Disable switches

[swarfmacdaddy]

Im cutting a repetative part and was wondering if its ok to put some disable switches after the drives going to the motors.I want to do this because i doubt if its good for the drives to keep turning the power supply off and on every 5 mins. Or the Lambda $500 power supply. I have to do this because i need to turn the handwheels to move the cutter to a set distance from the part. I cant turn the handwheels with them energized so I have to cut the power to them. Im using g-201s.I know they say dont hook up motors with the drives powered. Im also using turbo cnc. Should i use any specifice switches? Do I have to be concerned about contact bounce? Thanks for any input anyone can give.

[Switcher]

Can't you just jog the machine into position with the machine control?


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[swarfmacdaddy]

No,I dont have home switches and i have to take a real acurate measurement from the cutter to the point im starting with a caliper.

[ger21]

Use MDI to move it precisely

[swarfmacdaddy]

Its alot faster to move the handwheel a couple of hundreths. Anyone know if I can do the switch thing or not?

[swarfmacdaddy]

Anyone?

[Greolt]

Swarfmacdaddy

I have some Chinese stepper drivers on my X3 mill. They have a connection point where a switch can be wired in to allow motors to be freewheeled as you are wanting.

The Geckos have an enable pin and I suspect if you took power away from it, it would do the same thing.

However be a little patient and Marris will see your post and respond. Get it straight from the horses mouth so to speak.

Greg

[dertsap]

the geckos have a disable on them , i havent tryed it on mine but i beleave that cuts the power to the motors

[dertsap]

from the gecko manual

(TERM. 7) DISABLE
Shorting this input to ground (term. 7 to 12) forces winding currents to zero and stops all output switching activity. The G201 will
continue totalizing step and direction inputs if any are sent. The power supply current drops to less than 15 ma. The motor will
return to its original position when the disable input is released if no step pulses have been sent and the motor has not been
moved more than 2 full steps

[swarfmacdaddy]

Been using the thing for 4 years and would have known that had I read the docs.When in doubt read the instructions.