gecko / servo / encoder wiring

[shnitzel]

well, my machine is ALMOST ready to finish wiring.... so my last bit of confusion must be answered! ha ha ha

i am running MAE brush style servo motors. now my motors have a tachometer or something on them. thats 4 extra wires.. i also have a seperate encoder for each motor...

my questions are:

1- do i sue the tachometer on the motor or ignore it??? should it be wired to the gecko drive???

2-if im not supposed to use the tachometer on the motor, and i wire my external encoder to the gecko drive.. then how does the PC computer know if the gecko got where its supposed to go??? the PC tells the gecko where, but i dont see any lines for the gecko to tell the computer that the encoder got to where its supposed to go...???...????

3-or do i wire the motors tachometer thingy to the gecko, and the encoders straight to the PC???

confused... i presume i wire the external encoders to the gecko drives, ignore the stock tachometer thingy and all is well. i just dont understand how the PC hears from the gecko drive if the CNC got where its supposed to go.

i am running all this on a home built 8'x5' table.. big enough for full sheets of plywood.

i just got my sound logic breakout board and am ready to commence wiring!!!

another question, any reason why not use CAT-5 cable for encoder wiring???

this place (cnczone) has been a lot of help! almost got my machine running without any questions!!! but here it is... im stumped.. ha ha ha

thanx in advance,

jody
BC, Canada

[ger21]

I think all the answers may depend on what you're using to control the motion, but assuming Mach3:

1) Ignore the tachometer.
2) The PC doesn't know. It's the Geckos job to get it to the right place.
3) already answered.


If it's solid CAT-5 and a wire breaks from the constant flexing, the servo will run away and crash. Best to use flexible stranded wire.

[shnitzel]

thanx soooo much! thats exactly the answers i was looking for!!!

im am actually running mach 2.

thanx again,

jody