Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] CNC, Fix it or replace it

Bruce Klawiter wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> I am in need of some guidance.
> I have an 1989 Anilam M controller on a Lagun mill. I have been quoted $2000.00 to repair this, a CPU board and counter board are both bad. I have been thinking of running EMC and if I did that I would be using the Parallel Port Axis Control, from Jon Elson.
> Should I fix it or switch to EMC? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Umm, this will sound like a plug, but...

The real reason to not pay the $2000 is because you will still have a somewhat
obsolete system, and if anything goes wrong again, it will be another $2000.
This can get to be a very 'old' feeling, about the 2nd time around!
I have no idea how reliable the Anilam controls are. I have a 1979 Allen-Bradley
control, and it broke down 4 times in 6 months. I was getting quite fed up with
it when EMC finally got to the point it would actually run the machine. I went
back to the AB once due to EMC software problems, but then switched
permanently in late 1998. (I didn't pay anyone to fix the AB, I have the tools
and experience to do it myself, but it still got pretty old to fire it up and never
know whether it would work or not!)

The parallel port set is modular, so it won't cost a great deal even if a board
is completely blasted. Newer electronics are much cheaper than old electronics -
just look at what computer prices have gone through. And, of course, there
will be a new PC in there, if it fails, you just go to the store and replace what
is bad, or the whole thing, for a lot less than an Anilam service call.

Do you have diagnostics with your Anilam? We do have diagnostics
with the parallel port boards, althoguh they are a bit cryptic at the moment.
I hope to fix that soon.

Jon