Newall Readout

I have a Newall readout on my lathe that has worked fine for many years. Using it today and the function buttons have become unresponsive. The axis will not zero or let me input numbers. I have tried powering down and leaving it for a while. Any ideas from the collective ? It is the spherosyn reader type but the fault must be on the display console ?

Which version and how old? The eeprom in the old Digipac series eventually looses its content. Not all at once but slowly which will cause such effects. Not totally surprising as they must be around 40 years old. Far as I know fixing is now impossible as chips can't be got and Newall never divulged the contents. I eventually managed to get one done about ten years back but it was a struggle then. Later ones Topaz et al are said to suffer membrane keypad problems, some folks say they are not good for more than 10 to 20 years use.

Always worth scrubbing connectors and checking wiring loom.

Heads and bars seem to last nearly forever so you are probably in for a new console. Either Newall, or there is amore affordable alternative from one of other suppliers who do a conversion box to drive the spherosyn and put out common quadrature pulses.

Clive

Thanks for the reply Clive, I will clean up all the connections and give it a try. Funny thing is it was working perfectly then all buttons seemed to stop working. Any ideas on supplier for a compatable head ? When I was working we mainly had Anilam and I got to know the local agent but he most likely retired before I did.

EMS (International) do a version of their EL400 readout with conversion inputs to use Newall scales. Up to 4 axis on mill. Don't know about price.

**LINK**

Clive.

Just bought one from EMS-I for a Newall Microsyn setup for £302. If your encoders are fitted with round plug connectors rather than D type, it'll cost you £18.50 per axis for converters. Very happy with mine.

Thanks for the links and recommendation, I contacted one of the Ebay sellers re adaptors to suit the console he sells but he does not do them, he did offer to see if my unit is repairable. EMS are in Leicester so not to far from me at around 40 miles. It seems like a good solution although a Chinese import kit costs less the hassle of fitting comes into it and would not give the coolant proof scales like the Newall. I have also seen a repairer in Sutton Coldfield about 15 miles from me so maybe worth a call.