Gecko 203V Alternative

[richie v6]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good alternative to the Gecko 203V. I recently had my second Gecko 203V go out on me without any warning and want to try something new. I have a retrofitted Bridgeport series I cnc mill. The mill was working like a champ for well over a year when all of a sudden I hear a pop followed by a squealing noise as my mill tried to make 0.5" full dept pass in mild steel. I cracked open my control cabinet and found the my X axis was completely down no error lights or anything.

My first drive failure was occurred my Z axis, shortly after retrofitting my mill. I was intrigued how the unkillable 203V failed under normal operation. As with all things in life sometimes you just get lucky. I gave Gecko a call and they told me ship it back. After repairing the drive I had tech call me and explain the problem. The drive worked fine and all went well until 2 weeks back. This time things didn't go so well. I had no one called me, all received was a sad bag of disassembled parts with a vague explanation "Customer induced damage either from foreign object shorting or the drive or motor shorting".

I checked the motor windings on all my steppers and they were all within 0.1Ohms of each other. Also my control cabinet was completely clean aside from some spider webs. I am just looking for suggestions on something else to try. I use my mill a fair amount I wouldn't mind paying more for something higher quality. If someone would have called me explaining the situation I would have ordered a new drive that same day. I am little upset that they just tossed everything in bag and mailed it back without a heads up when I could have ordered my replacement drive last week.

Whats with the broken off FET?

[deanq]

all received was a sad bag of disassembled parts with a vague explanation "Customer induced damage either from foreign object shorting or the drive or motor shorting".

What part didn't you understand?
I've been running my Bridgeport retro for 2 ½ years straight now (including a 4th axis) with 203v’s and haven’t experienced any problems. How sealed up is your control cabinet?
Dean

[gmfoster]

Originally Posted by deanq What part didn't you understand? I've been running my Bridgeport retro for 2 ½ years straight now (including a 4th axis) with 203v’s and haven’t experienced any problems. How sealed up is your control cabinet? Dean

I think what he didn't understand is how there could have been a short....and he expected better treatment,plus he was willing to buy a new drive...if there had been better communications....

As far as your lack of problems what does that have to do with this problem? It how problems are handled that separates the good company's from the bad and this seems somewhat less than what I would have expected from all I have seen from Gecko. Not that I would have necessarily expected a new drive but it would seem they are implying that he knew what happened. Or we aren't getting the full story

[CoAMarcus]

Richard,

You weren't supposed to get that bag of drive parts. There was a miscommunication in the office; you were supposed to have a new G203V mailed under our "one time, stuff happens" policy but someone put the wrong bag in the box to mail. The new G203V went out today as soon as we figured out what happened. I apologize for this all, but you should have your brand new drive in a few days.

Marcus

[gmfoster]

Originally Posted by CoAMarcus Richard, You weren't supposed to get that bag of drive parts. There was a miscommunication in the office; you were supposed to have a new G203V mailed under our "one time, stuff happens" policy but someone put the wrong bag in the box to mail. The new G203V went out today as soon as we figured out what happened. I apologize for this all, but you should have your brand new drive in a few days. Marcus

That's what I would have expected. Well done!

[B-RAD]

Makes me want to change my decision from a 5056D to a 203...

[richie v6]

Originally Posted by deanq What part didn't you understand? I've been running my Bridgeport retro for 2 ½ years straight now (including a 4th axis) with 203v’s and haven’t experienced any problems. How sealed up is your control cabinet? Dean

I was just a little upset they didn't even bother reassembling the drive or mailing back all the parts. Sure it is defective but it is still my property. I am glad to find out this was just a simple mix up.

As for the cabinet I reused the one that came with my machine. It did a great job of keeping chips out for 3 decades before I got my hands on it.

Originally Posted by CoAMarcus Richard, You weren't supposed to get that bag of drive parts. There was a miscommunication in the office; you were supposed to have a new G203V mailed under our "one time, stuff happens" policy but someone put the wrong bag in the box to mail. The new G203V went out today as soon as we figured out what happened. I apologize for this all, but you should have your brand new drive in a few days. Marcus

Marcus,

Thank you for rectifying this situation. I was initially surprised how the level service had diminished over the course of a year. I must say I was shocked to see my drive returned torn apart without any regard. I am relieved to find out that this was just a simple mistake. No worries these things happen!

Rich

[sswitaj]

One drive dying is a fluke. But two dead drives on the same axis probably means something.

I would suggest you very carefully check all the cabling out to the motor, paying special attention to any connectors or places where the cable flexes in a tight radius.

After flexing for years and years even the best cables and connectors can fail.

If, say, a tiny chip worked it's way into a wiring harness it could be intermittently shorting two windings, alternately, a wire or connector might have developed an intermittent break.

Both these things are bad. A short is an obvious problem, of course, but a break or loose connector pin can be just as bad. Big step motors have significant inductance, and if you break the current loop through them while energized they can produce arcing and significant voltage spikes. (This is the very principal behind automotive ignition coils - now imagine that going into your motor driver)

Carefully examine the motor cables where they flex, feeling for "soft spots" where flex (and fatigue cracking) might have concentrated, and clean and re-seat all connectors.