[nlh]

Hi,

We just recently hooked up our Acroloc M12 w/ 3000C control that we picked up last year(we have 2 of these machines). When turning the machine on the label skip and parity light comes on but not the ready light. The number 23837 comes up and can not be removed. The only thing you can do is move through the different addresses(top leds, x, y, z, g, m, etc, etc) but the number 23837 can not be changed. Hitting emergency reset does nothing. Anyone have any clues or experience with these controls that could give us some advice? It's too bad becuase the rest of the machine looks to be in good condition but if it's got a bad control it's going to have to be junked as we just don't have the floorspace. Thanks in advance.

Nate

[nlh]

Anyone?

[jkeeney44]

Nate-Don't have any info for you, but I purchased a running acrolok w/fanuc 3000 control, let it sit for 2 years and just powered it up--I get the same response. Maybe a memory back up battery or something?? Did you ever figure out what was going on w/your system?

[nlh]

Yes, I did the problem figured out. Did you get any manuals with your machine? Their is a procedure in the back that details this. I ended up calling Fanuc and they walked me through. When I get a chance I'll do a short write up from my manual and post it here. Thanks and good luck,

Nate

[jkeeney44]

Thanks for the response Nate-I've got an operations manual--B-51520E/06, but I don't see any steps on how to deal with this problem, I'll try giving Fanuc a call tomorrow. If that doesn't work I'll wait for you to post the steps. Thanks again.

[jkeeney44]

Nate--It's been about a year but I still haven't got my mill running--Too many other projects. Anyway did you ever get around to posting that procedure about how to clear the 23837 error code? It would be helpful-I just powered up this machine again and it's got the same error (not much of a surprise, but I had to try it).

Also are you still running the acrolocs? Have they been somewhat dependable?

Thanks in advance for any info you can provide.

[nlh]

JKeeney44,

I apologize for not getting back to you. What's going on is that the battery on one of the boards(can't remember exactly which) has run out of juice and it will need to be replaced. You'll need to buy a replacement from fanuc or somehow chain some C or D cells together and make your own.

Once you have the new battery in, with power off, open the front door and look at the circuit board on the door that correspondes with the LED display(above the tape reader). There should be a switch on the bottom right of this board, can be kind of hard to see, flip this switch. Switch should now be on the "Write" position or something of that nature. This next step will require a little experiementation as I can't remember exactly the button sequence to push. First, put the left dial selector to MDI. Hold down the blue start button and depress the black power on button. Hold the start button until the ready light comes on. If the ready light does not come on you may have to hold down a combination of the blue button and some other button like reset or input, etc. My book does not detail this step so unless you call Fanuc it will be trial and error. Once you have the combination, the ready light will come on. You can then key over to the PRM address and enter your parameters, doing the same for the DGN address. Make sure you enter the parameters in correctly. If you don't, on a few of the parameters, it will lock the machine up and you'll have to start over. Once you have all PRM and DGN input, turn power off, flip the switch on the display panel back to OFF. Turn power on and it should be ready to go.

Acrolocs, I have found are usually very reliable. Bear in mind that these are very primative machines and everything has to be done just right or the machine won't work. Once you get used to how it works it's not bad, but it can still give a guy a headache if your not in the right frame of mind when setting it up. Always use a 1" gage block to set tool heights. If you don't you could crash the tool. Spindle comes on automatically once it drops about 2" so this is why. No need for M03 or 04 in the program unless manually tapping without G84. I pretty much relegate my machine for hole drilling and tapping because it is so light duty (especially with the PITA toolholder design) that milling can more trouble than it's worth.

Hope this helps. If you have any more questions please let me know. And if your interested in buying another machine I have 2 that I would like to sell in the future. Probably 1 at a time for right now just becuase I have a job lined up for the other one. If your interested let me know.

Thanks,
Nate

[train guy]

Are you still running any acroloc machines. I am having a problem may be you could help with.

[nlh]

Train Guy,

We still have 1 Acroloc w/ a Fanuc 3000C control. What sort of issues are you having? Let me know and I may be able to help.

Did you send me a PM? I try not to use the PM system becuase it fills up so fast. Just let me know what you need to know and we'll correspond via this thread.

