Strippit Houdaille
HECC80/3 Bubble Memory Controls
D.C. Power Supply
Adjustments & Preventive Measures
This page was last updated: February 17, 2008
Above is a FC1000/3 Servo & Control Cabinet Installation Diagram, From a
Strippit Serviceman's News Letter I Published at Strippit Co. in the Early 1980's.
2 --- Make sure a 8 foot Ground Rod is Installed & Attached Tightly to the Machine's
Ground-Strap!
3 --- Check the Internal Control A.C. Voltage. This is Very Important!!!
It should be about 115 to 125 V.A.C., if it is Higher or Lower, have a Good
Technician Change the Transformer-Taps (in the Servo Cabinet) to Fix it!
The Purchasing Dept. at Strippit bought some Transformers (To Save Money?) that Did Not have the Standard Plus & Minus Taps that we use to Correct High or Low Voltages.
Some Used Machines that I have worked-on were Installed where the Incoming A.C. Voltage was Only 208 (Not the 230VAC Machine was Wired for) and the Control A.C. Voltage was only 101 Volts A.C., Way Too Low! And the Transformer Did Not have the Voltage Adjustment Taps to Fix the Low Voltage.
Customers Reported that Machine Always had Odd Intermittent Control Problems.
We Changed the Step-Down Transformer in the Control for a New Transformer with the Proper Taps for their Voltage. This gave us the Correct 120 Volts A.C. Control Voltage, and the Intermittent Control Problems All Went Away.
4 --- Locate All Welding Machines Far From All CNC Machines!
Especially Hi-Frequency TIG-Welders! They Make All Kinds of Electrical-Noise That Causes Intermittent Control Problems
and Random Electronic Failures. Keep Them Far From Your Strippit Machines!
Installing a 8 foot Ground Rod on EVERY Welding Machine also sometimes helps.
5 --- Arcing CRT-Monitors Displays, and Crashing the NO-Punch Zone Sensor can disrupt
the 12 volts to Bubble Board, and cause Problems. We sometimes Modify Control
Wiring and add a second 12 volt Power Supply for these Functions, but this is tricky
work to be done by a very Experienced Technician, or you risk Damaging Control.
We also sometime Add the "CRT Isolator Board" Underneath the CRT-Cage to
Isolate Arcing Electrical Interference from the Control Cardcage.
More information on this can be seen on "HECC80/30x Boards Types".
6 --- Do Not allow Too-Many Old Part-Programs to Accumulate in Memory!
Delete Old Programs to keep Total to 40 or so, and always under 60.
You can Clear Them ALL Out using DELETE *.*
7--- Make sure Program-Names are Always in Capital-Letters, or the Control will
make Nonsense-Files out of them, which are very Difficult to Remove.
8 --- The Front Panel Controller Board is in Slot #7, and has Ribbon-Cables going to it's
2 Connectors. The Inside Ribbon-Cable Rubs against the Sharp Backside of the
Bubble Board in Slot #6, and sometimes can Short-Circuit to it,
and Damaging Both Boards!
Take a Roll of Black Electrical Tape, and Carefully Tape Around this Cable, Starting
at the Inside-Connector, and going Back about 4 Inches on the Cable to protect it
from the Sharp Pins on the Back of Bubble Board.
10 -- Machine Technologies has Modifications that help Bubble Board Reliability.
Send your Board-In, and we can do these Changes in Only 1 to 2 days!
11 -- I sometime fit a In-Line Fuse-Holder with a 1.0 Amp. Fast-Blow Fuse to Feed the
12VDC to 3LTB and 4LTB which Powers some of the Machine Switches. This way,
if you "Crash" a No-Punch Zone Sensor, you will Blow the Fuse, and Protect Both
the Power Supply and the Bubble Board from Failures. This work needs to be done
by a Good Technician as there are some wiring variations from Machine to Machine.
12 -- Sometimes the LH Power Supply will Completely Fail, Control Shuts-Off , and has
a "Red-LED Fault Light ON" on the Monitor Board.
Usually the 12 VDC section goes Bad, but there are other Failure Modes.
Other times, the Supplies will just "Drift" and Not Stay at the Set-Voltage.
