Upgrading from Dynapath Delta 10 to Delta 20: Step by Step How To

I have a very lightly used Clausing Kondia FV1-CNC that dates back to 1994. It runs well, but has a very limited onboard memory capacity ( about 3500 lines of code, but only if the code is economic since every character counts, even line numbers!). Up to now, it has coped with everything I've asked of it, but I now have a profiling job for a customer that requires a lot of machining of draft surfaces ... the size of my programs has mushroomed as a result, and having to break the program into chunks is a pain (and very time consuming).

An upgrade to Delta 20 (OK, a slightly less elderly dinosaur) would give me drip feed capability ... I've just completed the upgrade and wanted to share the how to:

1. Make note all of all tool and offset settings (T and E), and Machine Home, since they will be lost in the change over (don't ask me how I know) ...

2. Buy a Dynapath Processor Board #4202731 (they all come with a letter suffix, indicating the revision level: the higher the letter, the better).

3. With the machined turned off, remove the current Dynapath Processor Board, after disconnecting the 15 PIN DIN, and the 2 Pin MOLEX connectors.

4. Remove the 40 pin DIL chip labelled MP/MILL from the old board, and place it in the new processor board - this chip contains all the current machine setup parameters SO IS VERY IMPORTANT.

5. Insert the processor board in the rack, and reconnect the DIN and MOLEX connectors.

6. Fire up the machine ... you will see a lost parameter error. Hit reset and it goes away.

7. Check that the machine homes correctly ...

8. Re-enter all HOME, TOOL and OFFSET params and you good to go!

ATG (keeping an old machine working and making money!)

Thanks!

Thanks so much for posting this. I was about to pay Dynapath $1250 to upgrade my Delta 10 to a Delta 20. I randomly came across your post and couldn't believe how easy it was. My biggest challenge was finding the proper part number for a Delta 20 until I saw your post. I backed up my tool and offset information via RS232. I spent 10 minutes from Delta 10 power down to Delta 20 power up. In 20 minutes I am back up and now machining in buffered input mode. Thanks for posting this!!!

supahonkey said:

Thanks so much for posting this. I was about to pay Dynapath $1250 to upgrade my Delta 10 to a Delta 20. I randomly came across your post and couldn't believe how easy it was. My biggest challenge was finding the proper part number for a Delta 20 until I saw your post. I backed up my tool and offset information via RS232. I spent 10 minutes from Delta 10 power down to Delta 20 power up. In 20 minutes I am back up and now machining in buffered input mode. Thanks for posting this!!!

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Glad it helped!

Thanks

Does the chip that has to be swapped just plug into the board or do I have to un-solder and re-solder it?

Also, I don't have the graphics option. Do you know if this will this give it to me or do I need something else for graphics?

Thanks again for your great post.

Jason

Jason312 said:

Does the chip that has to be swapped just plug into the board or do I have to un-solder and re-solder it?

Also, I don't have the graphics option. Do you know if this will this give it to me or do I need something else for graphics?

Thanks again for your great post.

Jason

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The chip is located in a 40 pin DIL socket, so carefully just lift the old one out, and replace with the original one from the machine. No need to touch a soldering iron!

Can't answer the graphics question ... I've never looked! I use Fusion 360 for all my design work and post process from the CAM section, and drip feed that file to machine so I have a pretty good visual picture of what is going to happen (I often test the post without a tool installed to make sure).

Glad the post helped ... it certainly makes an old machine very useful once more!

Jason312 said:

Also, I don't have the graphics option. Do you know if this will this give it to me or do I need something else for graphics?

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I *think* that is controlled by the eprom chip that has the machine parameters, you need to get a revised chip from Dynapath to enable graphics, expand memory, etc.

If you've never called Dynapath, they are surprisingly accessible and helpful.

atgordon said:

The chip is located in a 40 pin DIL socket, so carefully just lift the old one out, and replace with the original one from the machine. No need to touch a soldering iron!

Can't answer the graphics question ... I've never looked! I use Fusion 360 for all my design work and post process from the CAM section, and drip feed that file to machine so I have a pretty good visual picture of what is going to happen (I often test the post without a tool installed to make sure).

Glad the post helped ... it certainly makes an old machine very useful once more!

Click to expand...

