t be necessary.

Good luck and regards.

Addition to my last post.

If overheating is confirmed take it as a warning sign. It is quite possible that the failing part will fail entirely in a very near future so I would recommend that you start looking for the part, board or whatever that you found is giving you the problem.