[emexcee380]

Greetings All,

One of our Fanuc 18iTB controls will not communicate via RS232, Memory Card, or
Embedded Ethernet. We purchased the machine on the used market 3 yrs. ago and
immediately found that the RS232 and Memory Card functions would not work. So we
set it up for Ethernet communication to transfer part programs. All was well until about
a week ago and the Ethernet function stopped working. After doing all the diagnosing
we were able to do, we called our local Fanuc service center and their advise was to
clear the memory and reload. We're certainly willing to follow their advise except that
the memory has never been backed up on that machine/control so I don't completely
trust the hard-copy of parameters we have. Also, with no way to communicate with the
control, manual input of the hundreds of parameters and settings seems to be our only avenue for reloading.

Seems strange that all three methods of communication would fail, but I guess stranger
things have happened.

Has any other Fanuc 18i-user experienced anything like this?

Ideas? Thoughts ? Suggestions?

Thanks in advance,

emexcee380

[drdos]

Can you give more details on what happens when trying to use the different methods? Are you getting alarms? Does output flash? Do you have the I/O channel set correctly? Explain all that you have tried along with parameter settings.

[emexcee380]

Can you give more details on what happens when trying to use the different methods? Are you getting alarms? Does output flash? Do you have the I/O channel set correctly? Explain all that you have tried along with parameter settings.

drdos,

Sure.

RS232 with a proven cable that communicates with 10 other Fanuc controls causes the control and pc to freeze with no alarms. "LSK" flashes on the Fanuc when trying to receive data, but "INPUT" never appears. All I/O channels 0-3 are set the same to communicate with
our Fanuc controls.

Memory card displays: 1010 Card Error with a Transcend Compact Flash card that works normally on an identical 18iT control. (We ordered a replacement card port from Fanuc that should be here next week.) I/O channel 4 is always used.

Ethernet function worked fine until about a week ago. "Display Error" appears on Fanuc-side when attempting to transfer data. We went through the set-up procedure again but the result was always the same. I/O channel 9 is used for ethernet.

Thoughts?

[memoryman]

Did you try saving the memory to the pcmcia card using the BOOT menu? Do that first.

[emexcee380]

Good news, guys !!!

We purchased a replacement "CABLE WITH PCMCIA CARD SLOT / A66l-2050-0025#B" from Fanuc and I installed it today. Now we can communicate from the 18i cnc to the memory card. WHOO-HOO !!

Still don't know why both the RS232 and embedded ethernet functions died, but as long as we have at least one method to send and receive data - LIFE IS GOOD !!!

Thanks to all who offered help,

emexcee380