Thread: Mating Anilam Mini-Wizard scales to Acu-Rite Master-MP head?

Mating Anilam Mini-Wizard scales to Acu-Rite Master-MP head?

Seems like a no-brainer, various ebay ads claim interchange between the two brands.

Cable-compatible? Yes.

Any nightmare stories? Haven't found any.

Minor problems? CNCme had some issues with Acu-Rite scale and Anilam head:

How to make Acurite scale get along with Anilam DRO box?

This isn't a potential "let out the magic smoke" incident, is it?

Seems that "hook it up and adjust the resolution" is the correct answer.

Anyone have direct experience??


Also, we have a Acu-Rite III as a candidate, also.

Anilam box has power supply issues, and the Master-MP head offers more features.

I haven't gotten around to contacting vendors, techs, etc.

Anyone know?

Steve

Okay, I dredged up an old thread, with this recommendation of Can Do Machinery:

What scales work with Newall c80 dro??

And another thread, wherein it was said:

Anilam and Acu-rite are both owned by Heidenhain now. The guys at Can-D0 machinery seem pretty good with read outs maybe they can help. Californina time.... 800-532-2636 or fax 818 727 1073. candomachinery.com

I have nothing but praise for whoever who picked up the phone, since it was 5PM California time.

We spoke a few minutes, he suggested I find the company website, and I did, I looked at the support documents on the site, I cleaned up the scale, found "A10" on the scale, I found the owner's manual with states "Quantum A10", "TTL compatible" etc.

I am hoping the nice guy will reply to my email and confirm that 99% chance is now a 100% chance of compatibility.

Anyway, seems like a nice outfit.


Steve

Originally Posted by S_W_Bausch

Anilam box has power supply issues...

The first suspect for power supply problems, and with vintage equipment in general, is the electrolytic capacitors.

These account for perhaps 95% of all failures. Replace the large ones, and preferably all of them.

- Leigh

Originally Posted by The real Leigh

The first suspect for power supply problems, and with vintage equipment in general, is the electrolytic capacitors.

These account for perhaps 95% of all failures. Replace the large ones, and preferably all of them.

- Leigh

Hmmmmmm Interesting idea, just take notes, order the proper caps, and solder them in. I will suggest that.

Some points you should be aware of.

Electrolytic capacitors (the villains of this piece) will almost always be in an aluminum can with a plastic wrapper.
They typically have wire leads, sometimes coming out opposite ends, sometimes both out the same end.
There are many other types of caps, none of which typically cause problems. Look for the aluminum cans and replace all of them.

There should be one positive lead and one negative lead. If you find a cap with more leads (they do exist), come back for further guidance.

American custom for the past 80 or so years has been to mark the positive terminal of an electrolytic with a plus sign (+),
leaving the reader to identify the negative terminal on his own.
The plus sign may be on the end of the cap, or printed on the plastic wrapping.

Asian custom has been to mark the negative terminal with a minus sign (-) and leave the positive terminal unmarked.
On many of these caps, the minus sign is in a stripe of contrasting color running down the side of the cap, next to one
lead. Its purpose and meaning are not obvious unless you're expecting it.

Regarding values:
Your replacement should have a voltage rating no lower than the original part. You can go higher, but it might be larger and cost more.
The capacitance (in microfarads, mfd or similar) should be within about 10% of the original. Values are pretty much standardized, so this should not be a problem.

- Leigh

Leigh,

Thank You for the nice tutorial on electrolytic capacitors, I learned a few things, since my experience with a Radio Shack 100 in 1 breadboarding kit is several decades past.

Can Do Machinery returned my email, and Michael said:

hi steve, we must have got disconnected - to answer your
question...yes...A-10 scale is 100% compatible m- set axis resolution
for 10uM - if you need asdistance...call me Wednesday

While the unit in question was purchased as NOS, sealed (and parked on a shelf for the last 10 - 15 years), I was able to local the manual on the Acu Rite site:

http://www.acu-rite.com/pdf/manuals/...ERMPmanual.pdf

With this combination, "5/10ths" is possible, with another, highest resolution, scale, "5/100ths" is possible.

The resolutions of this display:

.01mm = 10um (.0005")
.005mm = 5um (.0002")
.002mm = 2um (.0001")
.001mm = 1um (.00005")

Sounds like you have a nice system there. Both Anilam and Acu-Rite make excellent equipment.

I would still recommend replacing the large capacitors in the power supply.

- Leigh