Martin P
Titanium
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2004
I had mentioned earlier that I bought an FP4NC in the spur of the moment, because it looked interesting and it was the cheapest I ever saw. This was because it had parts missing and I thought I had them in storage to make it whole again.
The seller said the y-axis servo and all scales were missing, but control and amplifier all complete.
I could have picked it up as late as November, but thinking about it I thought it better to pick it up quick, since if the machine was garbage I could back out of the sale, the seller being a dealer (Ebay rules).
In the shortness of time I did not get the truck I wanted, but a 7.5 ton Mercedes box truck with lift gate. Turns out it had no tie downs (I should have known) and the lift gate of course is only an obstruction.
When I got there the machine looked OK. The electronic handwheel was missing, but the seller found one in his stock. The tool change pendant was also missing, but I have that. The control housing was very hard to get off. Totally glued on from old dirt and dissolving rubber. I took that as a good sign and indeed the control was complete and looked unmolested. Monitor missing though, which embarrassed the seller, but it was OK for me, since I have monitors.
As expected the upper part of the full enclosure was missing. I do not have a full spare for that and also have no FP4 chip tray (I have lots for FP2 and 3 though).
Loading over the useless lift gate was exiting but it worked. By 3 pm I was back home. Unloading was much easier due the neighbors Bobcat telehandler, we call them all Monitou's over here. The Cat did raise its rear wheels initially reaching over the lift gate into the truck.
Truck fuel consumption was 14.3 l/100km doing a steady 90km/h. On the way down it was 13.5 with the truck empty.
This was all Saturday.
I am always shocked by dirty machines, but it looked much worse than it was. Initally grime removal looks promising.
I put a monitor in it and in the process noticed a burned up power supply (smokey spot). Replaced that too.
I hooked a power cord up and turned it on, the control came to life. Very blury display, which was fixed by wiping the screen off. Love those "fixes".
I turned on the power side of the machine while in mode 1, but got an error message FP17. But OK, there was still no y servo installed and all scales missing.
I looked at the batteries and THEY ARE ALL FROM 1986!!! I am dumbfounded. How can that be? Its 30 years old! How long ago was this machine put into storage? How long can a machine go with original batteries?
In the control I found an original exe hook-up, which is not needed for the NCT500 that was installed. The answer was found in the orange book, which is blue, and showed that the machine was delivered with a univeral table. Only later was the NCT added.
When they added the NCT they bought brand new Bosch cards. I have never seen these very late cards. Look expensive.
I had to flip the head. The gas shock is still strong. I'd hate to see that thing fail suddenly.
I took a short deep dive into my warehouse and for once senseless hoarding has paid off. I found the 3 missing scales ( I thought) and some of the essential small parts, like the little mounting bracket that holds the x reader head (sort of special) and the reader head holder for the y scale (also special). I still need to find the long srew for the x reader head, but I did not look for long so far.
I test fitted the scales and then the feared bummer raised its ugly head. I had parted out a non-flip head machine and that y axis scale is 50mm too short. I have a 520mm 904, but need a 570mm 904 (or possibly 404). The long y axis started at 2810-3600. This machine is 4585. Anyone know of a substitute, possibly from another manufacturer?
The blue orange book is interesting. Its the latest one I have ever seen. The machine was factory accepted in June 1987. So its a quite late D4 and it does not have an NEP board anymore. Also these FP4's had thermally protected servos? Mmmh? I hope I can put in a normal one too, because I don't think I have one of those for the y axis. It'sprobably just a switch that can be bridged.
Can a D4 be started with dead batteries? I thought not, but do not know why. What are the symptoms if one tries?
In theory the machine could still be junk, but I could break even with selling parts if I hve to. But probably it is not junk.
I was initially shocked how worn it looked, because I did not see scraping on the ways. I thought the scraping was worn away. But then I noticed the ways are ground. They look decent.
