[Teps71]

I recently purchased a used MB20 bed mill with a Cent 6 controller, did some searching and found this forum. Looks like it will be a great resource.

I do have a few questions that I would greatly appreciate any responses to:

My controller has a network connection, but I do not know how to hook the netwoking up. I understand ethernet, TCP/IP and all that (I'm a network administrator full time) but how is the IP of the controller configured? How does the controller pull info from the network (X: drive I'm assuming) - in other words, what needs to be setup on the PC side? I do have the offline SLS software if that is required.

Does anyone else have any issues running the offline software? I've tried in both Windows2000 and WindowsXP with crashes.

Does anyone happen to have a post processor for EdgeCAM?

Thanks for any help.

[AMCjeepCJ]

Hi and welcome to CNCzone.com,

I definitely don't know enough about your network questions to be of any help at all but have you emailed milltronics? You'll find out that their engineers monitor this site and so does the VP. I'm sure you'll get a response in a day or two, the guys at Milltronics have EXCELLENT customer service and I'm sure that type of service applies to owners of used equipment also. I can't give out their emails on here but I would do one of two things, either of which will work.

Either wait for an answer here or if you are in a rush, give milltronics a call and explain the situation at:

952-442-1410
952-442-6457 (fax)

www.milltronics.net is their website in case you hadn't found it already.

Also, they're in the central time if that matters, I didn't look at your location...

[Teps71]

Thanks for the info. I will certainly be contacting Milltronics.

[AMCjeepCJ]

Hey,

When you get the info and sort everything out, could you post how to do everything you asked? It would be nice for everyone here to know how to do it without having to bother milltronics in every instance. :cheers:

Thanks,

Carl

[single phase]

I use a separate Ethernet card in my win2000 PC just for the mill. Then I share a drive directory on the win2000 PC that I use for NC files.

Over on the mill I map that drive's directory to a local drive letter, in my case F: . When you press the menu key and then the drive key on the mill you get a list of all the local drives on the mill. The new mapped drive F will be there, select it.

From here everything is the same as normal the mill is just looking over the network to get its local parts storage directory. It is very easy to use.

On the IP address I think I set a static address on the mill and on the win2000 PC. I use the File and printer sharing for Microsoft networks and the NetBEUI protocol. No Tcp/IP protocol.

Dave

[Teps71]

single phase - thanks for the info. That is exactly what I was looking for and I will give that a try tonight. Milltronics wasn't much help via e-mail. Basically telling me the cable isn't a cross-over cable, the computer should show up as another drive and networking comes with 30-day phone support, which has expired for my machine (go figure - I bought it used). If I need more support, whip out the credit card and call.

Pardon me, but I'm going to get on my soap box for a bit. This is precisely the reason forums like this exist. I didn't know the "D" keystroke would hide/show files and wouldn't have if I didn't find it on this forum - it is nowhere in their abismal documentation. Question asked, answered and now it's out there in case somebody else has the same question. The attitude that this is some black-magic joo joo from Milltronics baffles me.

I purchased my machine from an authorized Milltronics dealer. I explained to the dealer that I have a rotary phase converter and would plan on using this machine with that setup. I called Milltronics with a couple of questions about hookup. Had to go through the dance of giving them my customer info since I am now the owner of the machine. I'm thinking okay, now I'm officially a Milltronics customer. This is looking good. Then after I got through to a "technician" I was told this machine wouldn't run from generated three phase. Hmph. Go figure. Back to the dealer who has many customers running this type of machine from a RPC. Hooked it up with the generated leg on L2 and it works just fine.

So respectfully AMCjeepCJ, our opinions on Milltronics support differ. Must be excellent for folks who purchase new equipment, but it hasn't been for me. I don't know, maybe it's just me - but if I were Milltronics and I had a customer who purchased a used machine, I think I would go out of my way to show him what a smart decision he made in purchasing my product because maybe one day he'll be in the position to buy a NEW machine.

But then again, that's just me.

[Teps71]

Okay, more newbie questions. I have an MB20 with a Cent6 controller.

During a tool change, I must hit tool reset and then cycle start. Is there a way to have this only require one keystroke after the tool change to resume the program?

At the end of my program, the table moves to -X3.5355 +Y3.5355. Any idea why? I don't have values in the last screen of the program. I just want the spindle to stop and the Z to move to tool change location. This is also the value in the SLS offline software.

