C11G board on G0704 Conversion experiences?

[lcvette]

Hey guys,

I am all wrapped up and ready to start the machine up but have decided i would like to get a BOB that has a charge pump and built in spindle control instead of trying to figure out how to incorporate the two seperate boards into my existing C10 configuration. My question goes out to those who are using the C11G or a comparible alternative.

1) what are your thoughts on the C11G board from an installation perspective?

2) from you experiences are you happy with the board?

3) is there any reason you wish you had gone a different direction?

4) Any other thoughts, concerns or recommendations good bad or indifferent that may help!

Thanks guys! I am soooo ready to fire this thing up!

Chris

[pete from TN]

I have a CNC'd RF45 bedmill and I used a CNC4PC C11G board to build the controller around. It has been a very good board for me and despite my many ham fisted attempts at burning it up it is still kicking. I had run my spindle with it previously but I have since converted to using modbus for spindle control. The board is easy to setup and the on board outputs seem to work well. I have yet to hookup my coolant relay but that is just pure laziness. Personally I like the board and like the simplicity of the wiring and that everything is on the same board. Arturo has been helpful with information about it altho he can sometimes be slow to respond. He has always gotten back to me tho.

There are some on here who have bought the new C11T board that have complained of problems and apparently the new board requires dual power supplies. I cannot comment on that new board but as I said my C11G board has never let me down thru a couple different variations of setup.

I do not know your budget or your aspirations for your machine, but honestly If I were to do this again I would probably not go with a gecko based setup. I would most likely go with one of the more or less plug and play AC servo setups available today. If I add up all the money I spent on the three Geckos, the BOB, wiring, and motors It would have actually been cheaper to go with say the DMM AC servo setup let alone the simplicity of the system. My setup took a lot of time to tin and and properly hookup wires as well as all the many considerations of where to put components and how to run the wires. The DMM setup is more or less plug and play and seems like a good setup let alone the power and speed should be better and the longevity of a brushless AC motor over a brushed DC has got to be worth considering. If you want to save some money I would also consider going with Hoss's setups for that machine using stepper based systems. Good luck with your build...peace

Pete

[lcvette]

Pete,

Great information! For right now i would like to get it moving and making chips, I have the 570oz/in motors, 48v 12.5a power supply and currently a C10 board all packaged in my custom enclosure and wired up which i just finished yesterday. I wish i had done some more research before pulling the trigger on the C10 board but it is what it is. I have requested some information from John at Keling on this and he has put me in touch with Arturo at CNC4PC, I am hoping to have them either help me put together a package that works with the C10 or I may just go ahead and pull the trigger on the C11G board which is the way i am leaning currently (I think...dangerous I know.... the C11G board would be a bit easier to wire in to my existing enclosure. I hope to have something on the way by the end of today so i can get this thing completed for this stage of the conversion. next will be ballscrews with extended axis, then i would like to do Hoss's 5 axis conversion. I realy do appreciate your time on that response!

That DMM setup looks incredible and it has encoders, charge pump, spindle control and the servos appear to be pretty stout for the High torque system.

a little off topic and I know that it is controversial but is the AC servo setup better than steppers? I will have to use what i have, nd i went the route of the keling package and am sure i will be happy with it but what advantages does an AC servo system have over a stepper system?

Thanks!

Chris

[mrcodewiz]

Hey guys,

I am all wrapped up and ready to start the machine up but have decided i would like to get a BOB that has a charge pump and built in spindle control instead of trying to figure out how to incorporate the two seperate boards into my existing C10 configuration. My question goes out to those who are using the C11G or a comparible alternative.

1) what are your thoughts on the C11G board from an installation perspective?

2) from you experiences are you happy with the board?

3) is there any reason you wish you had gone a different direction?

4) Any other thoughts, concerns or recommendations good bad or indifferent that may help!

Thanks guys! I am soooo ready to fire this thing up!

Chris

I am using the C11 (non-G) on my G0704 and so far I have been pretty happy with it.

1) Installation was pretty easy. I was originally going to go with a board that had CAT-5 connectors but ended up going with the C11 instead. I don't really regret it. Once it's wired up you don't need to go back in too often.

2) yes

3) no, not yet anyway.

4) The C11 does everything that I want it to do right now - 4 axis, limit switches, and spindle control. The built in charge pump is also a nice feature. I rearranged my garage at one point after having the enclosure built and I started getting some funny behavior like my limit switches quit working and some other oddities. I am not very versed in electronics so the LEDs helped clue me in immediately that something was wrong because they weren't switching on and off as they normally would when something changed state. I had a short email thread with John at Keling and Arturo and they guessed that I possibly fried one or more of the chips on the board. I bought a full set of replacement chips for something like $20 and I was right back in business.

I have a C10 in my X2 and it has been a decent board too but I'm glad I went with the C11 over the C10 for my G0704 for the added features.

[lcvette]

I have just finished the last bit of soldering on the 4 pin motor wire plugs and have downloaded the Keling Mach3mill config file and am about to try to get this thing moving. I will try fooling around with the C10 board while i am waiting for the C11G to show up.

mrcodewiz,

what is the difference between the C11 and the C11G? I have read through the "specifications" but they seem to be very similar, that is where i get a little fuzzy...

Thanks!

Chris

[mrcodewiz]

I don't recall but I thought I was told that the G was made specifically for the Gecko drivers.