The machine was kept as a spare for other machines. The storage location was a storage tent (found a note on that). Yet what looks like rust is very superficial and easy to remove.
But now first some pictures.
The seller said the y-axis servo and all scales were missing, but control and amplifier all complete.
I could have picked it up as late as November, but thinking about it I thought it better to pick it up quick, since if the machine was garbage I could back out of the sale, the seller being a dealer (Ebay rules).
In the shortness of time I did not get the truck I wanted, but a 7.5 ton Mercedes box truck with lift gate. Turns out it had no tie downs (I should have known) and the lift gate of course is only an obstruction.
When I got there the machine looked OK. The electronic handwheel was missing, but the seller found one in his stock. The tool change pendant was also missing, but I have that. The control housing was very hard to get off. Totally glued on from old dirt and dissolving rubber. I took that as a good sign and indeed the control was complete and looked unmolested. Monitor missing though, which embarrassed the seller, but it was OK for me, since I have monitors.
As expected the upper part of the full enclosure was missing. I do not have a full spare for that and also have no FP4 chip tray (I have lots for FP2 and 3 though).
Loading over the useless lift gate was exiting but it worked. By 3 pm I was back home. Unloading was much easier due the neighbors Bobcat telehandler, we call them all Monitou's over here. The Cat did raise its rear wheels initially reaching over the lift gate into the truck.
Truck fuel consumption was 14.3 l/100km doing a steady 90km/h. On the way down it was 13.5 with the truck empty.
This was all Saturday.
I am always shocked by dirty machines, but it looked much worse than it was. Initally grime removal looks promising.
I put a monitor in it and in the process noticed a burned up power supply (smokey spot). Replaced that too.
I hooked a power cord up and turned it on, the control came to life. Very blury display, which was fixed by wiping the screen off. Love those "fixes".
I turned on the power side of the machine while in mode 1, but got an error message FP17. But OK, there was still no y servo installed and all scales missing.
I looked at the batteries and THEY ARE ALL FROM 1986!!! I am dumbfounded. How can that be? Its 30 years old! How long ago was this machine put into storage? How long can a machine go with original batteries?
In the control I found an original exe hook-up, which is not needed for the NCT500 that was installed. The answer was found in the orange book, which is blue, and showed that the machine was delivered with a univeral table. Only later was the NCT added.
When they added the NCT they bought brand new Bosch cards. I have never seen these very late cards. Look expensive.
I had to flip the head. The gas shock is still strong. I'd hate to see that thing fail suddenly.
I took a short deep dive into my warehouse and for once senseless hoarding has paid off. I found the 3 missing scales ( I thought) and some of the essential small parts, like the little mounting bracket that holds the x reader head (sort of special) and the reader head holder for the y scale (also special). I still need to find the long srew for the x reader head, but I did not look for long so far.
I test fitted the scales and then the feared bummer raised its ugly head. I had parted out a non-flip head machine and that y axis scale is 50mm too short. I have a 520mm 904, but need a 570mm 904 (or possibly 404). The long y axis started at 2810-3600. This machine is 4585. Anyone know of a substitute, possibly from another manufacturer?
The blue orange book is interesting. Its the latest one I have ever seen. The machine was factory accepted in June 1987. So its a quite late D4 and it does not have an NEP board anymore. Also these FP4's had thermally protected servos? Mmmh? I hope I can put in a normal one too, because I don't think I have one of those for the y axis. It'sprobably just a switch that can be bridged.
Can a D4 be started with dead batteries? I thought not, but do not know why. What are the symptoms if one tries?
In theory the machine could still be junk, but I could break even with selling parts if I hve to. But probably it is not junk.
I was initially shocked how worn it looked, because I did not see scraping on the ways. I thought the scraping was worn away. But then I noticed the ways are ground. They look decent.
The machine was kept as a spare for other machines. The storage location was a storage tent (found a note on that). Yet what looks like rust is very superficial and easy to remove.
But now first some pictures.