This will also cause Intermittent Problems, and "Drifting" Supplies Must Be
Replaced! New LH Supplies are No longer Available, as the LH Company No
longer Exists. However, We Do Keep Rebuilt LH Power Supplies In-Stock!
The LH Power Supply
1 -- Shut-Off the A.C. Power to Machine and Lock-Out the A.C. Power so it Can Not
be Accidentally Turned-On while You are Working on Control & Machine!
2 -- This Step is Optional, But will Improve the Voltages to Bubble Board, and There Fore the Boards Reliability. This Step can Only be Done by a Good Technician that Knows What He's Doing, or Much Control Damage Can Result From Wire Errors.
I Often see Intermittent Voltage Problems caused by the Crimped-On Spade Connectors on the 4 Heavy-Gage Wires going from the LH Power Supply to the FTB2 and TB1 Terrminal-Strips. These Crimped Connections have a Varying-Resistance that Causes Intermittent Voltage-Drops which can Cause Bubble Board and other Control Problems. To Fix, Remove the following 4 Wires:
LH Supply 4 (or 5) 5 VDC-Return to FTB2-4
FTB2-4 5 VDC-Return to TB1-3
LH Supply 6 (or 7) 5VDC to FTB2-3
FTB2-3 5VDC to TB1-1
Cut-Off the Plastic Coverings around the Spade-Terminals at Each Wire-End.
Using a Hi-Wattage Solder Iron, Solder the Crimped Terminals at Each Wire-End.
Then Flat-File and Sandpaper Each Terminal until they are Flat & Clean.
Reinstall Wires.
Double-Check Wire & Terminal Positions, and that All Terminal Screws are Very Tight!
3 -- Pull-Up a Chair, and Tighten ALL the Screws & Terminals in Both
The Control and The Servo Cabinets,
which Fixes a Lot of Intermittent Control & Servo Problems!
Do This Before Making Any Power Supply Adjustments!!!
4 -- Use Only a High Quality Digital Voltmeter!
If it does not give Accurate Readings, it may cause more Problems than you fix!
I only use the FLUKE (Model 87) Brand of Meters as they are the Best.
5 -- Use a Plastic Tuning Wand or a Insulated-Screwdriver to lessen chance of Shocks.
6 -- Use Test Leads with Micro-Clips on the Ends, so you can Clip-On to the
Test-Points, and have your Hands-Free to Safely make the Adjustments.
7 -- Turn-On A.C. Power and Machine Control, and let it Warm-Up for a few minutes.
8 -- These Voltage Adjustments are made with
Both your Meter Leads on the Test-Points ONLY On The Bubble Board Itself!
No Other Places!
9 -- Set your Meter for D.C. Volts, and Clip the Black-Lead on the GND. Test-Point.
Above it should be the 5V Test-Point, Clip your Red-Lead on it.
10 -- Most Controls have the LH Power Supply.
Early FC1000/3 Machines had Deltron Power Supplies, But Deltrons were
Discontinued as they were Not as Rugged as the LH Power Supplies.
Most Deltron's were Removed in the Field, and Replaced with LH Supplies.
On the LH Power Supply, using the V1 (R26) Pot.,
Set the 5 Volt Supply to 5.080 to 5.100 Volts.
11 -- Move the Red-Lead to the 12V Test-Point to Set the 12 Volts.
Some early Bubble Boards did Not have this Test Point, so you may have to
Clip-On to the Bottom of Capacitor C30 or other convenient place on the
Bubble Board, to Monitor the 12 volts.
12 -- On the LH Power Supply,
using the V3 Pot. (R41), Set the 12 Volt Supply to 12.200 to 12.300 Volts.
13 -- Do Not Adjust any other Pots on the Power Supply!
14 -- Go back in 10 Minutes or so, and Recheck these 2 Voltages to make sure that
they have not "Drifted", and to be Sure you Set Voltages Correctly!
This is Very Important!
CAUTION !!!
There is 120 Volt A.C. Voltage On and Near the Power Supply,
and Also Hi-Voltage 200 Volts D.C. Inside the Power Supply!
