So I'm looking to build a small mill and I'd like to get an all inclusive electronics package ( motor controller, motors power supply, etc.) that will work with EMC with little trouble and hopefully little to no wiring. I was looking at this xylotex setup http://www.xylotex.com/Econo4AxSpecial.htm but i keep reading poor reviews about the drivers and I'd like something that will last for a while.

To me electrical problems are the worst. So even though I can usually fix the problem, I would prefer to just not have to. So buying a quality plug and play or close to plug and play setup would be nice. Oh and it absolutely has to run on EMC, I fell in love with ubuntu and theres no going back to windows :wave: . Any suggestions for where I should start?

Thanks for any input in advance,
-Eric

Hello Eric,

I had elected to go with brushless DC motors and CNCTeknix's ( Australian designers and suppliers) TEK6 servo driver amplifiers.

CNCTeknix also have a parallel port breakout card opto isolated interface and relay card which neatly interface with each other. All you need do is provide +5V and +24V for relay driven interface.

I obtained the brushless DC motors from Anaheim Automation ( 36 Volt motors runing on 24 volts since the TEK 6 is good for only 28V.

The nice thing about TEK6 is that it is fully connectorised so that building up the system is done without a need for soldering iron. Having said that i did modify TEK6 since i opted for a linear position transducer with a db15 header

Tuning TEk6 is a bit of problem.. the tuning is done via a windows application which talks to TEK6 via an RS232 port.so you need two pc one to run the axis ( EMC2 machine) and the other to run tuning application under windows.

Otherwise its a very nice driver.

a small mill and I'd like to get an all inclusive electronics package ( motor controller, motors power supply, etc.) that will work with EMC with little trouble and hopefully little to no wiring.

The Xylotex combo is exactly that. Mine is working fine for a year now on the factory presets, plug in and go. The pinouts for Xylotex are predefined in EMC.

pros

Setup couldn't be easier.
Case is tidy and sturdy.
Screw terminals for access to additional pins.

cons

no circuit protection. Disconnect a motor while powered up and it will blow. Worst case scenario, $155 for a new board.
Limited support. No phone calls. Email is either unreliable or sometimes ignored. Only Xylotex knows which for certain.
It's low power. You appear to be aware of that. Good enough for my X2.

Some members prefer combos from here;
http://www.kelinginc.net/CNCPackage.html

btw, Gecko has budget drivers coming out (soon?) . Gecko's customer support is first rate by all reports.

Overall I'm satisfied with my Xylotex purchase so far.

Zig - thanks for the input but I'm thinking that the CNCTeknix setup would be a little bit out of my league for now...

cyclestart - I think I may just end up going with the Xylotex combo and taking my chances. I guess the worst case scenario if I ever blow up the driver I could just get buy a gecko drive that has all of the fail safes and just drop it in. Does that sound feasible?

Thanks again guys for your input.

-Eric

I guess the worst case scenario if I ever blow up the driver I could just get buy a gecko drive that has all of the fail safes and just drop it in. Does that sound feasible?


The logical thing would be sending the board back to Xylotex for repair. Jeff (the xylotex guy) offers repairs up to one year. After that it's case-by-case basis probably. If the failure only effects one axis there are single axis boards available from Xylotex. My impression is Xylotex drivers have good reliability if you keep a close eye on the cables and connectors.

Maybe one of the electronically competent can answer whether dropping in a gecko is feasible. Depends on the type of failure possibly. Running any gecko at 24V seems a bit of a waste.

Zig - thanks for the input but I'm thinking that the CNCTeknix setup would be a little bit out of my league for now...

cyclestart - I think I may just end up going with the Xylotex combo and taking my chances. I guess the worst case scenario if I ever blow up the driver I could just get buy a gecko drive that has all of the fail safes and just drop it in. Does that sound feasible?

Thanks again guys for your input.

-Eric

Why bother with a product that might blow up when you can get a gecko 203v that is backed up by outstanding service and guarantee. I used gecko 203v's along with automationdirect steppers, cnc4pc breakout board and antec power supply to run my plasma table.

What ever you do make sure you have the power you need for your machine or you will be disappointed...

John

How many axis' does the gecko 203v board support? Is it three or four on one board or would i need 3 gecko 203v's to run one mill? Thanks for your help.

-Eric

Why bother with a product that might blow up when you can get a gecko 203v that is backed up by outstanding service and guarantee. I used gecko 203v's along with automationdirect steppers, cnc4pc breakout board and antec power supply to run my plasma table.

What ever you do make sure you have the power you need for your machine or you will be disappointed...

John

How many axis' does the gecko 203v board support? Is it three or four on one board or would i need 3 gecko 203v's to run one mill? Thanks for your help.

-Eric

One G203 for each stepper.

Alan

Yeah see the problem with that is cost. To get a system together at that point it would cost $300 more than an equivilant system by xylotex. Now if I had the money i would do that but i think the xylotex system is going to have to be it for now.

-Eric

Yeah see the problem with that is cost. To get a system together at that point it would cost $300 more than an equivilant system by xylotex. Now if I had the money i would do that but i think the xylotex system is going to have to be it for now.

