We have a couple Fryer CNC machines here with Anilam 3300 and 5300 series controllers. We have a couple recurring problems and another question to ask regarding networking.
We just recently finally hooked the Fryer with Anilam 3300 up to a serial port to transfer programs and use DNC. We can transfer programs in full over the serial cable without any problems on both of these machines, but when we try to use DNC mode to transfer programs and run them, we invariably end up getting a glitch somewhere that makes the cutter crash. This happens with both controllers. If we transfer the programs fully before running, they are fine. But some of these programs can take upto 1-2 hours to transfer and the machine is idle during that time, which we can't afford. The problem seemed to very intermitent on the one machine and we had a service guy in here who could not find anything wrong. I'm pretty sure the programs in question do not call subprograms, so I don't think that is the problem. We are using the default serial port settings, 9600, 7E1, etc. No errors show up during normal transfers. Does anyone know what might be causing this problem?
My other question involves adding an ethernet card to these machines and bypassing serial communications alltogether. I found a pdf document on the internet about how to configure the IP settings on an Anilam 3000 controller, but our current controllers do not seem to have ethernet ports. I did notice on the one which I could open up (other one was busy) that there appears to be an empty slot which looks to be an old ISA type slot? Wondering if anyone has specs or info on what type of networking card we could use and how to set it up, etc?
TIA,
Bob S.