Age of CMM / Serial #

[[Jo...]]

Is there a way to find the mfg date of Zeiss CMM's through their serial #? I have the below. I'm assuming the first digits would be year possibly with the Prismo being 1998? - Thanks

Centermax #124734

Prismo #98691

[[Je...]]

Based on those serial numbers alone, no there is not.

Without digging into machine specific documentation, based on some limited information I have access to:
Centermax data shows 2004-Jul-22
Prismo appears to be ~2003 but I do not have a specific date in my logs

[[Ch...]]

On some newer SN's you can, but I don't think yours do.

All my machines 2015 or newer have the year in the SN. e.g.,
my machine purchased in 2015 starts with 2015,
my machine purchased in 2017 starts with '7317xxxxx.'
2019 starts with 7319
2020 starts with 7320
2022 start with 7322
etc....

[[Je...]]

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They were also all manufactured in Maple Grove, MN 😉
A 12 digit machine SN on most machines since 2014 is a coded number much like an automotive VIN. The last 4 are the unique ID for that machine.

[[Ma...]]

We have Accura II from 2016 - none of these digits ( except for 1 ) are on SN. Perhaps EU and NA uses different marking due to sales?

[[No...]]

If you have PCM, you can at least inquire the last two digits of the year of firmware installation on that specific controller to give you a hint on the manufacturing year.
Note that this will probably only work on C99 controllers and will of course only be usefiul if you're certain the controller was never exchanged and the firmware never updated.

//Read firmware year from controller
Data=cmmInquire("D50;F499,1").asString
FWYear=subStr(Data,10,11)
if val(FWYear)>80 then
	Ct="19"
else
	Ct = "20"
endif
display("Year = ", Ct, FWYear)

Also note that the code assumes that every number greater than 80 is a 20th century year (19xx).

[[Je...]]

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Post your SN (remove the last 4 if you wish) and I'll give you the info if I have it or can reference one of several SN breakdowns. You can also message it to me if that is preferred.

[[Je...]]

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While it is quite creative, this is excessive when the option is a simply 2 clicks away.
Extras > Error Report
Next to the Firmware version will be the Firmware date

ErrorReport_Firmware.png

[[Ma...]]

Machine bought and installed 1.7. 2016 - Firmware report "V 33.17 Date Mar 30 2017" 😮

[[No...]]

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How could I know when I NEVER need this function? 🤣 🤣

[[Je...]]

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Ha! It is useful for creating backups as well. It natively creates a backup of your config directory without your manual interaction with SQL Server. It is HIGHLY ADVISED to create a schedule for backup of your config and other relevant configuration files.

[[No...]]

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Normally, I don't interact with SQL Server at all. 😃 That was only on the one-time occasion where I needed the rack assignments to be transferred. I don't back them up seperately on a regular basis.

Until now the built-in backup function was sufficient most of the time. And more convenient.
Or is there a hidden "restore" command in the error report? 😮

[[Je...]]

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I believe I may have presented that un an unclear reasoning . The "config" folder houses all of your machine tabs configuration files. It also holds SQL databases that contain stylus and rack information. In order to copy these, the SQL Server process must be stopped manually in Windows. Creating an error report executes that task natively. If you simply try to copy the config folder from the File Explorer window, the SQL Server process may be running in the background and prevent the copy function from completing 100% (and it won't tell you that it didn't get the 2 files you NEED).