LT70DCS Control Cable Issues

[stavebuyer]

My sawyer broke a connector pin connecting the DCS joysticks remote the first thing Monday. The connector cable and fittings are similar to a printer or tv cable in diameter and I don't care how cautious you are they really are not suited for repeated connecting /disconnecting. The fittings are proprietary and can only be sourced through Wood-Mizer. I ordered the fitting I needed and spares for the whole system for just over $300. I was told they were in stock but when the Fed-X package arrived this afternoon the end that I needed was back-orded. The mill is unusable as is. The way its wired; the only option I see after spending a couple hours tracing wires that are color coded differently in the cable and control box is to cut the end off a $139 cable and try to splice it to by-pass the fitting thats broken and on back-order. Two of the wires are shielded separately in foil so not sure how well that will work either. Electrical repairs to date have amounted to roughly $8 per machine hour( in parts and not counting the work days lost) on a mill with 250 hours.

[ladylake]

Bad luck, I like hydrauluics.   Steve

[stavebuyer]

An update. First I was able to "McGyver" a cable and bypass the broken connector fitting. We got the mill up and running this morning. Unfortunately I had to cut the end off a new $139 cable to do it. I think the cable connections are poorly designed for a portable mill ;otherwise I love my mill and would buy it again . I called Wood-Mizer this AM and explained the situation I was in. They did everything possible to assist including researching and emailing me the original engineering drawing and followed up with a phone call letting me know the back-ordered connector shipped out this afternoon.

As a side note; their documentation shows the wires should  be color coded to match. The cables I have do not match the inside wires of my DCS control. For anyone finding themselve needing to fabricate a connection:

The bare silver wire is a ground and grounds through the connector. Since my connector was the issue I was trying to work around I made a jumper wire and connected it directly to the ground post inside the DCS box. I used a multi-meter to match the different colored plastic coated wires of the remaining five wires by using the plastic alignment pin/notch as a reference point and checked for continuity on each wire through the broken connector. Even though the colors didnt match the postion in relation to the alignment notch does. The wire colors I have do not match what is supposed to be there so I won't post how I matched them as yours are supposed to be different.

[Kansas]

Most of our wires in the track are McGuyvered. We have wired around most everything. When the Accuset went out here a few weeks back, we went to hook up the wires. None of the colors matched. They tried it raising the head and it promptly went straight up to the top. Then they hit the down button, and it promptly dropped to the bed. There was no control. I suspect its because ours is an all electric; we may have gotten directions for a DC model. In any case, its going now. For once, we had all three mills running at the same time today, plus the resaw at one point.

[Bibbyman]

I'm fortunate to live in a simple world. 

We did cut the cable to the Accuset when a board came back out of bounds and bashed into the back of the Command Control box.  I ordered a new one but was able to reconnect the cut cable to get back sawing.

[sawmillhand]

stavebuyer

Sorry for the down time thats never fun. Offshore we use alot of cannon plugs they work really well some have little guides that line up before you plug them in. might be something to think about if you move the joy sticks around  alot.       https://forestryforum.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=4143  tried to post a picture but not very good at that

[sawmillhand]

    there we go

[stavebuyer]

Thanks for posting the pic of what an industrial cable connection should look like. The "neighborhood" where the mill sits is not the best and I prefer not to leave the detached control box out where it might be vandalized or stolen so we connect the cables daily. I probably will modify the cable I cut with connectors similar to those. The small diameter cable is just about tough enough to skid logs with but the ends are very delicate.

[Magic Smoke]

stavebuyer,
Are you talking about the cable/receptacle on the back of the control box? If so, was the key-way and/or pin(s) broken off?

[hackberry jake]

Most the time I want more bells an whistles. Times like this I'm glad I don't have that many

[Celeriac]

   there we go

Those look pretty similar to some Amphenol connectors. T&B makes some nice pin type connecting systems too. As mentioned you would think that a sawmill would have a more durable connection system.

Out of curiosity, how many wires are there in these control connections?

[stavebuyer]

stavebuyer,
Are you talking about the cable/receptacle on the back of the control box? If so, was the key-way and/or pin(s) broken off?

