G540 - 4 motor connection problem

[dachopper]

Hi guys,


I have just purchased and installed G540 4-Axis kit Stepper Motor | Stepper Motor Driver | CNC Router | Laser Machine | 3D Printers For SaleG540 4 axis kit.


All of the motors, in any combination, seem to work correctly by themselves, or two or three of them plugged into the G540, but as soon as all 4 of them are connected at the same time, I get a fault anywhere from 5 seconds to 30 seconds later.


The motors are 3.5 Amp per phase,
Power supply is 48 Volt 12.5 Amp,
All of the motors have 3.48K resistors installed on their DB9 connectors.


I'm at a loss, but the issue seems to have something to do with power supply, or the resistor setting, as it only ever occurs when 4 motors are connected, sometimes even without moving them.


I've read other threads, which all mention power supply, but then ppl point out 7 Amps should be fine, and I'm not even moving the motors sometimes. I have 18 Gau wire between the power supply and the gecko.


Any thoughts?


Nick

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[john-100]

Hi Nick

first if your using the charge pump try switching it off to disable it
just incase there is a problem with the 10KHz signal being sent to printerport pin 16

it could be the switch mode power supply you have does not work with the G540 you have

in one thread here I have read have had an increasing number of G540's sent back for testing and found its the power supply at fault

or you have a version of the G540 that needs sending back to Geckodrive for modification
as they found the resistor that is used to measure the supply current needs changing - they made a production change to fix the problem

contact Geckodrive for instructions to fault find your G540 and depending on the result return for replacement

John

[dachopper]

Hi John,

My G540 is rev 8, so the latest version, the charge pump is disabled, but the funny thing is, it only occurs with all motor attached.

Gecko have been in contact with automation technologies, and they are sending gecko one of my power supplies for testing, as this may be happening to a few customers. - to try figure out what the issue is - may be the power supply



I received an email from automation - mentioning that I may need to add capacitance ( 63 Volt 1000UF capacitor )

Sounds like they will wait for Gecko to complete the testing first, before recommending where to install this.

[dachopper]

Another thought

To troubleshoot the power supply, I have a Mastech 30 Volt 10 Amp variable DC switching power supply.

Should I plug this in ( although it's only 30 volts, and the other one is 48 volts ) and see if there is a difference?

Nick

[john-100]

Hi Nick

I would try the Mastech power supply

if it powers up OK with four stepper motors
you will know the power supply supplied in the kit is the problem

John

[dachopper]

Hi Nick

I would try the Mastech power supply

if it powers up OK with four stepper motors
you will know the power supply supplied in the kit is the problem

John

Well I did, and it worked no fault, then I tried the keeling, 48 volt , faulted, adjust voltage to 50, faster fault. Decrease to 46 faulted after 5 mins, 44, took 20 mins and lots of simultaneously driven moves, but faulted, wound pot all way back, 42.5 volts, no fault so far.

[chemphd]

Is the charge pump disabled? Is your power supply regulated or unregulated?

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[dachopper]

Charge pump tried both abled and disabled

no idea - it's a switching power supply. - the voltage out of it is steady when it faults
the current draw is around 3 amps

The other switching power supply works, but it is half the speed, I did have one fault even with that one being used

[chemphd]

Charge pump tried both abled and disabled

no idea - it's a switching power supply. - the voltage out of it is steady when it faults
the current draw is around 3 amps

The other switching power supply works, but it is half the speed, I did have one fault even with that one being used

I would try an unregulated power supply if you have one. I know that some people use switching (regulated) power supplies without problems, but I don't know if they oversize them. Plus, it's so easy to build your own unregulated PS. Just buy an appropriately sized transformer, capacitor, and full-bridge rectifier and wire it up. You just have to remember that the DC voltage is going to be 1.4 times the rating on the transformer output.

[dachopper]

I would love to - but where I am, I cannot even get ahold of another 48VDC power supply period. It would have to be imported from O/S, so I need to wait for an answer from the store I bought the kit from / Gecko

[CoAMarcus]

dachopper,

Where are you located? If you are in the US, please shoot an email over to geckonoelle@geckodrive.com and Noelle in our office can send you a return label for the G540 so we can check it out here to see if there is anything that is acting up on the drive.

Edit: Nevermind, saw the location on your profile. I believe your G540 may be here for evaluation already.