Heidenhain TNC 145 help needed BP Series.. Repair ? Upgrade ? Compatiblilty

Hey Guys, i picked up a series 1 BP mill with TNC 145 PO stated the controls didnt work. i plugged it in and couldnt get any motion other than turning the spindle on .. couple months went by and now i decided to scrap the controls in favor of centroid or similar... I had pulled most of the boards out to research if they were worth anything other than scrap. I figured i would put everything back together to do a walk around video before i dis-assembled the control box and the screen / control panel. Lo and behold now the machine homes and i can move all the axis and control the spindle via the controls.. ( possibly one of the boards needed to be re-seated? ) i have come back to the machine several times this week and it works consistently... in the mean time i have cleaned all the ways and got the bijur to function.

here is the quandary. the screen stopped working and i have no clue about this system.

are the servos and drivers compatible with mach 3 or centroid or any other modern system ?

it would be nice to be able to use the same hardware or should i rip it all out as planned and start from scratch ?

thanks
Joe

I'd try and get it working. That control is solid. Heidenhain has been very helpful in the past when I've asked specific questions.

What is the failure mode of the monitor? Do you have a scope to check incoming signals?

hi Bug, thanks for the reply.. no scope not great at board level electronics.. not even many guys around to send the monitor to... could even possibly be the control not having a signal out ?

I would go and download the user manuals from PC software and manuals

Here is the service manual to get you started:
TNC 145 Service Manual

NOTE: Some of the German versions have better info like specific voltages.


Did the monitor stop working as soon as you put everything back together? Any changes that correlated with the failure (moving stuff around, bumped the control, static discharge, blew a breaker etc)? If you are comfortable (which it sounds like you may not be), first check voltages on the display board. I think the board outputs around 11V. If this voltage was OK I would be checking for the correct signal from the display board, ensure the board is seated, check for broken solder joints around the screw terminals, looking for loose connections, etc.

I did a quick google search and found a ton of hits including this video (2-part series) where a guy goes through the TNC 145 and messes with a monitor issue.

YouTube

There isn't a quick fix if you don't have any troubleshooting background but if you are persistent and safe there is much to be learned. Those controls are well built and the documentation is good. To reiterate, if you aren't comfortable messing around with this sort of thing then better leave it to others, as there are lethal voltages in the control and display.

thanks so much for this info... i actually did watch that guys video.. it is well beyond the scope of my capabilities.. and if retired or out of work i would in fact have a keen interest in !! it seems that there is only one plug that goes into the back of the monitor and that outputs directly from the TNC 145 box... there is no separate power cable.. nor does the existing cable look damaged in any way.. the connections are tight.. this thing is 20 - 30 years old so who knows i go back pretty far with computers but dont remember a plug like this in anything i ever used.. seems like an old printer connection... if it was a lil more modern i would try to hook up a vga monitor to it... someone has a lcd replacement on ebay for 1500 bucks.. at that rate it seems smart to part it out and update to something current...

Or just look around for another monitor.

Figuring out which generic modern flatscreen would work and installing that is going to be way cheaper and easier than a retrofit. That said, if you do retrofit, the motors are DC servomotors, very reliable.