Gecko 201's.... 1 running rough, and 1 seems weak...

[InspirationTool]

So I have a mini mill with Gecko 201's and 250 Oz-in NEMA 23 motors on the X and Y.

The X axis seems weak. I can turn the 1" diameter coupling with my fingers easily. I seem to be dropping steps.

The Y axis is running rough and noisy, but resists turning by hand.

If I switch the cables (the connections are on the driver box, not the motors), the the behavior follows the drivers.

My suspicion is that I have some coolant in the motors or cables which have caused problems with the drives.

I assume I can look at this by taking a continuity tester to the windings and if I find find conduction where there shouldn't be, I have a problem? It looks like I would want to make sure there is no conductivity between AB and CD pins.

Also, after I unplug it, what about the capacitor?

Is there a troubleshooting guide?

Thanks!

-Jeff

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[InspirationTool]

Okay, I took a closer look today, and it seems that the "weakness" of the holding power was due to the "auto current reduction" and therefore not a problem.

I still have a rough running driver though. I used and Ohmeter on the phases of the motors, and there was some conductivity between the phases, but it was pretty low, (100K Ohms? I should have written it down) and was the same on the Z axis which is fine.

I did have at least one screw (holding the heat sink down) come loose inside the electrical box, so I may have a vibration induced problem.

-Jeff

[Jcar]

If you're using Mach2/3, you might try checking the active low boxes for step and direction in your motor settings. My motors sounded horrible and had little power until I did this. Now they scream!! I'm using the cnc4pc C1G break-out board with Gecko 201's, and an unregulated 6 amp 42 volt power supply.

[InspirationTool]

I'm using DeskCNC.

I don't think I've changed any settings like that since I started using it.

What is "active low" mean anyways?

Thanks!

-Jeff

[Jcar]

Ooops, I thought this was a newly constructed machine. Sorry. Active low signals are counted when they go from 5v to ground (negative going). Active high signals are counted when they go from gnd to 5v (positive going).

[InspirationTool]

As it stands now, I'm going to check and tighten all the connections, and if that doesn't work, send the drive back for Mariss to look at.

-Jeff

[InspirationTool]

It was a loose connection. It sounds WAY better now.

I'm going to install rubber vibration isolation mounts to help stop this in the future.

-Jeff