Question: What are the advantages and disadvantages. . . .

[widgitmaster]

For starters, accept the fact that I know little to nothing about electronics!
With that said, I have one basic question.


If I were to purchase the following:
Three G202 stepper motor drives from Gecko
One "Breakout Board Plus" from Bob Campbell.
One 65VDC 6A power supply from Transformer Technology Inc.
Three 305 oz/in NEMA-23 steppers, unipolar, 4.2v, 3A, 200 S/R, 3.2mH, 8 wire.
With a Total cost of $880.00+


What are the advantages and disadvantages of buying one control board in
kit form that has the breakout board, charge pump, and motor drives in
one, and requires a smaller power supply, over buying the TOP-SHELF
items listed above? Other than an obvious savings!
(Also, soldering components is not what I conceder fun!)

Are these the only two options for making the steppers work?
WidgitMaster

[Kipper]

I'll give it a go All in one cards i.e. A3977 type.....when one driver explodes it's almost impossible to repair whereas when all the drivers are separate you can either buy another unit or repair it by plugging some new IC's into it...Also having the option to use 12nm drives is appealing for me. $10 difference between a 202 and the 203V which is apparently idiot proof....Although idiots are being improved almost as fast lol

[pminmo]

Your comparing apples and oranges. In one corner, a Corvette, the other a Cavalier. Both get you from point a to point b, one gets you there faster and it's more of a chick magnet and costs more.
Seperate components has technical advantages. Less prone to castrophic failure, easier to spare for uptime. But the downside is more wiring and fab labor and total cost. There are other configurations, and as I've pointed out in a bunch of posts, this whole arena needs to be thought of as a system and designed and built that way. Putting a $150 drive and a $60 motor on one axis that moves 3" and has minor mechanical loads is just insane and such a waste.

[Switcher]

Originally Posted by widgitmaster For starters, accept the fact that I know little to nothing about electronics! With that said, I have one basic question. If I were to purchase the following: Three G202 stepper motor drives from Gecko One "Breakout Board Plus" from Bob Campbell. One 65VDC 6A power supply from Transformer Technology Inc. Three 305 oz/in NEMA-23 steppers, unipolar, 4.2v, 3A, 200 S/R, 3.2mH, 8 wire. With a Total cost of $880.00+ What are the advantages and disadvantages of buying one control board in kit form that has the breakout board, charge pump, and motor drives in one, and requires a smaller power supply, over buying the TOP-SHELF items listed above? Other than an obvious savings! (Also, soldering components is not what I conceder fun!) Are these the only two options for making the steppers work? WidgitMaster

Don't forget, you'll need a case to put all that stuff in, & wire. That will put you right at $1000

Also, Mariss is working on a lower cost drive for Gecko. That might help lower the cost?


.

[widgitmaster]

Originally Posted by pminmo Putting a $150 drive and a $60 motor on one axis that moves 3" and has minor mechanical loads is just insane and such a waste.

Surely that statement is a bit negative Phil!
Would it be less wasteful if I make all my routers with a full 12" z-axis travel, the extra material cost doesn't make it proportionate?
I have no time to place tiny components in a hole and solder them, so kits are a flop! (usually end up in smoke too)
Using a pre assembled component designed to do the one specific task is better for me and the end user; however, the cost is prohibitive.
When Gecko starts selling a drive thats lower in price, then I can see it as a major advantage!

Widgit

[pminmo]

Originally Posted by widgitmaster Surely that statement is a bit negative Phil! Would it be less wasteful if I make all my routers with a full 12" z-axis travel, the extra material cost doesn't make it proportionate? Widgit

I didn't do a very good job on my explanation, your analogy isn't the same. In the case of your mini router, the equivalent to my statement would be to use 2" diameter shafting on the Z axis. It works but is wasted cost, and it drives up total cost because you would need more material, larger bearings, etc.

Many users are making a one decision motor size, one size fits all, then that translates into one drive size fits all and a bigger power supply.....

[MrWild]

Just becaue you can use a bigger power supply WITH Gecko 202S, doesn't mean you need a bigger supply. You don't need a Zoot Suit set up to run a hobby sized router. Kruetz has developed a very nice system and you can buy a four axis set up for $265. If you are one of the first 20 buyers, you get that price. Four seperate drives,with a breakout controlboard. All ready to rock and roll. The down side of a Kruetz from Gheckos? 5 amp and 50 volts maximums. You will be hard pressed to find a motor at hobby proportions that will need more drive.

The Gecko babies are pretty neat drives, but have less amp capacity and more volts. 3.5 amps, and 60~ volts. These drives will run around $35 (new target last I read) each but will still need a BOB. If you go with a bells and whistles BOB you can pay a $265, but have all the ins and outs, spindle control, E-stop and charge pump you need. You can also get into one with optoisolation (no charge pump) for about $45. Middling is about $85. So four Gecko drives (for comparison purposes) and a medium BOB makes Kruetz drives seem pretty comparable and let you use it if you upgrade larger later.

It seems you can halve your outlay with a smaller power supply and a Kruetz drive system

[cgosnell]

Being a 'Hobby' my first interest is learning while doing.

For this reason I built my own router and used the boards/designs, etc... from PMINMO.

I think that one of the main points of this poll/thread is whether some people want the results (cut parts), while others want the process (build router).

To each their own.

[haroldj]

Nobody said anything about the motors. You can buy good motors for a cheap price on ebay all the time that would drive a hobby machine just fine.

[mlaws1172]

You could also get in touch with Tom at Cand CNC, they sell a few meal deal and help you decide what you really need.

mike