How big is the learning curve on the whole Fusion 360 and drip feeding it to a dynapath control? I have a Clausing Kondia B500 machining center with a delta 20 control. I bought the cable to hook it up to a computer but never hooked it up yet. Any advice for a resource to help me make it happen. It sounds like you already did and I'm not big on reinventing the wheel.

Thanks

I haven't tried calling them. I assumed there wouldn't be any support for this old dinosaur but I guess I should give them a try.

Jason312 said:

I haven't tried calling them. I assumed there wouldn't be any support for this old dinosaur but I guess I should give them a try.

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That's a reasonable expectation of most control companies, but not true of Dynapath. If you have a problem that's not a routine issue, you get to talk to the main man Paul. That doesn't make the parts cheap of course, but you do get good help. Just don't waste his time, have your control SN and etc ready and have a notepad in front of you when you call, he'll give it to you fast.

atgordon said:

An upgrade to Delta 20 (OK, a slightly less elderly dinosaur) would give me drip feed capability ... I've just completed the upgrade and wanted to share the how to:

1. Make note all of all tool and offset settings (T and E), and Machine Home, since they will be lost in the change over (don't ask me how I know) ...

2. Buy a Dynapath Processor Board #4202731 (they all come with a letter suffix, indicating the revision level: the higher the letter, the better).

Click to expand...

Thank you for the how to post!!
Unfortunately, my original board doesn’t look the same as the one pictured or even very similar.
I’m guessing the chip I need to move are on the daughterboard riser.

atgordon said:

3. With the machined turned off, remove the current Dynapath Processor Board, after disconnecting the 15 PIN DIN, and the 2 Pin MOLEX connectors.

4. Remove the 40 pin DIL chip labelled MP/MILL from the old board, and place it in the new processor board - this chip contains all the current machine setup parameters SO IS VERY IMPORTANT.
View attachment 215025

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Here’s my original board from my Dynapath Delta 10:


I think the EEPROM chip is probably the one with the hand written note on it.

Big B said:

How big is the learning curve on the whole Fusion 360 and drip feeding it to a dynapath control? I have a Clausing Kondia B500 machining center with a delta 20 control. I bought the cable to hook it up to a computer but never hooked it up yet. Any advice for a resource to help me make it happen. It sounds like you already did and I'm not big on reinventing the wheel.

Thanks

Click to expand...

Did not see this post until now ...

It is almost impossible to advise someone on the learning curve of using a CAD package with a CAM extension since it depends on where you are and what you know! If you are familiar with AutoCAD, then using a 3D package (like Fusion360) is going to take some time to adjust: F360 has a lot of good tutorials that make the transition easier.

On the CAM front, if you are confident and efficient at direct coding, you can use any text editor (or use a freeware - or even buy a CNC code editor) or a code editor to write the code, and then upload using the RS232 cable hooked up to the computer and load the program into the mill controller memory.

I have friends who can write complex code complete with variable tables to suit different situations ... way beyond me, and since a lot of my work involves complex surfaces, I have to use a CAM package to write the code. F360 has an inbuilt CAM package and post processor for outputting the code in a format that is readable by the Delta 10/20 controller. If you have access to Ma$terCAM, you can take drawings from most 3D packages and create the post processed code (I can't afford to update my old license to support surfacing, and having used F360 for a year for all my commercial work, I haven't found a situation where I have needed to fire up MasterCAM - I should add that I am not a MC wizard ... there are folks out there that can make MC do wonderful things!

Not sure if this helps a lot ...

rpseguin said:

Thank you for the how to post!!
Unfortunately, my original board doesn’t look the same as the one pictured or even very similar.
I’m guessing the chip I need to move are on the daughterboard riser.

I think the EEPROM chip is probably the one with the hand written note on it.

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I think you're right ... the message on the board mentions that the chip in location 1B must stay with the machine.

You can always try it out and see if it the machine will fire up in Delta 20 mode. If it doesn't, try speaking with Glen at Dynapath, he is very knowledgeable and helpful (just make sure you have your controller serial number handy when you call).

atgordon said:

I think you're right ... the message on the board mentions that the chip in location 1B must stay with the machine.

You can always try it out and see if it the machine will fire up in Delta 20 mode. If it doesn't, try speaking with Glen at Dynapath, he is very knowledgeable and helpful (just make sure you have your controller serial number handy when you call).

Click to expand...

Thanks for your help!

I will call Dynapath on Monday and see what I can do.
The control would be far more versatile if it could dripfeed.