Is there a setting for the location of the Z tool change location? I would like it a little bit higher.

Thanks,
James

[Teps71]

Well, I figured out my rapid move to X -3.4344 and Y + 3.5355 - I programmed a position move to X 0 Y +5.0000, however this was after a rotate op at 315* so it was traveling 5 inches from 0,0 at 315*

I'd still like to change the tool change position to a more positive Z number, and change the tool change ops to only one button rather than two.

[single phase]

I think the "Z tool change" value is in the parameters. Did you look for it?

If you do decide to change it, only move it .010 at a time to check you have the right direction.




Dave

[AMCjeepCJ]

It's in the parameters but he might not have the "code" to access those levels. Email me if you need it, just be careful in those areas, easy to crash your stuff if you do the wrong one. Just NOBODY post it on here how to access those areas, I wouldn't want an employee screwing with his bosses parms.

Carl

[AMCjeepCJ]

Hey wait a sec!

Do you have a toolchanger on your mill?! If not, I can't see where changing it a lil' would hurt, I mean a very little... (Watch your limit switches...) If you do have a tool changer though, you're probably going to jack something up if it actually calls a tool up and it's not at the right height... From your post it sounds like you are just looking for clearance to change a part or something... If that's the case, why don't you just do a F1 <pos> move at the end and move all 3 axis simultaneously to position your table to access your part more readily?? I've found it much quicker and less travel on your Z axis if you're doing production work~

Also, I'm a little confused on you needing to hit two buttons, what are you doing exactly?? I have one mill with and one without a tool changer and I only hit one button on each but then again, I have Cent 5 and 7, not 6...

[AMCjeepCJ]

If you get stuck on a program again, post the conversational file on here so we can open it up and look at it... That problem you have is pretty common... (Forgetting to shut off something like, rotate, mirror, or disabling a drill cycle, mill end, etc.) I personally can look at your file because I have Cent 7 and see what's wrong but I couldn't fix it and send it back because you can only go up and not down with the softwares. (Is 'softwares' a word??)

[Teps71]

Thanks for the tips guys. I didn't see the Z Tool Change in the params even going in at level 3. No biggie. I can live with where it is at. This machine does not have a tool changer, just a straight bed mill.

Back to the networking - I can't seem to get this to work. On my controller I have a drive X that shows up and I can never access it - I'm assuming this was what the previous owner had mapped as a network drive. Some answers that may help me get this working:

What is the line speed for the ethernet? 10, 100, full or half duplex? I've set the PC to auto in hopes that it will pick this stuff up.

As far as the shared network drive: On the PC side, does it matter what the workgroup name, computer name and share name are? Can this be set in the controller? I do have NetBeui loaded and I have a link on the ethernet, so I think it is something to do with the share settings. I have the parts folder shared as this is where all the programs are. The computer name is Shop, workgroup name is WORKGROUP and the share name is "parts".

Hope you guys can help me out

James

[Teps71]

Okay, more silly questions:

How do I copy a file from the controller's C: drive to the A: drive? Or vice versa for that matter. So far I can only save the programs to floppy on the PC I use for CAD/CAM and run them from the floppy. I'd like to copy these files over to the C: drive and also copy the files I've created on the controller over to the A: drive.

[single phase]

We will get the network working on your machine but I have to startup my mill and look at the stuff we need to set correctly. It has been a long time.

We may need to set the drives differently in the path.dat file. I will look at my setup and get back to you. You may also have to run the network configure program.


Dave

[Teps71]

Dave, thanks for the reply and I look forward to your reply!

James

[single phase]

Here are a few of the next steps

1) you need a hard drive and your machine needs to boot off the HD and not the sym card. I think having a hard drive is nice but once you get the Ethernet working the hard drive is not too useful. I do not know why this is a requirement but it may have to do with the insufficient amount of storage space on the sym card. OF course any old 2GB or larger drive will do. If it is bigger it will not do you any good because DOS 6.22 can not read it.

2) you need the Ethernet card and the dos 6.22 networking software. With the machine loaded with enough RAM you will be able to "load High" all of the network executables.


Dave

[Teps71]

single phase, thanks for all the help. This is working perfectly!

[moldcore]

Well, its been a week since I sent an email to Milltronics about this very issue with no response. I guess they are too busy to be bothered with such nonsense. I gues I'll have to try single phases's suggestions.

[single phase]

Call them, they will help you if you get somebody live in tech support.