Geckos w/ Switching Power Supply?

[mrosso]

Will G201 drives work with a switching power supply (24v/10a)? Would it help/hurt to put a large capacitor on the power supply output like you would in a linear?

[Jeff-Birt]

Well that is almost a religious argument. Gecko tends to recommend an unregulated linear supply as they are simple and (I think, not to put words in someone else's mouth) eliminates the problem with folks trying to use crappy switch type supplies. The last 15 years or so have also seen a huge improvement in high current switching power supplies.

Some folks will say that a switch type supply can't survive use in a CNC machine, but I have to strongly disagree. I have a couple 20+ year old bench-top sized CNC machines, with switching supplies that are both alive and well. In fact one of the shops I run at the university is next door to our power lab where they do research into power supplies, motor controls, etc. I asked the professor who runs the lab about this controversy and he looked at me kind of funny. He said 'Well, all the modern (variable freq) motor drives ARE basically switch type power supplies, there is no reason a good quality switching supply would not work.'

As for the capacitor on the output. If you find that the load your driving draws large amounts of current in short spurts (in other words spikes of current of relatively short duration) then a small external cap may help some. You have to be careful though as a huge empty capacitor will look like a short to the power supply when you first turn it on and you can overload it. If it has a hiccup type overload protection it will cut in and out while trying to charge the cap. That is not good for even a good quality supply and will likely blow up a crappy one.

[SORCHEROR]

ill get right to the point,you spent the money and got nice drives,with a cheap 24v power supply your going to loose top end speed and torgue,i would get a 48v supply min,go to keinginc web site,i think there around 50 bucks,you will be happy you did

[mrosso]

All great comments and advice. The switching power supply I have is a Sola industrial grade supply that is DIN rail mounted. I may just go with a big linear, though. I was just hoping to keep my control box nice and tidy.

[Jeff-Birt]

I think you'll be well served with the Sola. What type of overload protection does it have? A constant current or hiccup mode is usually best for this application as it does not require removing input power to reset.