For those of you who have been there/done that Re: buying a pre-owned 2006 PTRalpha..

[guitarwes]

Hello all, newbie shopbotter here with some questions. Thanks in advance for any input you can provide.
I am purchasing a 1-owner 2006 PRTalpha 48x96 3HP Spindle with no upgraded software or parts. It is running the PartWizard v2 and 3.24.x on Windows XP. The entire machine has less than 100 hours on it.
Questions:
1) What are my immediate limitations and challenges that you, as someone who has bought a similar machine, run into with running this or upgrading parts/software/etc?
2) Very intermittently, the old owner said the spindle will just stop moving in the middle of a run. He said once when he was hooking power up to the machine that he heard some kind of a "pop" near the control box. Everything seems to run fine when it's running, and it doesn't do it every run or every other run, it is very sporadic. From what I have read on the forums, could this be a going bad contactor in the control box?
3) I'm sure I will be limited by the old software as to what I can do. Are the upgraded software options compatible with this computer/control box boards?

I'm very excited to become a contributing member here and hopefully help a newbie out one day when I learn a bunch from you guys and gals. I've enjoyed all of my thread reading so far.

[knight_toolworks]

mine is a 2006 and it does lock up once in awhile not sure if it is hardware or software or the computer. not really anything to upgrade performance wise but rails. with only 100 hours n it thats not a issue. better software is about it. you can't go too far in the shopbot software versions as they stop supporting that machine. as speed control for the spindle is one of the good upgrades. but I would worry about the spindle stopping.

[guitarwes]

Thanks for the reply. The original owner never grounded the machine so maybe (hopefully) that was the problem with the glitch with the spindle.

What software are you running now?

[Chuck Keysor]

Hello Wes. I have an old PRT alpha, which I purchased used from its second owner. I didn't have any problems with the set-up and alignment, other than the basic fact that I had no idea of what I was doing. But I followed the directions/manual, and posted questions here on the forum.

As to your spindle stopping........ I have had "Com Errors" from day one, which will stop everything dead in its tracks. But I would assume the operator would have noticed that message on the screen. Many people have posted questions on that issue for years. I have done everything that has been recommended, with no success, except for getting a new PC. I am running the Windows XP machine that came with my Bot. (Even today, I cut 6 small wooden blocks, that each took only 8 minutes. But I had 3 "Com Errors". As noted, I was cutting wood, and it is cool and DAMP in my basement. Sometimes I can cut for a few hours without problems, other times, like today,,,,,, sheesh.......) My point in mentioning that is not so much as to complain, but to let you know that at the recent Chicago Camp Shopbot, we were told that there would be a new board maybe next year, that would be an upgrade, which would fundamentally eliminate the "Com Error" problem. So buy that as soon as you can!

Good luck, Chuck

[chiloquinruss]

Comm errors on an older machine could also be faulty USB cables in addition to the lack of proper grounding. I use the shielded kind as the older ones were less than perfect. I also have grounded everything I can figure out how to ground! :D When I built my shop I put in purpose built ground rods that I am wired to. I have also grounded inside my dust collection hose. There are many posts on here about what needs to be grounded. Seems that once you get a good solid ground most or all of these misc errors disappear, USB, comm, intermittent stopping, etc. One more thing is that I am in what is called high mountain desert and when the humidity gets really low the static charge build up gives some concerns. However once I found all the grounding issues, even that went away.

On a separate note if you are new to CNC don't worry about the software right now. Fire the machine up and do a lot of test cuts and see what the machine does. Try the same cut file on different materials to see and LISTEN to what the machine tells you. If the bit is screaming you are burning the bit and the material. Make chips not DUST.
Most of all welcome to the club and have fun! Russ

[bleeth]

So last week or so I'm doing some parts for a couple things requiring bit changes. After standing back up from one of the changes I get the feeling that something dropped into my hair (or what little is left of it). Brush my head and there's nothing there. Repeats over the next hour or so til I realize what is happening is every time I stand up from a bit change my head is coming close, but not touching, my DC hose.
A Hair Raising experience.
And believe me, my mill is completely and properly grounded.
If it would raise hair on the part of my head that has lost it I would patent the process!!

I actually have had no comm losses while running for years and years. I do get Z-zeroing faults on occasion but can usually figure out what it is, like trying to zero a bit on a finished part and the ground loops because the finish is conducting. None of this is gremlins. Whenever it happens it is due to a mechano/electrical issue. Of course, as a bunch of carpenters, signmakers, or whatever, this is not exactly our field of expertise. But it has to become one, unless we want to bring in an "expert" when we have these kinds of issues. Of course, if we were willing and/or able to drop that kind of bucks on a regular basis or wanted to ensure we didn't have those kinds of issues we would have a much more expensive mill.

If Ted's guys come up with a new card to straighten all that out finally they may just have to hire a night crew to get them produced fast enough to meet pent up demand.

[guitarwes]

Has anyone that has purchased an older system had any problems updating their software to the latest and greatest programs and it running properly? Aspire, VCarve Pro, 3D software, etc?

[knight_toolworks]

the software is a choice of what your needs are not the machine. aspire works fine with the 2006 machine but you have to decide what you need in the way of software. are you going to do 3d or only 2d?

[myxpykalix]

I have a 2006 PRTAlpha and i am probably a version or two behind in updates on control software running it on a laptop i bought in 2006 running windows XP and although i don't run my bot everyday i have no problems. I bet i haven't called Shopbot in at least 5 years. Does Scott(?) still work there?

[guitarwes]

The last 2 posts are encouraging. Going to start out doing mostly 2D cutouts until we get familiar with everything then purchase some newer software and bridge in to some 3D for custom work.

Appreciate all of your responses.

[myxpykalix]

No need to buy 3d software right off just to do 3d carving. Go here:
https://www.vectorart3d.com/machinist_free/
download "Vectorart 3d machinist" free and there are a few free 3d files also download and you could be doing some carving in 10 minutes!!!