Magic Smoke,

Two of the 5 pins were broken inside the receptacle on the back of the control box. They were broken/cracked for a while as I was getting intermittent communication errors last week and the ends of the broken pins were somewhat discolored. The keyway was not broken but may have been rounded on the corners. I kept the fitting and will check in the morning.

[stavebuyer]

   there we go

Those look pretty similar to some Amphenol connectors. T&B makes some nice pin type connecting systems too. As mentioned you would think that a sawmill would have a more durable connection system.

Out of curiosity, how many wires are there in these control connections?

Celeriac,
There are 5 small(12-14 gauge) plastic coated wires and a bare ground wire inside a weatherproof cable that connects the remote control joysticks to the sawmill chasis.

[Magic Smoke]

Stavebuyer,
The connector that WM uses on the back of the DCS control box is the same type that is used on the back of the Accuset II boxes. They are not computer or printer connectors, they are M12 industrial connectors used in thousands of different applications (they're not proprietary) and should offer adequate service life providing they are not abused (albeit unintentionally). With gold terminals installed, they should also provide a reasonable amount of mating cycles.
The damage you described may indicate someone/something unintentionally yanked the cable laterally from its installed position, rotating the connector, rounding and/or shearing the key way off and subsequently breaking the pins off.
Because the cable on the back of the DCS control box does lay on the ground, reasonable care should be taken to secure the cable from damage. If you move the control box daily, just wrapping the cable around the stand a couple of times should provide enough strain-relief for the connector and could possibly prevent a future break down.

[stavebuyer]

Stavebuyer,
The connector that WM uses on the back of the DCS control box is the same type that is used on the back of the Accuset II boxes. They are not computer or printer connectors, they are M12 industrial connectors used in thousands of different applications (they're not proprietary) and should offer adequate service life providing they are not abused (albeit unintentionally). With gold terminals installed, they should also provide a reasonable amount of mating cycles.
The damage you described may indicate someone/something unintentionally yanked the cable laterally from its installed position, rotating the connector, rounding and/or shearing the key way off and subsequently breaking the pins off.
Because the cable on the back of the DCS control box does lay on the ground, reasonable care should be taken to secure the cable from damage. If you move the control box daily, just wrapping the cable around the stand a couple of times should provide enough strain-relief for the connector and could possibly prevent a future break down.

Whatever. It was a WM tech support rep that told me they were proprietary. Evidently not everyone in Indy got the memo. I am no expert on which applications M12 connectors are desgned for but I will tell you the mill is currently sitting on the log yard of one of larger sawmill operations in the state and the universal opinion from a number of people who make their living running sawmill equipment is the connector is "too delicate". My experience is that any equipment used to process or handle logs and lumber needs to be over-designed by factor of about "adequate x3" to stand up. Adjectives and qualifiers like "adequate" "reasonable" or protected from "abuse" just tells me they have no place on the externals of a sawmill. Inside a cabinet and occasionally disconnected I am sure they would be fine.

The handheld computer I scale logs with has a cable that connects it to the printer. It's going on 7 years old. I use reasonable care but its been dropped getting out of the truck, slipped out of my hand, fallen of logs etc. It's connected/disconnected multiple times a day. Still using the orginal cable. That connector is not an M12. It's  external "steel" alignment casings will only connect one way(modified rectangle) and the pins are recessed so they can't be damaged. You could literally pull the cable apart before you would put any pressure on the connection.  It's designed in such a way that the conector pins are perfectly aligned before they connect. The biggest problem with the M12 is the round design with single alignment notch. The single plastic alignment notch allows for the pins to be misaligned while starting the threads thereby breaking them off as you tighten the connection if the alignment is incorrect. There is no external reference to know if its correctly aligned; you have to feel it. It's a poor choice for the application unless your in the business of selling parts....

[Magic Smoke]

Geez! 
I didn't say the M12 type connector was the best connector in the world. I simply said it should be adequate. From your description, it sounded like something caught the cable and broke the connector. I was just trying to suggest a simple way of preventing another breakdown. Never mind.