Need Help!- G250 Faulty boards.

[SpeedsCustom]

Hello everyone,

So everyone surely remembers my issue that I posted back in early November: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68155 . After months of scratching my head, buying new computers, video cards, ruining parts and customer parts. I'm sad to say it, but the 540 G250 boards seem to be at fault here.

The gecko 540 was the last thing I ever looked at. I thought they were "bulletproof"; meaning that the problems I was having were in no way related the the 540. Well, looks like I was wrong.

It took me nearly over 2 months now to figure out that the G250's were the cause. In that thread above, you will notice how I mention the Z-axis not working properly and being off by inches at the end of the program. Well today was the day that i had proof!!! I made a program that would produce about 12 small parts, (15mmx17mm) A simple 2-d program that seems to work fine when a single program is used. The program started and I let it run for some time, I came to inspect on the progress and found that the machine was off in the Z-axis when cutting the parts in the latter stages of the program. I watched and watched till I saw that the z-axis was off by nearly 2 inches. I watched the Z-axis on the computer reading movement, physically looked at the z-axis on the machine and no movement. It sometimes would work and other times not (During my observations).

I opened the Gecko 540, replaced the Z-axis G250 with the A-axis G250 and found that the the A-axis seemed to have not even worked at all. I got no movement from the z-axis when replaced with the A-axis G250. (I verified it was not the wiring/motor by checking to see if another stepper motor would work and it did not)

So this is simply proof that the Z-axis G250 board in my Gecko 540 has not been working properly. Maybe for small programs where the z-axis is not being used over an extensive period.


Secondly, my mill the past month has severely gone hay wire on the Y-axis. Ruining parts, Customer parts (Me losing money), I tried everything and everything to fix it. Adjusted machine numerous times, replaced PC with recommended DELL and everything else. And for the first time ever, yesterday I replaced the Gecko 540 G250 Y-axis board with a spare one g250 board and it has solved all my problems. I ran vigorous testing yesterday and when I was satisfied with the results, I proceeded with customer parts. They all came out fantastic.



Bottom line, I have figure out/pin pointed where the problems have come from and sadly, I wish they were not the G250.

Hopefully I can get in touch with Marcuss or someone else at Gecko who can help me out. I have these faulty boards on my desk and waiting to see what can happen. From the research and testing I have done, the problem is with the G250's in my system.

This is in no way a stab at gecko or anything, I just wanted to simply clarify the issues that I have been having.


Thanks,


-Jason

[fretsman]

Jason,

Glad you got it sorted (sort of, so far) but why did you have to open the G540 and switch the boards to try a different 250? Couldn't you just switch the DB9 connectors and then change the pin assignments in your software?

In other words all the boards are exactly the same, just the pin assignments are different, correct?

Thanks,
Dave

[LeeWay]

I will agree that there is a chance the 250's could be at fault. I am glad that you got it working okay now. Gecko will test yours to see what is wrong and take care of you.

A working 251 loosing steps is where I have concerns. These lead away from the drive and toward settings, PS, wiring, motors, and machine.

I have never had a drive cause missed steps.

On the swap you made to A, if you didn't also change the pin assignments, that could cause it not to work correctly.

Gecko's did have issues on some several years back. They had terminals that were poor and after several uses of the clamps, would tend to fail to make contact. I had several of those, but only one terminal failed. Gecko sent me replacements for the other two as well.
That hasn't happened since.

I will be interested in the outcome of your two suspected 250's.
Glad you are up and running. That is the main thing. Now you can direct your efforts toward production. That is far more rewarding than troubleshooting.

[SpeedsCustom]

I simply opened the 540 up so I could physically swap out the board with a spare one I had and then also the A-axis board. Like you said, the G250's in the 540 are the same. So swapping them would determine if it was the board are not, which so far it seems to be the case. I didn't just wanna mess with pins and and swap the connector.

Lee- Wouldn't swapping the board from one axis to another only be a board swap. I wouldn't need to set any pins up, I was just replacing the G250 itself.

-Jason

[LeeWay]

Right. It just wasn't real clear how you did the swap.

Oh, and i didn't meant to sound like I meant a driver couldn't loose steps, just that it's usually another issue.
Did you contact Gecko yet?

[fretsman]

Originally Posted by SpeedsCustom I simply opened the 540 up so I could physically swap out the board with a spare one I had and then also the A-axis board. Like you said, the G250's in the 540 are the same. So swapping them would determine if it was the board are not, which so far it seems to be the case. I didn't just wanna mess with pins and and swap the connector.

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had a fifth 250 drive that you were swapping, I thought you were just swapping the drives' position- IE: moving the A axis 250 drive to the Z axis position on the 540.

Dave

[SpeedsCustom]

Originally Posted by fretsman Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had a fifth 250 drive that you were swapping, I thought you were just swapping the drives' position- IE: moving the A axis 250 drive to the Z axis position on the 540. Dave

I also did that, I tested the A-axis board since I don't use an A-axis on my machine to see if it even worked. It seems as if though it's complete dud.

Lee- Sorry for any jibber jabber I may have said


I will contact Gecko today, I was hoping they would see the thread. But I will be e-mailing them shortly.


-Jason

[CoAMarcus]

Jason,

The X, Y and Z G250 boards have a different program on them that the A-axis board does. The step and direction pins are swapped on the X, Y and Z boards because of an oversight in the design process (didn't realize that the board would be upside down when on the G250s, so the pins should be opposite each other). This was fixed by flashing those drives with a slightly different program; this works but means that the X, Y and Z axis drives can be swapped with each other, but not the A-axis.

If I understand correctly, what you did was swap the Z drive and the A drive. This would not work because of the aforementioned problem; if you were to swap the X or Y with the Z axis it would tell you if it works or not.

You are welcome to send the G540 back here for evaluation, but you may want to try swapping the drives as mentioned to see if that causes any sort of change.

Marcus

[SpeedsCustom]

Ok, yes, I swapped the Z with the A. Which is why it didn't work.

I have an extra g250 board (Non A-axis) I will try that.


Thanks,


-Jason

[CoAMarcus]

Jason,

Your extra G250 will not work on the X, Y, and Z axis. You can only swap those out with each other; the extra board will work in place of the A-axis though if you would like to try that.

Marcus

[Superior-CNC]

Is the flash program and the bin files for the different axis available for the
G540?

From what was posted it was supposed to be a modular system with easy to exchange drive components.

It sounds as if it is much more proprietary in design.

This is disenchanting to say the least.

[rowbare]

Originally Posted by CoAMarcus Jason, Your extra G250 will not work on the X, Y, and Z axis. You can only swap those out with each other; the extra board will work in place of the A-axis though if you would like to try that. Marcus

I would think that pretty much anyone who followed the cheap drives thread expected that the A axis would be usable as a spare drive.

It isn't the end of the world but can lead to a lot of confusion. Also if someone is putting a G540 system into production and orders a few 250s as spares, they would be awfully pissed if they needed one only to find they aren't flashed to work on the 3 main axes.

Perhaps this could be written up in the document you have been working on.

Bob