Use Extreme Caution, or You Can Shock, Injure, or Kill Yourself!
As You will be Dead A Very Long Time,
Try Very Hard To Avoid This!
Mistakes Could Also Damage Power Supply and Other Parts of Control!
Have an Experienced Electronics Technician Make the Adjustments!
The Strippit HECC80/30x Controls use a Bubble Memory Board for Both System &
Part-Program Storage. The HECC80/30x Controls are Actually Primitive P.C. Computers Running under the Old CP/M Disk Operating System, and the Bubble Memory
Board Acts as a 256K (Not Meg!) Solid-State Hard-Drive for this System.
These Boards are Very Voltage Sensitive When Actually Accessing Data from the Bubble Memory Modules. It is Believed that Most Problems are Actually Caused by
Bad Power (Surges, Sages, Spikes, and Electrical-Noise in the A.C. Power to Machine)
or Improperly Set Machine A.C. and Control D.C. Power Supply Voltages.
If these Voltages Fluctuate or are Not Set Correctly, the Boards may Work Intermittently, or Not at all, causing Loss of Memory, and the
Various #DFxx Bubble Memory Failure Errors.
Using the CNC Control with Bad A.C. Power or Improperly Set 5 & 12 Volts Power Supplies can Even Damage the Bubble Chips on the Bubble Memory Board, Necessitating Expensive Replacement of the Bubble Chips or the Bubble Board. Check A.C and D.C. Voltages Regularly!
The Deltron Power Supply
Machine Technologies
Strippit Repair Parts & Strippit Service
Phone 704-233-5229
Other Items to Consider for
Bubble Board & Control Reliability;
1 --- Most Used FC1000/3 Machines are Installed Incorrectly!
On Both the Control & Servo Cabinets,
--- Each Cabinet is Jacked-Up Slightly using its 4 Leveling-Feet.
--- the 4 Bolts at Bottom of Machine Frame (under Each Cabinet) are Removed,
--- the 2 Bolts at Inside-Top of Each Cabinet are Removed
--- the 2 Bolts at Inside- Bottom of Each Cabinet are Removed
--- Bolts at Cross-Bar Between the 2 Cabinets (under the back Sheetmetal Covers)
of Machine are Removed,
When this is done Correctly, the 2 Electronics Cabinets are Isolated from the
Shock & Vibration of Punching because they are "Floating Free" on Rubber
Barry-Mounts Away from the Machine Frame.
Failure to Install Correctly Machine & Cabinets will lead to Many Control
Hard-Failures, as well as Intermittent Control & Servo Failures.
Remember to Reinstall All Cabinet Bolts,
and Jack-Up Cabinet-Feet when Moving or Shipping Machine,
or
the Control & Servo Cabinets Can (and Will!)
Fall-Off of the Machine Frame!
NOTE !
When Replacing a Power Supply, You have No Idea How the Voltages are Set-Up!
So, Before Turning-On Control, I Pull the Bubble Board Out of Slot #6,
and Test the 5 and 12 Volt Supplies with the Bubble Board Out of the Cardcage,
so it can Not be Damaged if the Voltages are Wrong.
Clip-On your Voltmeter Leads to the CRT Controller Board in Slot #8.
Test Point TP6 for Ground, and TP5 for 5 Volts, and Set Voltage as Listed Above.
Repeat with TP4 for 12 Volts to TP6 Ground.
When Voltages are Set Correctly,
Turn-Off Control, Reinstall the Bubble Board, and
Reset the Voltages Again on the Bubble Board as Listed in Above Steps.
Note! As New L.H. Power Supplies are No Longer Available,
We Keep Rebuilt L.H. Power Supplies In-Stock.
We also have Brand New Replacement Power Supplies In-Stock,
But these usually take a Service Call to Install.
And to Improve Reliability,
we also sometimes Retrofit 2 more 12 Volt Power Supplies to Control.
This way, the CRT-Monitor has it's Own Supply,
the Machine and It's Switches have their Own Supply,
and the Bubble Memory Board gets It's 12 Volts from the Main L.H. Power Supply
with No Interference from any CRT-Arcing or Machine Switch Crashes.
