DC Brushless servos help

[kolokithas]

Greetings!

I recently purchased 2 American Precision BLDC motors rated at 24volts and 4.8A
Does anyone know where i can find a reasonably priced servo drive?
Please note that i need a drive that takes STEP/DIR commands and not simple PWM speed control!
I found some drives from compumotor like the OEM670X or the newest OEM770X
but they are priced from over 1000$.
I made a lot of research in eBay without a satisfactory result for a moderately priced servo drive/controller.

So anyone with an idea and a link will be more than accepted!!!

Thanks in advance
Panos

[kolokithas]

Greetings,

Gladly i found two Parker VIX250AE brushless DC servo drives.The manual says that it takes step and dir signals!Does anyone knows or ever connected them with a parallel port for MAch3 or other compatible controller?

If the PDF will help,i will post it!
Thanks

Panos

[Al_The_Man]

Originally Posted by kolokithas If the PDF will help,i will post it! Thanks Panos

Probably help to do that.
Al.

[kolokithas]

Greetings again!

Im starting to making sense about the inputs but...
I put the three most important sections (in pictures)from the manual that have to do with the inputs to make the access easy!
In the first section its the connection area it the top of the drive.The X4 port is the one i need(obviously )
Parker names the inputs EI(encoder Inputs).The pins with the red signs are for the step and direction input.As you can see in the second picture,you can setup the inputs for the drive to accept commands for Velocity input EI=1,for positioning EI=0 and finally for an encoder for manual movement???(I'm not sure about that).In the third picture you can see that the accepted commands are a 5v transistor logic?Now my question is...What type of signals we have from Mach3(from parallel in specific) or DeskCNC controllers?
And another question is why we have four terminals?I know that we need 3 terminals for motion,STEP-DIR-GND.Is there any chance that the minus symbols -A and -B are for the grounds(or returns) of the specific inputs?
If this is true i guess that i have to link the two terminals together,STEP-/DIR-
and use a common - and STEP+ DIR+ terminals.I dont know...Thats where i need another opinion!

If someone wants to see the complete manual for the drive,here's the link.
http://www.parkermotion.com/manuals/...AE_UG_8-03.pdf

[Al_The_Man]

I would interpret the connection for step direction as pin 3 being common to all and you would use either 12 or 7, or 13 or 8 for the respective step direction, depending on the level you require for the proper direction, IOW It looks to me you would only use one pair?
If you have a 5v from the parallel port, it should operate direct, as it appears to be TTL input.
Al.

[kolokithas]

Thanks for the answer it needs some thought!More of this to come...
Another problem arised!
I don't have manual for the motors!!
The motors are American Precision Industries/Rapidsyn Division.
The model is 23BLS-02I-02

Does anyone have a clue where to find a manual,datasheet or anything?

[Al_The_Man]

I believe API bought out Gettys in around '97 and became API-Gettys, I have many catalogues from that era, but do not show those numbers.
I seem to recall they were bought out by Parker.
Al.

[kolokithas]

Thanks AI,

I discovered that they were merged with Gettys and already have the manual.One representative from elwood-gettys sent me the PDF.
Without the PDF you can't do something because its not a simple servo,it has hall effect sensors apart from the encoder and you need to know the color codes.As for some other issues of connecting the drive,i found very helpful the support from Parker.Great guys!!!

Thank you very much AI for your interest!

[kolokithas]

Hi!

It seems to me that i have a long way to go...One simple question.
My motors are brushless DC as i mentioned.They are fitted with encoders.
Also there are the hall sensors.Do i need to connect both the encoder and the hall sensors?The encoders use the Index mark is there anything to do with that?

Thanks in advance!

[Al_The_Man]

The encoder is used for positioning, the hall effect are used for commutation, so, yes you need both connected.
The marker is usually used for homing or synchronizing when threading on some controls.
Al.

[kolokithas]

Thanks AI!

Always there for the rookie!!!

Thanks a lot!!!!

[kolokithas]

Greetings!Does anyone knows where i can find a step/dir to differential converter?I want to use a drive that needs differential encoder input,and i only have step and dir signals available.
Any help will be good!
Thanks