Hey Guys,
I have another question about a 1993 H400 with M32 controller. The machine has been sitting for a little while and the batteries died and the parameters were lost. The current owner had the 3.5 floppy disks but may not be able to find the external Mazak floppy drive. If I were able to transfer the floppy disks to a computer would I be able to use the computer to load the parameters? I believe that it should work but I am not sure if the external floppy drive has something the machine wants to see that the computer doesn't have.
Thanks guys!
The first question is what M32 control. The early ones (before the M32B's) had a floppy disk on the CNC chassis in the electrical cabinet. These drives turn 360 RPM and have 77 tracks. They are not readable on the normal 300 RPM drives with 80 tracks, that are on the PC. The contents of these disks must be read in the drive on the control as part of the initialize process. They cannot be read in the "Blue Box".
The other floppy disk is the "Blue Box" or CMT format. These are also not readable on a PC because the track spacing is not standard, nor are they readable in the drive of the M32A's.
The last issue is the file format used on either disk type.
Griffo and probably others, that make file transfer software, are able to read a Microdisk (CMT format) in the "Blue Box" then allow the contents to be stored on the computer and be uploaded as needed. Once the control has been initialized and is ready for parameters to be loaded then the transfer can be done.
Due to the complexity of the above, it may make sense to hand enter from a paper copy after initializing the control. Many times, the copy of parameters made by the previous owner don't work because only a partial set was saved, or had been overwritten.
You need to know what vintage the control is because the initialize process has several variations depending on the actual CPU card in the system. Mitsubishi is at 1-847-478-2500 select the option for tech support. They are very helpful.
Get the battery issue resolved first, check out the top dozen active threads in this forum, I posted good info on replacement battery alternatives. Ignore anyone that says batterys must be changed with power on! The M32A has 2 batteries, one in the CNC chassis, the other elsewhere in the electrical cabinet. All other newer than the "A" should only have the one in the CNC chassis. These are all the rechargeable type battery.
Final tidbit: If there is a program lock key switch, it must be in the unlock position to be able to properly complete the process of bringing it back to life. None of the procedures from Mazak or Mitsubishi state this. Most of the newer tech's don't know this problem exists, and don't have a clue why you can't do an all erase when needed. One customer sent the entire CNC chassis back for repair, only to have the same problem still.
This can be quite a task for someone not familiar with Mazak's. There is a wealth of knowledge on this forum. I will be away for a couple of weeks. Pay careful attention to the ones that hit the like for this post. Some have been through this kind of problem before, and offer great advise. Others can be quite misleading.
Bill
