Surestep Motors

[mishawaka]

I have Surestep motors, G540 controller and running Mach3. I started doing the hookup and tests and everything looks good but I don't have any holding torque. Is there anything I might be missing? I get the green light on the G540 so everything looks good but I'm afraid the motors might possibly be shot.

[vger]

What resistors do you have between pins 1 and 5 on the DB9 motor connectors?
What power supply (voltage and current) are you using?
Whats the part number of the steppers? STP-MTR-?????

Steve

[mishawaka]

2.8k resistors between pins 1 and 5, STP-MTR-23079 is the Surestep model. 48V/7.3A is the output of the power supply. To tell you the truth I'm not even sure what Gecko mean by holding torque. The only thing I can think of is with the steppers connected and the G540 powered up the steppers should basically not be able to be rotated by hand, is that what is meant by holding torque? I emailed the guy I bought the mill and steppers from and asked and he sent an email back not understanding what they mean either about the holding torque other than steppers don't have much torque compared to servo motors.

[vger]

Holding torque is the amount of rotary force, above which the motor will turn when powered to it's specification (in full step). At 286 Oz/Inch, the motor should hold and not turn with a 276 Ounce (17.25 Lb) weight hanging exactly 1" away from the centerline of the shaft. Those motors are about the same as the ones I am using and when they are under power, it's pretty hard to get them to turn by hand.

The 2.8 K resistor sets the current at 2.8 amps which is correct for that motor.

Double check your wiring... espectially the polarity of the power supply connected to pins 11 and 12.

Also check pin 10 on the terminal block...

7) E-STOP SWITCH: Connect a single pole, single throw (SPST) switch to the DISABLE input Pos 10 on the MAIN TERMINAL BLOCK. The other end of the switch goes to Pos 12 on the terminal block. Opening the switch disables the G540 and closing the switch enables it. While disabled, the motors freewheel (zero torque) and the OUTPUT terminals shut off.

Hope you get it working

Steve

[mishawaka]

OK, had time today to mess with it. I checked all the wiring. Went through the setup tutorial for Mach3 and everything checks out as far as those items go. I applied power to the controller and checked the X axis, I have holding torque as you say, I think. When power is applied I cannot turn the motor by hand unless I really put some strength into it. Now when I jog the X axis I noticed just a hair of movement but only when I hit in the positive direction. Other than that, nothing. And only once unless I hit reverse and then forward. I tried doing the motor tuning but nothing helps. Any other suggestions? I'm kinda at my wits end almost feel like something is defective. Now when I ran the test program after installing the pulse seemed OK but when first starts it is way high for a second.

[vger]

Hmmm... what kind of computer are you using? desktop? laptop/notebook? Double check section 5.3.1 in the Mach3 manual. Your step and direction pins should NOT be like the Figure 5-3 screenshot. The pin numbers will be different.

Do you have 4 motors connected? or just 3?

Steve

[mishawaka]

Using a desktop with XP. On the DB9 plug this is how it is wired;
1 Current Set Resistor
2 GND
3 GND
4 GND
5 Current Set Resistor
6 Phase B motor- Green wire from motor
7Phase B/ motor- Black wire from motor
8 Phase A motor- Red wire from motor
9 Phase A/ motor- White wire from motor


Now the pins that say GND I don't actually have grounded and maybe that is it I guess but the instructions don't say where to ground those, to the mill, controller, computer?It doesn't show on Gecko's manual on where to hook those up to. I just figured they were just unused pins. Now I was wondering, about the charge pump. I guess I'm kinda confused about how I need to set that. I have read that it needs to be on and also that it needs to be off I kinda think it should be on but when I turn it on the controller faults out?

[vger]

Pins 2, 3, and 4, can be connected to the sheilding on your motor cables if you are using sheilded wire (reccomended). See "motor cables" on first page here...

http://www.geckodrive.com/upload/G54...3%20MANUAL.pdf

Double check section 5.3.1 in the Mach3 manual. Your step and direction pins should NOT be like the Figure 5-3 screenshot. The pin numbers will be different.

http://www.machsupport.com/docs/Mach...all_Config.pdf



Make sure the cable between the printer port on the computer and the Gecko has all 25 pins connected straight through.

The charge pump signal from Mach3 is a pulsed signal that goes to the Gecko and keeps it enabled. It is only there when Mach3 is running and not in E-stop. If it is not there, the Gecko will not be enabled. It should be on and set for pin 16.

I'm gonna be out for a week... best of luck, and happy new year.

Steve

[mishawaka]

OK, I think the problem is the DB25 cable. It is labeled a Null Modem cable. I never realized there were different DB25 cables. I am going to order a straight through cable and hopefully that is the problem. Hope you have a Happy New Years!

[mishawaka]

OK, got my "straight through parallel cable" today. Still no movement, I still have holding torque though. I have the pins set accordingly.

Pin 1-OUTPUT 2
Pin 2-X step
Pin 3-X direction
Pin 4-Y step
Pin 5-Y direction
Pin 6-Z step
Pin 7-Z direction
Pin 8- Not hooked up, for A step
Pin 9- Not hooked up, for A direction
Pin 10-Input 1
Pin 11-Input 2
Pin 12-Input 3
Pin 13-Input 4
Pin 14-VFD PWM(50hz) but not set to any pin.
Pin 15- Fault, I have this set for Estop. The only thing I think they wanted it for.
Pin 16-Charge Pump(10khz) Light on Gecko stays red if I flip the charge pump on.
Pin 17-OUTPUT 1
Pin 18 through 25 Not sure how to configure other than leave the rest of the settings alone.

I went through the pins and only set the ones I could find in Mach3. I tried the G540 file but don't think it configured anything. Not sure if I loaded it right. The manual just says to load it with Mach3 loader so I opened Mach3 and tried to load it by saying it was G code. I have a feeling I'm going to kick myself in the butt because with my luck it's something stupid.

[ger21]

Try setting the pulse widths in motor tuning to 15 or 20.

[mishawaka]

It only gives the option step pulse of 1-5 and direction pulse of 0-5 in Mach3. Now whenever I switch the charge pump on the controller to the ON position then plug in the controller the light stays on red, if the charge pump is set to OFF then the light stays green, not sure if that info helps.