Kudos to the help line!

[sandcrab123]

I've been working on my conversion of a Fanuc 10M to Allinone controller for the past several months. It's been a very frustrating experience at times with issues surfacing with both Ajax software and my own personal lack of CNC knowledge. I am quite well versed in the electrical dept. but I am a rank beginner on the CNC side. My biggest frustration has been getting prompt replies to my inquiries both on the Ajax Forum and on the phone. Most of the time I just slugged away at it, and was able to find a solution to the problem, or hounded Scott and the help line until they solved my issues.

A few weeks ago I was at a crossroads with a few problems I could not resolve. After a few weeks of lost sleep and stewing about it, I reluctantly called the help line and spoke to one of the tech's who promptly asked me for a credit card number for a one dollar a minute charge. My first reaction was to reach through the phone and choke someone, but I resisted the temptation and gave up my CC number. I then stated my problems and was transferred to Scott who initially sold me the conversion kit. Scott was able to take remote control of my computer (I have a separate card installed for my LAN) and together we resolved most of my issues in one hour. Total cost $60.00.

The point of my post, is that this is probably the best investment I've made since I bought the conversion kit. I wish I had done it weeks earlier as I now have a functioning machine. I'm not at 100% yet as we were not able to get Mach3 to communicate with my spindle. Scott and I came to the conclusion that it is probably a problem with a parameter setting in the Hitachi SJ200 inverter. (I have the proper 0-10V at the inverter and I can get the inverter to work from the inverter).

I am convinced that I made the right decision in buying the Allinone as it handles my Fanuc brushed servos and encoders very nicely. As I get more familiar with the software and resolve the inverter issues, I think I'll have a great mill capable of producing some revenue in my shop. I also want to add that the CNC11 software is very intuitive and a friend of mine who saw it in operation felt the same way. I will certainly be investigating its potential when my machine is complete.

I will post some pictures and photo's as time permits.

Thanks for your help Scott.

Dan Benoit

[Centroid_Liviu]

I am glad Scott was able to help you resolve most of your issues. I can understand your frustration with not being able to get your machine up and running as quickly as expected, while most problems can usually be resolved though a few emails others end up being more complex. The technical support help line along with its ability to remotely control and diagnose your machine is the next best thing to having someone come on-site (and a lot cheaper). Good luck with the rest of retrofit and we look forward to seeing the photos!