-Eric

A system with gecko 203v's and a proper power supply is not equivalent to a xylotex system. It would be rather far above the xylotex system in every sense. With 24 volts you won't get much from your steppers. Gecko's take up to 80 volts... and when you short out your xylotex well your just out of a drive and will have to purchase a new one...

John

A system with gecko 203v's and a proper power supply is not equivalent to a xylotex system. It would be rather far above the xylotex system in every sense. With 24 volts you won't get much from your steppers. Gecko's take up to 80 volts... and when you short out your xylotex well your just out of a drive and will have to purchase a new one...

John

I meant equivalent in the sense of what motors and actual output I would be getting from it, sorry for the confusion. So say if i was to use everything that comes with a this kit http://www.xylotex.com/Econo3AxSpecial.htm but use gecko drives rather than the xylotex drive i would have the same setup, just with less worries of it not working for me because of a short or something like that. The only other differences would be the $300 added onto the cost and the fact that i would have to wire it up, which i could do but i have enough to worry about so i don't really know if i would want to. Does anyone make a kit similar to the xylotex one above that just uses gecko drives instead but is still all inclusive with the motors power supply etc.? Thanks

-Eric

So I'm looking to build a small mill

Maybe it's time to define small. That xylotex setup is low power with components to match. Budget stuff but very capable for mills like my X2. A blown board is an IF not a WHEN, at least within reasonable lifespan expectations. Mine has run a year of moderate use, expect it will still be running next year. If it breaks it gets repaired. Certainly not the most expensive part of this hobby.

The kelinginc kits I linked earlier have circuit protection and a one year conditional warranty. Keling has a reputation for good customer service.

If moneys not an issue gecko 203's are good stuff. Possibly overkill depending on the mill. Have you read the "cheap drives" thread in the gecko forum ? Worth a look if money is an issue.

Any thoughts of grafting geckos into the xylotex combokit are best forgotten imo.

edit/ Is this mill for heavy or occasional use? Would a small bit of downtime be an inconvenience or disaster?

Does anyone make a kit similar to the xylotex one above that just uses gecko drives instead but is still all inclusive with the motors power supply etc.? Thanks

-Eric

I don't know if anyone kits them up but there is only a few parts involved...
What I used:

CNC4PC C1G Breakout card for parallel port $42
Antek PS-6N63R5R12 Power Supply (way overkill) $150
Gecko G203v Stepper Drivers $147 each
Automation Direct STP-MTR-23079 Stepper Motors $39 each
Automation Direct STP-EXT-020 20' cable for Steppers $13 each

Again, depending on your load and speed requirements the above might be more than you need. If your speed and loads are small then an all in one drive with a lower voltage level might fit your needs better. If you just want it to work well out of the box the Gecko's are the ticket. Some cheaper drives have lots of problems trying to get the steppers to run smooth over the rpm range. IMHO, being able to pick the most cost effective parts for a system makes sense... The smile on my face was priceless when I found out that I could run my system at 125% of what my target speeds were...

John

I don't know if anyone kits them up but there is only a few parts involved...
What I used:

CNC4PC C1G Breakout card for parallel port $42
Antek PS-6N63R5R12 Power Supply (way overkill) $150
Gecko G203v Stepper Drivers $147 each
Automation Direct STP-MTR-23079 Stepper Motors $39 each
Automation Direct STP-EXT-020 20' cable for Steppers $13 each

Again, depending on your load and speed requirements the above might be more than you need. If your speed and loads are small then an all in one drive with a lower voltage level might fit your needs better. If you just want it to work well out of the box the Gecko's are the ticket. Some cheaper drives have lots of problems trying to get the steppers to run smooth over the rpm range. IMHO, being able to pick the most cost effective parts for a system makes sense... The smile on my face was priceless when I found out that I could run my system at 125% of what my target speeds were...

John

See now its just a toss up between what will work the best and cost the least... the gecko drives will just work... but in your case they cost $790 to get up and running. The xylotex combokit is on the cheaper side but i heard from a friend that they are a bit hard to get running smooth, but what do i know. I think im just going to finish my mill that is going to be designed for nema 23's like 276in/oz or whatever they are. Once i finish the design i'll post it and i will start thinking about the electronics again. thanks for your help.

-Eric

See now its just a toss up between what will work the best and cost the least... the gecko drives will just work... but in your case they cost $790 to get up and running. The xylotex combokit is on the cheaper side but i heard from a friend that they are a bit hard to get running smooth, but what do i know. I think im just going to finish my mill that is going to be designed for nema 23's like 276in/oz or whatever they are. Once i finish the design i'll post it and i will start thinking about the electronics again. thanks for your help.

-Eric

I started out with one gecko 203v and a cheapo 24vdc power supply that I had on hand and the CNC4PC breakout board and one stepper motor. After some tests I determined the voltage I needed/wanted to power the steppers. Just being sure I ordered a power supply that was much bigger than I need. At least every thing worked well so I was ahead at that point. Just keep in mind that you can use timing belts to "gear down" the steppers to get more "power" at the cost of speed. Keep us posted on your progress... btw, do you have any pictures yet?

John

Also, keep an eye on Gecko the $29 3A 50v drives might be out by then... same as a 203v but less current and voltage ...

John