Hi all I am thinking of doing some upgrading to the old Boss 5.
I checked out the Mach videos and I'm impressed. I downloaded 3 trial version to play with, man is that optimization a PITA. :tired:

I see some have went the rout of new drivers (gecko, larken ) and some have used the old drives.
I can't decide which rout to go.

Are there any pros or cons to each? I guess saving some money using the old drives would be good.
Any help would be appreciated.
Stephen

Why are you wanting to retrofit? is it just for the advantage of having better software control or are you having problems with the control hardware you have now?
The reason I went for all new hardware is it should be more reliable, should be more powerfull, should be more accurate and if anything goes wrong its easy to troubleshoot as I put it together myself and all the parts are readily available and lastly I am not working with 25yr old electronics.
Hood

The machine runs fine. I would like to load more G code than the mill will handle.
I have cut programs into smaller pieces but its a pain. Plus I would like to make a system that can be hooked to different machines in the future ( plasma I have a hypertherm 60 amp, and maby a foam wire cutter. I just would like to hear frome some that have working retroed machines and any problems they have encountered.
I'm thinking of 202 geckos and PMDX 131, does one need isolation with the geckos?
Thanks
Stephen

Well....I'm doing servos. So I can only comment on the general opertion of the Gecko G320 / 340. They are excellent. If PMDX made that rig for the G320 I would buy it in a hot second. I am crammed for room and that would be a great help.

What do you mean by "isolation" The PMDX will isolate them from the PC. They would not normally have anything between them and the motors. Typically people run unregulated power supplies with transformers that provide isolation from the mains.

I have a blog on this board about my conversion of a manual series one that I have added CNC controls to. Mach3 / Gecko based. Working good.

Best,
-jd

I just ment that it states that the geckos are optically isolated at the signal input for the motors. I am new to this so bear with. I guess all the switch inputs to the PC would have to be optically isolated. Is there someone out there that is using the 202 for a bridgeport, and how is it working.
Stephen

No problem. We are here to help.

The step direction inputs on the Geckos do actually have optical isolation. So, it is not really needed in the break out board. I think the boards use optical isolators so they are appropriate for the largest number of applications. Not sure. But I see people isolating the heck out of things just 'cause that's the way the parts are available.

Folks do drive the Geckos directly off the parallel port. But, I understand that at a distance the signal starts to lose voltage and it eventually becomes a problem. So some boost is good. Boards like the Sound Logic and the PMDX resolve this. Just takes some of the guess work out of this all.

The irony to me is that most of the drives have that isolation from the PC but no protection for reversing the supply polarity which almost instantly fries the drive. I did this and Gecko replaced my drives for free under their one time stuff happens policy. Very good business people there at Gecko.

Be REAL careful about polarity. Grounding too. Shielding too.

Noise from the PC getting into the power supply to the break out and the Geckos will make your drives jumpy and inaccurate. See my blog for how I resolved my noise issues.

Best,
-jd

I am using G202 and PMDX122 but with new steppers and not the original BOSS motors. The breakout board also provides Isolation for limits and any other devices you have connected, and also as JD says it provides a boost to the 5v as some parallel ports can put out quite a bit less than that.
Hood

If your system is working fine now, why don't you try to hook it up using the MaxNC outputs from Mach instead of replacing everything? I think connector K8 accepts quadurature signals from the XDI card. You can use this for now as a cheap way to get used to the Mach software and it doesn't cost you much money. If you don't like the way your machine runs, you can always do a complete retrofit with new drives, etc........well, at least that is what I am going to do with my BOSS 5 machine I just acquired.

--Eric

Thanks for all the treplies guys. That explains the isolation thing. :o

Eric I have thought about using the old drivers. I have replaced all the transisters, and they seem to be working fine.I just havent found the how to yet. I have seen the schematics on this sight but they are quite vague. If you have any links I would greatly appreciat it.

I think I may buy a isolation bord to do this with the option of going to geckos in the future. Would the PMDX 131 work with the old drives then later geckos?
Stephen

can you help with the info to hook directly to the (xdi)? on a boss 5
i would love to be able to have larger programs
what type hardware do i need?
thank you

I haven't recieved any help in this area. I am still trying to find that info. Have you found anything that might be interesting look?
Stephen

i have seen one guy that posted some info on th subject (xdi) but i haven't been able to run across it again.
my boss 5 runs fine but i'm tired of th limited program size(12kb)
Van

i have seen one guy that posted some info on th subject (xdi) but i haven't been able to run across it again....(12kb)
Van

Is this perhaps the thread you were looking for?

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14835

I don't know if this was the origional thread but there was a pick of one of the boards with which plugs to interface to. I think it was the xdi. I had it saved in my favorites but must have deleted it or the pick is gon in the link????
Stephen

I think this is the thread you was on about

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7943

I intend going this way at some point but the old Boss is working well at the moment and I haven't the time to mess.

Chris

Hmmm for some reason I thought I saw a pick of the board pins and what they were used fore, maby I was seeing things????:confused:
Stephen

I want to thank everybody that has sent me email with links.
thank you for your time and help
Van

The actual CNC program is loaded to memory on the LSI-11 board. The XDI is for switch interface, etc. RCK is the clock board. ERS has comm capability and has the BOSS software burned to a PROM.

George

HI,
Alot of people have boss controls and have the limited program sizes.
i have found that some of you have made your own board to use mach 3
why not make a few of these boards and sell them on ebay i would
gladley buy one. my boss 6 runs well just very limited.

Thanks

[QUOTE=tomc3700]HI,
Alot of people have boss controls and have the limited program sizes.
i have found that some of you have made your own board to use mach 3
why not make a few of these boards and sell them on ebay i would
gladley buy one. my boss 6 runs well just very limited.

I'd buy one too for my Boss 5!!!!

I have thought the retro over. I have decided to get rid of everything except the steppers, well not really get rid of but disconnect. As you can see I didn’t get any help for the board interface for the boss drivers.

I am building a complete cnc controller. I plan on having the controller portable so I can hook it to different machines, plasma, foam, and lathe. I will keep the boss control intact so if the retro doesn’t go as planed I can still use it or sell it as a complete unit if things go well.

I am using the boss 5 as is right now still learning. I kind of like some of the features it has, but once into mach 3 I don’t think I will look back.
I found a nice used toroid transformer at a motor rewind shop the other day 20$. This will be perfect for the power supply. I just bought a motherboard for the PC now a breakout and the drivers and wala.

I wish you guys luck.
Stephen
:)