What stepper driver can I use ?

[ger21]

Originally Posted by ccm What is the preffered OS of choice ( general consensis ) for most of the folks out here...and or the one that most cnc software seems to run the best on ? Thanks for all the help.... Now I've just got to build a dedicated pc from the two pallets of PC parts gathering dust in my basement, which I thought were going to become boat anchor material.....lol. -Art

The majority of people here use either TurboCNC, under DOS, and just about any speed computer, or Mach2, which needs Win2K or XP, and probably at least a 750 or 1 Ghz machine.

[ccm]

Oh, that's great to know... Then I'm more apt to try TurboCNC first then ... I'm going to be able to build a Dos box alot quicker than a system with any kind of speed & hp. I've got plenty of 2gb drives .... so looks like they'll see some life again, after I blow the dust off.... lol.
Thanks for the insight,

Art

[ccm]

Ok.... Balsaman... you were correct in your diagnosis of what the problem was...I guess the parallel port signal just wasn't strong enough from the laptop.... so I built a desktop dos box with 6.22 on it, and have it running turbocnc. I tested it yesterday with all three axis... and they all worked great. I only had one axis connected at one time, but I did that just for the fact of keeping the bench minimally covered in wiring.
Here's my issue though, and I don't see a way out of it unless I get different motors. At full speed ( Using the qbasic step software that came with the FET3) when I had it wide open, I was at best getting 3 -5 ipm If I had to guess it was painfully slow. This was At 5Vdc, using a current limiting resistor as to not smoke the drivers. All three Axis' were going the same thing.... powerful to a degree but slow. To see how much power the motors have I ever so slightly placed my hand on the headstock to see if the motor would stall out, and it does rather easily.... which is due to the fact that I'm running the motor @ 5v when it's rated for 1.7v per phase.
While I was having success, I thought I'd try turbocnc and when I attempted
to manually JOG the motors, I was getting nothing out of the controller. The parallel port addressing was correct too.... I double checked it against what the qbasic software was utilizing...
Any thoughts on the motor issues ?

thanks,

Art

[ger21]

Are you giving the motors the full 4.7a/phase? More voltage will give you more speed, not more torque. You'll just have the same torque at higher speeds. As long as you supply the full 4.7a, you should be getting full torque.

I'd guess you have something setup incorrectly in TurboCNC.

[ccm]

Yes by my calculations ... the motors each require 9.4amps ( 2phases ea ) and this motor has 9.7 available to it the way it is currently setup. The driver board Transistors only get mildly warm, not hot.... as for the current limiting resistor... that's another story!!

-Art

[ger21]

Those resistors are what controls the amps to the motor. Are you sure they are the correct value for the voltage you are using? You need different resistors for different voltages, I believe.

[Ferenczyg]

I have some motors that look very similar, mine are 1V3 and 4A9, unipolar. If you run in trouble because the current and yours are unipolar too, just forget the black and white wires, that are the commons -at least in my motors- and drive them bipolar (with a bipolar driver of course . This way you only will need half current, and a 2A controller will work. In fact my motors have black and white wires isolated with thermo retractile so I suspect that was the original mounting option.

Hope it helps
/F