Thanks,
Nate

[train guy]

Thank you Nate, for responding. I'm not sure what a pm system reply is, I used the reply button above the thread, please let me know if there is a better way. As far as the mill, I purchased this mill used and the operating system as far as the fanuc, seemed to function as far as I could manually move the axis. Also I could manual program code and it would run it. I was trying to get the connection between my cad program and the adr card through to the 3000c. I thought one of my problems may be the battery alarm that wouldn't let my program run, so I removed the board and changed it. I notices the boards were rather dusty so I carefully cleaned them all. Here is were my current problem started, I mixed up there positions and popped a couple fuses. I repaired the fuses and found the correct positions for the boards. Now I have no ready light , no function of axis , I only have a 10060006 coming up on the read out and the 1st led is off and all the rest are on, on the mother board. If I am understanding the led's it translates to 8000 that should be a chip block ID 320-328. I don't have those chips, there on an optional area. Somewhere in the process I have damaged a ram chip on the mother board ( broken leg ) and I don't know were to get a replacement. My local electronics place thinks it may be a pre programmed chip. Have I got myself into a bad corner here? This has been a steep learning curve and I am not sure were to go from here. Any help to diagnose the problems and locate parts would be wonderful. I have found used boards,but am hoping to just replace parts if possible.
Thank you for your time,
Dale

[nlh]

Dale,

I apologize for the very late respone (about a month). Our shop has been extremely busy. I wish you had posted here before you tried to solve the battery alarm. At that point it would have been very easy to walk you thru changing batteries and making sure parameters were set correctly. Unfortunately when you took the boards out and reinstalled them incorrectly, it really compounded the problem (not that I'm telling you something new!). The old machines are very hard to find component parts for. I have looked in times past for replacement ram/rom chips with very little luck. One place you can try is www.jameco.com. They sell a lot of older components. You may also try a website like Datasheet & Application Note Database, PDF, Circuits, Datasheets | Datasheet Archive to find the specs on your old chips. The other alternative is to buy a replacement board from E-Bay or something ($600+) to get you going. At one time we had 2 Acroloc's with the 3000C control and ADR boards. At this time we only have 1 working machine and the other was junked due to high amounts of wear on the ways and ball screws. We still have all the boards, wires, transformers, power supplies, even 2 new ball screws for the old machine. If you wanted to source a replacement that way, we can probably work something out. Hopefully you've been succesfull in repairing your machine since you posted.

Thanks,
Nate

[train guy]

Thanks for responding again Nate,I have not repaired the machine yet. Would you be interested in parting with individual chips, and after the chip is replaced can you help with how to find out what else I have damaged. I would like to make parts with the machine, of course, But also my son (18)is interested in, and starting to work with our cad cam programs. I am hoping he makes a career of it, and seeing the results of his work will fuel his passion. again, Thank you and any help is greatly appreciated.
Dale

[train guy]

Hey Nate you still there and do you still have 3000c acrolocs?

[fordav11]

I have many years experience with repairing electronics.
just a thought.....
if you don't have knowledge and equipment you will never be able to repair it yourself.
a better option is to just buy a replacement board or boards and swap it/them over.

[train guy]

Thanks fordav11, the problem is locating known good boards for this age of machine and what board needs replacement. I have not been able to decipher the trouble code or locate anyone who is willing to help me with it. Any help here is appreciated

[fordav11]

if I was local I could come take a look but I'm not local

you could try looking for something on the board that has a hole in it where it blew up
a lot of those components are not available now so it would be a difficult job to repair them without specialized info and spare parts.
You may be able to get Fanuc to repair them if you're willing to pay their fee.

we had an old Mazak Powermaster 2500 that had a 3000c which we tossed out and retro-fitted an 0T. That's another option for you.

[train guy]

Thanks fordav11, I have closely examined the boards and don't see any hot spots etc. I repaired the leg of the chip by carefully soldering a jumper wire, still same code. I am looking into retrofitting, What is ot that you used. Do you know anything about retrofitting with mach motion

[fordav11]

0T is the control. Fanuc Series Zero T. Its the cheaper basic version commonly used on CNC lathes. Current same specification but newer series is 0i-T

[gbowne1]

Well, I have found that on eBay.. one can get pretty much any 0i or 0 series control for a decent price.

The 0i series is a little cheaper because the Series 0 masterboard itself is usually over $900.00, then unless you find someone selling the whole unit.. you'd have to pay about $250-$500 for each card. But there are some good deals out there on eBay. I've gotten quite a few of the good deals.

Unless you want to build and retrofit a rather exotic FANUC, complete with all the option boards.. and even a FANUC Mate/PowerMate (??)... REALLY all you need with the 0i is the main board and PSU and at a minimum a 2 axes servo amplifier.

I found that the Series 15, 16 and 18 are less expensive, especially the 15.
There's a nice A02B-0094-C022 for a 15T on there right now for a great price. But normally you can find lots of parts for the O/0 control on there.

[fordav11]

its interesting you say the 15 series is cheaper.
I have most of the boards for a 15 here including a yellow box with the ladder ROMs.
No master board though (the one with the slots)

I have a dream of hooking it all up and getting the FAPT working.
I couldn't care less about the rest of it. no idea if it would work or not but I hope I can get just the FAPT working even with most likely tons of machine alarms. FAPT is accessible and works on a real machine even if the machine has alarms.

Did you have any experience with getting just FAPT working on a control that had missing pieces or was not completed yet?