201 drives fault over and over

[wes]

We've gone around on this before but now I think the issue may be the motors. I have put 120K resistors on all drives but they still fault over time. Maybe 10 minutes will pass, but one or both x drives will fault.

Here is a letter I wrote to homeshopcnc to ask about their product and if it may be the issue.
>>
About a year ago I built a cnc machine and purchased 4 of the RS34-960s. I am using the PMDX 131 board and the PMDX 135 power module. I am using the Gecko 202 for all of my axis'.

Here's the problem. My Gecko's keep quitting on me and Maris from Gecko says that the motors are becoming saturated because of the high amps that they draw. I have put resistors on my gecko drives to restrict them to 4 amps but they still quit. Gecko has tested and retested my drives and found no problem with their product. Is there something incompatible about this stepper and the configuration that I have? Is anybody else having similar issues? This has plagued me since the day I started my machine.<<

I am hoping that someone out there can tell me if smaller/different steppers may fix this or if they have had the same issue.

could the PMDX board have issues?

Any help at all is appreciated. Anything.

[wes]

I think it is the power supply that is causing the years worth of problems that I have had. It's under amped for the job.

[wes]

Still faulting even after installing new power supply. see "recurring problem no holding torque" thread.

[wes]

IT'S 202's not 201's as in the thread title.


SORRY.....

[Richards]

What kind of heat sinks are you using with the Gecko drives? What temperatures are being generated? (I use a $50 infared thermometer to check temperatures on all equipment.)