Uh-oh, I think he is dead

[kong]

I think I have done some damage to my routers electronics. My own stupid fault of course! I have just bought a PSU on ebay, this thing has 6 pairs of outputs, so in a rush to get it running, I have hooked up the X axis +ve and Y axis -ve on one pair of outputs, and X axis -ve with Y axis +ve on another.
So now I have a limited amount of torque on the motors, and I seem to have blown Balsamans lovely err/res manager. I don't understand the electronics too much, so I will go and see if I can sort it

[balsaman]

Hmmm...not sure buddy.

Eric

[kong]

I have just discovered another problem, the parallel port on the new pc I hooked up at the same time is only putting out 3.3v instead of 5v. I will switch the motherboards over and go from there, but I am sure I have done some damage somewhere. I can jog the x-axis, but in one direction only. The z and y won't move, but they have holding torque. Oh yeah, and the leds on the err/res manager have blown, and if a drive faults, I cannot reset it!

[balsaman]

Start with thew Mo-Bo. I am sure the drives will once again work properly once you get 5 volts back. The err/res manager will be inexpensive to fix.

Eric

[kong]

Well, that new motherboard has solved half the problem - 4.5v outputs, and the axis are running ok, seem to want re-tuning now though, since they are faulting a lot. The err/res is definately toast, the problem is now how to extract it from the cabinet without disturbing everything else! Perhaps the err/res could have an effect on the drives faulting out? There's only one way to find out!

[cbcnc]

Kong,

What are the details on your new power supply?

Chris

[kong]

There is another on ebay uk, here is the link
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...sPageName=WDVW
It is "mega power" 24v 42Amp, but split into 6 pairs of outputs. I have paired up the outputs in parallel to give 3 outputs of 14Amps, but I will consider adding the recommended capacitors to the gecko drives if they are still sluggish once I rebuild the err/res circuit. I have been using a switch mode psu before this one with no problems.

[kong]

Yay, that's sorted it out! I have bypassed the err/res manager for now by linking the err/res pin to enc+ on the gecko. Just gotta tune the drives, and I'm back in business! Thanks for the support guys

[cbcnc]

Kong,

You can't really tell from the EBay listing if the PS is new or pulled from equipment. It might be worth a check to see how stable the DC output is. Oscilliscope would be the easiest but an AC voltmeter would show any gross ripple in the DC.
Just a thought.

Chris

[ESjaavik]

And check the manual whether it really supports parallel coupling of the outputs. What sometimes happen is that a tiny difference in voltage setting between them makes one output carry virtually all the current until it goes into current limiting. Then the voltage drops down to the setting of the other output that supplies the remaining current (and so on if more than 2 in parallel). This can make the output unstable as the output rides in and out of current limiting. If the producer anticipated this kind of use, there should be a description in the manual of how to do it. At least setting the output voltages equal to a high accuracy, and sometimes moving strap(s).

Uhh. And I'm getting curiouser and curiouser! What is an "err/res manager"?
Is it a device keeping the correct ratio of error to resistance?

[balsaman]

It's a circuit used with Gecko 320 drives to manage the reset and fault (error) functions. As is a gecko 320 is not easily reset if it faults, unless you jumper the reset, in which case it faults and tries to reset itself. This works, but the err/res manager makes it a little fancier.

Eric

[kong]

Hmm, I have a funny feeling it may have been my fault that the err/res manager wasn't working.....I swapped the power supplies back, so the new one is now powering the lathe, and the router is working fine again, but I have already removed the err/res circuit, and jumpered the drives. Upon wiring up the new psu to the lathe - which has the err/res pins daisy-chained betwen two gecko 320's, and a simple switch to engage/disengage them - I noticed that only one drive comes out of fault when I switch on. A bit of reading the geckodrive forum, and I realise that for both drives to come out of fault, they need to share a common ground on the psu. Since the new psu has isolated outputs, this may have been a reason why the err/res circuit would not work properly! Oh well, at least this experience has taught me a few things! Thanks for the support anyhow