Gerber system 48

[martin54]

Anyone got any technical info on this machine or the AR400 please, just picked up a non working machine that was fitted with an AR400 motherboard & contriller, have contacted Spandex who use to sell & maintain the machines but no help from them so hoping someone else might have some service documentation.
Any info on stripping it & fitting modern electronics would also be appreciated as that's another option.

[GEOFFREY]

Hi Martin,I looked into buying an ar 400 (newer version of the system 48, but more or less the same. I am afraid that I dont know much about them (perske spindle I seem to remember). I have an old who still has a couple for sale and will contact him to see if he has any documentation. These were intended for the sign making industry and were quite revolutionary at that time. Rumour has it that the fisrst dozen customers all became milionaires!!

I will contact later if I can re-establish contact.The control system, hardware and software is quite old now, so you might do better to moderise it anyway.


From what I remember the machine that I looked at really seemed to be mechanically fairly straight forward any, with the X & Y axis' being belt driven. Regards,G.

[martin54]

Would appreciate that thanks Geofrey, it is fitted with the ar400 motherboard so any info on that would be helpful. Spandex were about as useful as a chocolate fire guard which surprised me, thought they would have some old service documents knocking about as there are still quite a few of these machines in use. If I can get it going without the expense of converting it I would rather do that if I can, it has an electrical fault of some description but trying to fault find without a schematic is way over my head.
The control system & software is quite old but that doesn't really bother me as long as I can use it to do what I want. The software & dongle was supplied with it & I already have an old computer that I use for some other old software that still does everything I need it to so have never upgraded.

[GEOFFREY]

Have spoken to Allan, and he said that next time he visits his workshop he will look to see if he has any paperwork. He does bot visit the WS that often as he has had to take a day job to keep the wolves from the door. Will let you know the outcome, G

[martin54]

Thanks for asking Geofrey, I'm not in a huge rush to try & get it up & running, there must be someone out there who has service/repair documentation for them, can't believe it has all been filed away in the bin even if they are an old machine.
From what I have been led to believe the motors are all good so if I can't sort it then the next thing will be to see what up to date electronics would best suit it.
Will keep me out of trouble for a while trying to sort it anyway.

[GEOFFREY]

When speaking to Allen he mentioned that several have been converted to mac 3. He said that the mechanics were very reliable, but the electrics became a bit unreliable with age. The software was designed specifically for signs and is not too user friendly for general engineering work. will be in contact when I hear back.

Regards,G.

[martin54]

When speaking to Allen he mentioned that several have been converted to mac 3. He said that the mechanics were very reliable, but the electrics became a bit unreliable with age. The software was designed specifically for signs and is not too user friendly for general engineering work. will be in contact when I hear back.

Regards,G.

I am a signmaker Geofrey lol. The machine I was looking to build & run using mach3 would have had all the design work done using signmaking software as I already have it & am familiar with it, never used the gerber software though & hate having to learn to use new software so that would be one tick in the convert it box lol.

Just didn't want to spend a lot of money converting it if I didn't have to, the fault seems to be on the controller board associated with the x axis. The z axis & Y axis seem to work ok from the buttons on the control panel but the gantry won't move backwards or forwards unless you give it a push to get it started, plus when the machine is switched on you can still move the gantry by hand which you shouldn't be able to do.
swapped the leads around for the X & Y axis & the fault shifts to the Y axis so it's not a problem with the motors. It must be getting some power as if you give it a push start the motor will continue to move it but you can stop it very easily by hand.

[JAZZCNC]

Save your self some hassle.!!!. . . . Rip it's guts out replace with modern drive's with more power.

[martin54]

Sounds like a plan Jazz but that would probably involve me not eating for a few weeks so I could afford the bits lol.

[stuboy]

I might be able to help here, I have a system 48 that i have totally rebuilt with new electronics and motors, I can run reliably at 5.2m/minute now with a baby Kress1050 spindle, next step a Chinese 2.2 or 3 KW spindle unless i can get a an alternative!
Drop me a line if you need any help or advise

Cheers
Stuart