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Mits DWC-110 System Load help needed

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Joined
Nov 13, 2006
Location
Montco, PA
I picked up a Mitsubishi DCW-110 wire edm sn: 5911K822 from Ebay back in Jan. It belonged to the father of an ex Mits salesman. Nice guys and I saw the machine run before I purchased it.

Had the machine professionally rigged into my new shop and the fellow I purchased it from mechanically set it up but could not hook it up electrically as my 3 phase was not wired yet.

Several months later my power is up but the system program is gone. Since the seller has his money its like pulling teeth to get him out here. Finally I did but he could not get the system to load.

I have the manuals and I watched this guy follow the procedure to the letter. He seemed to think there was something he was missing but he could not remember it.

At this point I have given up getting this guy out here again as he will not return phone calls anymore.

Has anyone done the system load before on these machines and is there something that is not in the manual?

TIA
 
I feel your pain...maybe I can help...what's the year of it, since different vintages have different controls on them...

Thanks!
Eric
 
Okay, thanks...my machine is a bit different then, its a 1984 (F1 series) From your vintage, I say you have a C series machine, the control is a bit different than on mine...think they use 3.5 floppies for the masters..my machine uses paper tape for the masters, and there's no other procedure to follow for loading the masters except for what the manual says, in fact, it has to followed excatally or it won't accept the masters. I do know on the F1's if there are issues with the control (logic boards, and battery charger) it will not allow the masters to load...sure hope thats not the case with you machine...hope someone else with the same machine can chime in...

Thanks!
Eric
 
Like what Eric says, if the batterys are dead or the charger is not working, then you will need to fix that first. We had to replace the charger on one of our later modle machines and the ni-cad battery on on of the boards. But may be simmular to the machine you have, sorry that's all I have, where is MitsTech, he may know.

Bill
 
How old are the disks that you are trying to load? I know the 32 bit mits control has a toggle switch in which to load the system software you must turn the switch to "load". I can't remember if the 16 bit has that feature. Also make sure that the disk is in the floppy drive before turning the machine on. Once the system disks load you will then need to load the "english" disk. After that is in you should be able to boot up the machine. After it is booted up you will have to load in all the parameters, along with the pitch error and backlash data.

If you cannot get the system software to remain in memory then I would look at battery connections. Sometimes they are taken off at teardown or shake loose during transite. If it is connected then I would look at checking the charging system, if it is good then the backup battery likely is faulty.
 
EDMJeep,

I think the discs are the original ones that came with the machine. I don't think the disc was in the machine before powering upo.....Ill try that. thanks......
 
Some more detail of exactly what it does or doesn't do, from the time you flip the power switch, would be helpful.

The disks are known to go bad, espescially at that age. Mits will be glad to sell you a new set, right after you fork up some bucks for a service contract.

I would strongly suggest replacing the back-up batteries, they are almost certainly dead at this point, and if you do manage to get the system loaded you will lose it again with every small power interruption.

Cheers!
 
I'm guessing that is an H1 machine with the 16 bit control? (Orange monitor)Do you have the software loading procedure? There are switches inside the machine you have to set before you can input software.

What exactly is happening when you attempt to load software? Are you getting anything on the screen?

What is your incoming 3phase voltage?
 
Mitstech, I don't think the monitor is orange other than a couple of buttons on the control. In the pink Installation manual it has a picture of a Mits wire machine and configuration flow chart. There is a note on the flow chart that the controller and power supply is a G25 H1.

I have the system load procedure Section 5.1.2 out of the manual

Controller power off
move #2 dip switch to On all others off
turn controller power on
ALL STOP is locked and power is off
flip down FW-01 card memory sw
flip up FW-01 card SW1
insert floppy
press down FW-01 card sw2 and release, switch returns to neutral position

After I do the above the screen comes up with a "System Load Error"

3 phase at the wall is 240v delta. It runs through a Mitsubishi 15kva transformer with an output of 219v

The back up battery appears to be a sealed lead/acid type. Voltage at the terminals is 6v dc

I tried EDMJeep's suggestion of installing the floppy first but the system load error still comes up.....

TIA
 
I think this machine would have shipped with the exec on magnetic cassette tapes. I have the same setup on a 1986 DWC-110H'. Its a W-1 control I think. Any time you disconnect the power for any length of time figure on reloading. There should be a paper punched tape with the pitch error compensation data. this needs punched in after you get it to load.
 
I have 3.5 in floppies Willeo. The machine also has a tape device but I have not tapes. All the Mits system info is on the floppies. thanks
 
it takes a special floppy device that is no longer manufactured. You see them on ebay with machines occasionally. Mine has a tape device and the tapes. Do you have the punch tape for the pitch error?
 
I just have the floppies. The floppy drive on this one is integrated into the machine. there is a floppy for the pitch error.
 
Does your floppy drive kinda stick out from the machine, have a bunch of buttons, a little LED screen on it, and plug into a 100V outlet in the front of the machine?
Now that was a real intelligent sounding sentence...
If so, I seem to remember a sequence of buttons you had to hit on the floppy drive unit itself in order for it to read the right files.
I had to hit the floppy drive buttons in sequence and then hurry to do the machine sequence before the floppy timed out.
Something like "Shift+1 # Shift+3" or something...
I can't remember the exact sequence but could probably find out if any of this sounds familiar.
I remember it didn't always take the first time and I would get the same error you're talking about.
My machine was a 90H.
Had to be from somewhere around 1989.
Maybe older…
I believe the machine was one year older than the control or visa-versa...
 
Jay Cee,

No, the floppy on my machine is embedded into the front door....right where the tape would go. It looks totally like a factoy job. No buttons on it either. thanks.......
 
Just want to post an update. I wound up contacting Mitsubishi directly and paying a $1500 fee to go on their Platnium Service plan. They then sent PM's very own MitsTech who diagnosed the problem as either a FW01 board or a bad floppy drive. Thankfully it was the floppy ($495) and not the board (~3k with the core turned in).

So far my first experience with a machinery service dept has been positive. Mitsubishi has been very professional and helpful.

Now that the machine is running I need to learn how to run and program the thing. I'll be spending a lot of time with the manuals.
 
Wow I havn't been on the PM forum in a while!

Glad we got everything up and going for you, and it turned out to be the least expensive of the two parts!

Thank you for the kind words about Mitsubishi support, and you were a gracious host while I was in your shop.

How is the programing thing coming along?
 








 
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