Gecko 201 issues

[massajamesb]

Ok, I have no motor lock, no step, no nothing. I have a 28 volt external supply, getting power to the Gecks just fine. I have + 5 volts coming from the PC power supply. I am trying Turbocnc for one, to dry run the motors. I have Tcnc set on active low. I show 5 volts from "signal ground" on my BOB to the 5 volt sig going to the Gecks. I have a Kelinginc stepper, wired up exactly as their diagram shows. Bipolar parallel. I have a good DB25 cable. I am recieving step and direction signals at the Gecks. When I do jog on Tcnc, the power light on the Geckos flickers. At first power up, the Led is bright, then I step once, it dims a little. Step once or twice more, it goes bright. What in the hell did I do wrong? I also have 33K resistors in place. Any ideas? No smoke, but the day aint over. HELP!

[Madclicker]

Sounds like the motor power to the gecko's is at fault. The power led on the gecko does not flicker at all when it's operating. Maybe the terminating cap if your power leads are too long? don't remember what the criteria was to have to use them. In manual.

[massajamesb]

well, I found the problem, I had the stepper wired up as it shows in their picture, but was ignoring the diagram at the bottom of the page that says "BIPOLAR WIRING". Now, the stepper moves, but I am not sure if it is hooked up exactly right, as it is not as smooth as expected. It has a lot of torque,but almost sounds like it is missing a step here and there. Of course, I don't have it dialed in exactly perfect yet. I don't believe the power light flickers anymore, either. I thought it a bit odd that the stepper was such a pain to turn when there was no power applied, I cut the wires with the power off, and BAM, the motor is a lot easier to turn. DUH.

[CJL5585]

Sounds like the bi-polar parallel hook-up is drawing excessive current pulling down the 28 Volts.

(You had not found problem when this post was started.)

Sounds like one or more of the phases are reversed.

[massajamesb]

Thanks for your help, I am still unsure if I have them wired right. I also have a Powermax II stepper connected, and I am not getting hardly any torque out of it. It also sounds like it is missing steps here and there. I know the resistor I have installed is too small for the Powermax, it has a 3.3 amp rating, and I have a 33 K resistor installed. If I have one of the phases reversed, will that make the motor miss steps or run oddly?
BTW, what is the appropriate resistor for the 3.3 amp rating?

[CJL5585]

Originally Posted by massajamesb Thanks for your help, I am still unsure if I have them wired right. I also have a Powermax II stepper connected, and I am not getting hardly any torque out of it. It also sounds like it is missing steps here and there. I know the resistor I have installed is too small for the Powermax, it has a 3.3 amp rating, and I have a 33 K resistor installed. If I have one of the phases reversed, will that make the motor miss steps or run oddly? BTW, what is the appropriate resistor for the 3.3 amp rating?

The resistor value should be around 68K ohms. I tried to upload a pdf file for the Powermax II motor wiring, but it did not up-load.

[massajamesb]

This is for the powermax II steppers
http://www.pacsci.com/support/docume...llbulletin.pdf

this is for the Kelinginc motor.
http://www.kelinginc.net/KL23H286-20-08B.pdf

Let me know which one is phase A, B, C, D in bipolar parallel, if you don't mind. I need another persons brain matter here, to make sure I have them both wired right. Thanks for the help.

[CJL5585]

Originally Posted by massajamesb Let me know which one is phase A, B, C, D in bipolar parallel, if you don't mind. I need another persons brain matter here, to make sure I have them both wired right. Thanks for the help.

Will attach drawing for Powermax II. This is the steppers I use.

Keling Wiring:
Connect Blu/Wht to Red/Wht Phase A
Connect Blue to Red Phase B

Connect Green/Wht to Black/Wht Phase C
Connect Green to Black Phase D

On you Powermax II link the correct wiring for Bi-Polar parallel is the drawing on the Far right. 4th motor wiring from the left.

[massajamesb]

Good deal. that is how I have them hooked up. I got them running a lot smoother now, I set up Quickstep 3, and set the steps per unit. I am getting 350 IPM rapids now, and could probably go higher, running an oxyfuel table with # 35 pitch roller chain. Thanks for your help everyone!

[massajamesb]

And before anyone starts flaming, yes I know that I won't need more than 50 IPM for oxyfuel. I set it up so I could use plasma as well. Thanks again, every one!

[CJL5585]

Originally Posted by massajamesb Good deal. that is how I have them hooked up. I got them running a lot smoother now, I set up Quickstep 3, and set the steps per unit. I am getting 350 IPM rapids now, and could probably go higher, running an oxyfuel table with # 35 pitch roller chain. Thanks for your help everyone!

In TCNC if the acceleration is set too high it will cause it to miss steps. The same is true for the Start speed.

Cutting with a torch setup should use very low settings.
Max pulses per second: 10,000
Acceleration: 0
Start: Whatever speed works best for cutting.

With the Acceleration set to zero, the cutting will be consistent from start to finish, and the setup will not speed up or slow down. If it does not work with zero set the Acceleration to some low number.