Need lp wiring Univelop 5axis controller

[elrieger]

I recently purchased a Univelop Comp. Tech. LLC 5axis controller and driver kit on ebay and they have no website and the manual is very basic
(no wiring diagrams)

specs i got:

max 2.5AMP@36VDC max 90 watts out power per axis
Full adjustable stepper motor current.
1KV, 10 Mbps high speed Optocoupler for full elimination to protect Computer and driver board. Step Current(r) Technology included: Step Current technology is used to decrease the current upto 1/2, when motors are in idle

Power supply connection instructions i got:

Connect suitable power supply at input outlet on front of controller
+7v and Gnd is connected with power supply with >+7v and 1amp
+12v and Gnd is connected with power supply with >+12v and 1-6amp
12-36vDC @ 2-6amp switching power supply recommended

I am unsure how to set this up because i have both +7v and +12v
connection points on the driver boards

I am planning on running 5 stepper motors with this system and i would like to know the maximum motor voltage and amps i could run with this system?
What motors should i buy?

And also how the power supply needs to be wired?
What power supply should i buy?

I could really use some help!

Thanks
Rick

[apache405]

Rick,

The specs say each axis can supply 90W with maximums of 2.5A and 36VDC. That means that you can send any voltage between 0VDC and 36VDC, and any current from 0A to 2.5A to a given axis. If you are using one motor per axis, that is the maximum motor this drive/control will support.

The specs say that you may give the +7 input more than 7VDC so you could directly connect the +7 and +12 connections together, but that is risky. A better approach would be to use a 5 watt resistor rated at 5 ohms (I used Ohm's law to get the power rating and resistance) to safely drop the the voltage from 12 to 7 volts. The resistor would be connected to the +7 pin and the +12 pin.

In terms of the power supply you need, an 84 watt, 12VDC supply would be all that is needed for the +7 and +12 pins. I would give the 12-36V pin 36 volts, so a 216 watt 36VDC supply would be fine. If you can't find the exact wattage, you can use a bigger supply, so like an 85 watt supply and a 250 watt supply would work, if you are careful.

What are you planning on doing with this machine? The answer to that question will help in the motor selection.

Hope this helps...

[elrieger]

Thanks for the reply!
I want to make a 5axis machine ( i have experience designing pneumatic machines but this is my first attempt at electronics, i needed a new challenge!)
So i will have 5 motors runing on my system.
How does this effect my setup?
Do i have to select smaller motors or does the system only step one motor at a time allowing me to run 5 motors at 36vdc 2.5 amps each?
This is the part that isnt clear, do i have to add all my motor power requirements together? if so how exactly?
also do i need another power supply for the controller board that requires 7v?
or do i somehow splitt up the power supply to feed the different parts with different power requirements?
i need all the help i can get!
thanks!
rick

[irisher]

Rick,

You can use one power supply and split the voltages with various means, but, it is far simpler to use seperate supplies. One as "apache" suggested for the controller and driver logic. Another for the stepper power at 36 volts. The current requirement rating of the 36 volt supply will be equal to/or more than all five of your motors combined (Because they can run at the same time) i.e. 2.6A x 5 = 13A or greater. Your motor size ,as he mentioned, depends on your use. If you are looking for the biggest your system can handle than you can get 5 "nema 34" motors rated @ 2A with 450 oz.in. holding torque from www.stepper3.com for a little over $90 apeice. If you check other sites like "keling" and others, you can probably get them cheaper.

Stephen J

[elrieger]

Ok thanks for the help!

So now i've found some stepper motors in my price range
5X Nema23 8 wire dual shaft stepper motors 282 oz-in
Wired bipolar(series) uses 2.1amps each

So 5 X 2.1 = 10.5 amps total for my stepper power supply, right?

So if i'm going to use 2 power supplies, the one for the steppers would have to be 36vdc 10.5a?

Can it be slightly larger or does it have to exactly match the total of the motors?

And if i wanted to wire everything to the same power supply, how would i do that? Just to save some cash!

Also i have 2 power connections on the driver boards 7v and 12v, is the 7v just to power the board logic and the 12v to power the steppers? Or are they options for the stepper power connection?

Sorry i'm a newbie and i dont want to get anything wrong and "fry" my board.

thanks

rick

[irisher]

Rick,

You can and should use a power supply with a higher current rating ,i.e. more than 10.5A, to account for startup surges etc. I saw one at www.mpja.com that was 36VDC/13A #(16755 PS) for $120.00. You could use a simple voltage divider such as the aforementioned resistor and an LC tank to stabilize the lower voltage, but, you'll end up spending more in components(and time and travel getting them) plus your logic will be at the mercy of a motor coil shorting out or drawing excessive power during a stall. It is far safer and probably cheaper to just get a Wall wort transformer such as the multi-output one from the same "mpja" site mentioned above for $8.95. It's # is 17369 PD and one of it's outputs is 7.5V@1A. Your driver board voltage connections are most probably as you surmise with the +7 feeding logic and the +12 feeding stepper power. I looked at the ebay pictures and I could not see what the four connections under the power and ground connections were labeled as. You can either physically trace the circuit path on the board from the +12 terminal to see where it goes, or, e-mail the seller and ask them the hookup since they claim to have tested the boards with KCAM and touborCAM.

Stephen J

[apache405]

I agree with Stephen J, a single power supply is a bad idea. The amount of power lost to heat in a voltage divider system would be considerable.

In terms of not frying your control system, you also need to ensure that the steppers you are looking at are able to be wired to the board. Then you also must ensure that the steppers are connected correctly (phase A to phase A and so on), or the controller will suffer damage. If the documentation you have does not include the pin-out for the stepper hook up, you will have to contact the seller and get it.

[elrieger]

OK,
so if i use 2 power supplies and i have to wire 7v 1a to the controller board and each of the 5 driver boards, do i add these together to get the required power supply like i did for the stepper power supply?
so 7v 6a minimum power supply?
is this right?
thanks
rick

[irisher]

Rick,

There is just not enough information from the auction or the pictures to know exactly the requirements, but, too much power in this case would not hurt. From the picture of the driver board it looks like the controlling mosfets and h bridges are all contained within that one "vlsi" package in the center of the board. 7V/6A(or greater amperage) would probably be fine. Now finding a supply with these ratings will probably prove to be a challenge unless you have one wall wort "trafo" for each one.

Stephen J

[JerryB123]

The 7V input is just to drive the logic, a 7V 1A supply should be enough to drive the logic on all the boards. This voltage is fed into a linear regulator on each of the boards, so anything from 7 to about 13 volts should be fine.

Be careful about the motors that you choose. The drivers are really rated at 1.5A with 2.5A being surge current. I have these boards and fried a couple of them before I put power resistor in line with the steppers to make sure the current stayed below the 1.5A range. (I am currently only using the stepper portion of the drivers, not the chopper portion.)

HTH

[elrieger]

JerryB123 ,
could you post or email me some pictures of your wiring for the univelop controller?
i am trying to figure out the best way to do it, so i dont "fry" anything!
thanks
rick
elrieger@hotmail.com

[JerryB123]

Rick,

What motors (or what are their specifications) are you trying to run with these drvers?

I can take some pictures, but they won't be pretty. I've just thrown things together to see if it would work. The motors are connected to the A+/A- and B+/B- terminals of the driver boards. (I just have series resistors because my motors are rated at more than the drivers.)

Jerry