Bridgeport CNC mill, retrofit with Acorn control board?
Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2018 8:32 pm
I am new to this forum. I have a Bridgeport Series 1 Boss 5 CNC with a defective control. It has already had all the boards in the card cage removed and replaced with an Ah-Ha-based control system that came from a company called Machine Master, back about 2000, and has worked extremely well ever since, until it finally quit. The control software is a variation of Artisan CNC. The retrofit that was put in used almost everything from the old control system, EXCEPT the logic boards, which were replaced by a 486 DX-2-66 computer with a hard drive, keyboard, and monitor. The original control panel and pendant arm were removed, the limit switch wiring was changed and the limit override was moved off the control panel to another location. Cycle start and hold switches were added in a separate box mounted on the front of the CNC below the motor start switch panel.
I came across an ad for the Acorn board in Digital Machinist and thought it looked simple and a quick-fix for my situation. However, I have a few questions.
1. Will the Acorn board run the ORIGINAL Bridgeport steppers? The stepper motors need about 75 volts to operate, which was created by the power transistor modules from the 56 volts supply, as I understand it.
2. Can I use (any of) the original 5, 12, 24, and 56 volt power supplies?
I don't need a lot of bells and whistles. I just want to control 3 axes with a computer program with as little hassle as possible. The motor is started manually. The brake is actuated pneumatically and tied in with the spindle switch. There is no need for spindle speed control, it is manually adjusted. Coolant is turned on and off with the spindle, or off completely with a switch on the cabinet.
I want to use as much of the original machine system as possible and keep the cost as low as possible.
I saw a thread about up-converting a Bridgeport mill, but that is essentially starting from scratch. Has anyone done the BOSS 5/6 retrofit with the Acorn board? What were you able to salvage/what did you have to replace?
Any information would be appreciated as this machine is important to my business and is used daily. Downtime is costing me production.
I came across an ad for the Acorn board in Digital Machinist and thought it looked simple and a quick-fix for my situation. However, I have a few questions.
1. Will the Acorn board run the ORIGINAL Bridgeport steppers? The stepper motors need about 75 volts to operate, which was created by the power transistor modules from the 56 volts supply, as I understand it.
2. Can I use (any of) the original 5, 12, 24, and 56 volt power supplies?
I don't need a lot of bells and whistles. I just want to control 3 axes with a computer program with as little hassle as possible. The motor is started manually. The brake is actuated pneumatically and tied in with the spindle switch. There is no need for spindle speed control, it is manually adjusted. Coolant is turned on and off with the spindle, or off completely with a switch on the cabinet.
I want to use as much of the original machine system as possible and keep the cost as low as possible.
I saw a thread about up-converting a Bridgeport mill, but that is essentially starting from scratch. Has anyone done the BOSS 5/6 retrofit with the Acorn board? What were you able to salvage/what did you have to replace?
Any information would be appreciated as this machine is important to my business and is used daily. Downtime is costing me production.