The 1972 Mazda Rx2.Time to get going

CCU unit couriered up to Graham at Cnc control services. Arrived late Friday afternoon. Sunday afternoon I get a photo

And another photo

He managed to get the necessary information off the old unit,and,with a backup I had,install it onto a good secondhand CCU he has agreed to sell me with a warranty. 😀. That’s what I call first rate service. He has also agreed to help me telephonically with setting it up again, apparently the toolchanger settings often need tweaking. So all connected up as per the photo I had taken before stripping it out. Switched on and....

Hangs exactly where it did before. ☹️ Except I am now £4200 poorer ☹️☹️☹️( The CCU is displaying a 6 though, which means it’s happy. It was displaying an 8 before which indicates grumpy Strawberry Tart mode active 😂) Telephonic advice. Swop this cable to there...

A bit of progress. More error codes. More telephonic advice. Do this do that. Switch machine off and restart.

Abit of background about me. I am a fairly big bloke,over 6’2 tall but am a TB sufferer. Nope ,not the coughy coughy death is imminent strain of TB.... Attributed to some snail that very kindly gave me Bilharzia as a kid whilst I was swimming in a dam. It can have long lasting effects on your urinary system. So TB... Tiny Bladder. Spelt out ,I take great pleasure in peeing a lot. And often ...🤣🤣. Anyway, by this stage I was busting for a Pee, so switched the machine off and back on again, and walked up to the toilets at the top of the industrial estate, whilst it rebooted itself. 

Came back to a Unit full of grey.😳. Smoke billowing out the top and this error code on the screen. 

Jesus , Christine,you are turning out to be a very needful thing......😡😡😡

I’m not an expert by any means but I think that smoke is a bad sign...

Not sure...

Got a ladder and climbed up to the top. Took the cover off. There is a fan at the top that was pretty much glowing red hot. Removed that. Hand down into the enclosure ,and felt the top of the spindle motor. Ice cold. Which is good 😊. Back on the phone to my tame Siemens Technician. Seems that these fans seize. If the plc doesn’t see it as running, it faults out to protect the spindle drive and motor. Phew. The thought of another £10k disappearing out my wallet diminished 🤣🤣. Unsiezed the fan, again, zero maintenance and clogged solid. Switched the machine back on and......

On the plus side JB , once you have beaten the dirt/neglect/gremlins out of it you should have a good machine.

Fortunate you found someone to sort the lectroniks ... even if you did get a bit pocket-raped. Is this deemed a museum piece now in machine terms?

Even more of a result then.

Removed the tool changer cover. Paintwork definitely lets the machine down.



Mr Pernikity agrees


Again, lack of cleaning has lead to issues. A lot of stripping and cleaning needed

Many hours later it was all apart, just because of one broken screw....

All the fingers and extractors removed

Two broken fingers caused by trying to load the wrong type tools. This carousel is designed for Bt40 toolholders

Everything was absolutely mingeing

All stripped down, a lot of cleaning ahead