My mill is new to me, so I don’t have any tool tables defined yet.

I’ve taken snapshots/note of parameters pages with limits and axis home positions.

Anything I’m missing?

I’m going to try the board swap later tonight.
Fingers crossed.

Worked perfectly.
Entered home positions and was up and running!
Thanks so much for creating this thread!

Now shows buffered input.


Wish it had macros and probing too, but I’m happy.

Doug said:

A few years back I figured Dynapath might be offering a discount on the chip to enable macro programming since the Delta 20 was getting long in the tooth. The Dynapath guy did some research and found they hadn't sold any of the chips in many years. His management said nope, no discount. Still around a thousand bucks so I passed.

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Yeah. That's probably not a bad deal if I were in business making money. But, since I'm poor and am doing this to teach my kids, that's something I can forego.
I'm just glad that now I'll be able to DNC from CAM software.

Doug said:

Another time I had some interaction with a guy in LA who apparently had been Dynapath's man in SoCal until they fired him. The story goes he'd been quoting jobs per Dynapath's pricing, then doing them at a discount on the side. Anyway, he checked out one of my boards and sent it back with the wrong PIC chip. Of course he denied changing anything. Big surprise, I was able to get the correct PIC direct from Dynapath for only 18 bucks.

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Whoa! $18?!??
I figure the feature might already be there and only a few bytes probably need to be tweaked to enable it.
I might call Dynapath tomorrow just to see.

Doug said:

I always liked the Dynapath control and wondered why it wasn't more widely used. The only reason I could come up with was the factory didn't have trained service people around the country. My first call for service to Dynapath was a shocker. They said they'd have a man here first thing tomorrow morning, I was impressed.... until he explained they were flying him out from the factory and I'd pay airfare, lodging and a one day minimum of $800.

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Yeah. That is impressive.
Probably a bargain if you were making money and downtime was costing you more than that.

Now, how about upgrading the RAM on a Delta 20 board?
Chips at positions C5 and C6 are Toshiba TC551001BPL-10 128K word x 8 bit static RAM.

Can higher density chips be dropped in place?
Which chips?
Is there anything else that needs to happen to enable the larger memory/feature?

Hi folks,

I finally got around to purchasing the new board to upgrade to D-20. Unfortunately I also have a different looking board. If I had to guess I would say I need to replace the chip in position N at the bottom that's labeled -MP- ID 310. I don't dare just try it since I don't know electronics and would hate to burn something up.
The Notice states that locations N4 and N5 must remain with NCU however I don't see an N4 or N5, only the one I mentioned labeled N.

Anybody know what I need to do?

Wow. Some real old Dynapath processors here. Dynapath is a great company to work with but remember they need to sell things to stay in business too. Most of the staff there were around when the Delta 10/20 series were sold new. The pictures you have shown on this page shows some of the very oldest boards. The two layer board was very troublesome for them at the time. I can say for sure the Delta 10 boards that had a toggle switch where the white PB is could be easily have their memory upgraded to the same as a Delta 20 (1000'). I have a cross list at work for some boards. If you have a part number I can try to look it up. You do have to be careful as in later Delta 10/20 controls they changed the order of the cards in the rack. Also I know the toggle switch processor board required an extra board for graphics.

GWIZ said:

Wow. Some real old Dynapath processors here. Dynapath is a great company to work with but remember they need to sell things to stay in business too. Most of the staff there were around when the Delta 10/20 series were sold new. The pictures you have shown on this page shows some of the very oldest boards. The two layer board was very troublesome for them at the time. I can say for sure the Delta 10 boards that had a toggle switch where the white PB is could be easily have their memory upgraded to the same as a Delta 20 (1000'). I have a cross list at work for some boards. If you have a part number I can try to look it up. You do have to be careful as in later Delta 10/20 controls they changed the order of the cards in the rack. Also I know the toggle switch processor board required an extra board for graphics.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your response.

My current board has the white push-button and the board I purchased to upgrade to Delta 20 has the toggle switch. Is that an issue?

I might be interested in bumping up my memory as well depending on the cost. If I have drip feed capability memory will be less of an issue.

The number on the Delta 20 card I purchased is 4202731D. The card that it is replacing (I think) is 4201471.
I don't have graphics and it sounds like I may need to add a whole card to get graphics. Do you have the part number for that?

Thanks again!!