retro-fit Cincinnati

[marcmiller2007]

Currently I have a Cincinnati retro-fit OD #2 grinder down. It was retro-fit by Dean Machine. The software it runs is from 1994 or 1995. The issue I've been having is that the monitor went out so we replaced it with a new 17" flat panel. We hooked it up before we mounted the new monitor and everything worked. After we modified the monitor/computer case to fit the new one, nothing worked after that. The new monitor shows that there is no input signal now for some reason. We're wondering if anyone has any experience in old retro-fit CNC grinders and what we can do to replace the old computer cards with a new computer system. Currently the machine has 6 card slots. There is the 386 CPU card, video card, and it looks like 2 serial cards and I don't know what the 3rd one is. I hope someone has some kind of experience dealing with old retro-fits. Please message me or reply back if you think you can help at all.

 

[CarbideBob]

Well,,,,,, I've been building SG and carbide grinder retrofits since 78 so I've got a little experience with old PC based retrofits, however I'm not familiar with the work done by Dean Machine.

If it was working before you modified the case why do you want to replace the whole computer system?
You don't mention if there was any smoke when you powered it back up.

From the work you did it sounds like a power wire loose somewhere or a metal chip on a circuit board.
I'd start by removing all the boards and looking them over with a magnifying glass. Clean the card edge connectors with a pencil eraser.
Check for +5VDC between the black wire and the red wire on the disk drive power connector. Check for +12VDC between the black wire and the yellow wire.
CyberResearch sells replacement boards if you really want to go this route.
Being a 386 I'd guess this would be a MS-DOS based system. If there are any software based timing loops you could have problems if you change the CPU.
Bob

 

[marcmiller2007]

good suggestions........

I will shoot for checking that stuff tomorrow. Thanks. Nothing happened when the power was turned back on. No smoke, wierd sounds or anything. Just turned on but it doesn't have a video display so I don't even know if its booting up or not. My boss and I have been wondering if it was possible to swap out the old cards for a newer model computer. I've talked to the guy who actually retro-fitted it and he hasn't seemed to lend much help. He's been moving his shop and going out of country so he's been busy. He did tell me that all the CPU does is translate the inputs from the DOS-based software into movements. Also, there are two amplifiers inside the case. There is a smaller one that controls the ball-screw movement back and forth and the other controls the regulating wheel RPM. One of the serial cards has a 10V output (according the the builder), and it has two resistors to make that 10V a 6.5V. This is wired into the reg. wheel RPM amplifier. Hooking up a 1.5V battery to the amp should turn the wheel on after jumping a different set of wires. This doesn't work either. He's telling me the CPU card is bad, the amp is bad and the reg. wheel motor could be bad. In my mind there is no way all this went wrong by trying to change the monitor.

 

[CarbideBob]

I He's telling me the CPU card is bad, the amp is bad and the reg. wheel motor could be bad. In my mind there is no way all this went wrong by trying to change the monitor.

Strange, it seems like you would have to had massively failed the smoke test to damage all this stuff.

Sounds more like a main power power failure somewhere, or more likely a wire that got knocked loose. I hope you have wiring diagrams. Start at the mains and work your way down checking voltages.
Tug on wires going in/out of connectors and terminal strips looking for loose connections. Do this with the main power off of course. Look inside any connectors you may have disconnected/reconnected for signs of corrosion.

When you hook up the battery you are bypassing the cpu so I don't understand the diagnosis of a bad cpu card.

But then again, .... I'm not the person who built it, so who knows?.

Bob

 

[marcmiller2007]

Thanks

I really appreciate your suggestions. We're having quite a time finding anyone who can actually help us. We don't have a wiring diagram or any info outside of how to actually operate the software. I checked all the wires and they're all securely fixed or fastened into each connection. I hooked our power on and off buttons back up just so I can rule that out too. I removed the power wires for the monitor power also just to rule that out too. I have moved all the computer cards into every different slot to see if a card slot is bad also. On both of my amplifiers now there are red lights on. Only one on each though. The RESET light is on on both amps. They have a reset button at the bottom of each amp but that button hasn't done anything. Thats where I'm at right now. Thanks

 

[Mud]

Sort of sounds like the power supply quit, which is fairly common on PCs. See if there's power coming out of the power supply, on all the wires that it's supposed to have power on.