Couple of questions about setting up my Viper drives

[Danno]

Larry;
I'm finally getting around to programming the Viper 200's and I'm a bit confused.
In Hyper Terminal, LKR comes up, so I know that the drive is talking to the PC.
I'm confused as to the next step, and the instructions are not too clear for us non-computer geeks !!:-)
Do I just type in a command and hit enter?
example; kp=150
How do I know what is already programmed in the drive?
My servo is not hooked up to the mill, but is clamped to the table. When the power is on, I can move the servo shaft a couple of degrees with my fingers, but I don't feel any increase in resistance when I increase the kp value. I even typed in kp=2000, and felt no difference, and that's why I think that the values are not being loaded in the drive.
Also, can my servos be hooked up to the ball screws? the x drive encoder on my mill is mounted on the end of the x servo, but the Y an Z axis have the encoders mounted on the end of the ball screws, thus making it difficult to tune if they cannot be hooked up to their drives.

Another question I had was about the capacitors. You'll notice in the picture that I'm using 3 capacitors, because I already had them . Any problems doing this? Thanks

[keithmech]

maybe a bleed resistor on the caps.For the hyper terminal ,yes.
If you type ? and hit enter it will list all the parameters.
It is easier than it is written to set up these drives.
the command list is in the manual.

[Danno]

Thanks Keith ! I will go out today and try the "?" .
I'm sure these are easy to set up, but the manual assumes the reader is a computer tech, thus making it difficult to understand. I think most of us are mechanical guys like tool makers and machinists.
I'm not done the wiring of the panel yet, and a bleed resistor is definitely in the works. I just have to figure out a value and wattage.
Dan

[Danno]

I just got back from typing in the"?" command, and everything seems to work. I get about 10 lines of information with the first one being "kp256".
This may seem like a stupid question, but how do I change this value ??
I typed in "kp300" then enter, but the old 256 value keeps coming back. The manual says to use "s" command !! What the hell is that? Thanks

[Danno]

Ok! I got it!! The instructions say to chage the "KP" value, so that's what I did . I guess you have to type in just "p" without the "k". DUH !!
Dan

[Larken]

Nice clean setup of your powersupply.
Be sure to only power and test 1 drive at a time, until you get it all running.

You'll notice in the picture that I'm using 3 capacitors, because I already had them . Any problems doing this?

Thats fine.

Yes to change the parameters you just type 1 letter followed by the number and a <CR>
p500

[Danno]

I only had a few minutes today to play witht he drives, and increased the "p" value as high as 1000. The servo did not oscilate. I had a 10 ohm resistor in series with it that I had used for initial setup still wired on and that may have been the problem. I will remove the resitor tomorrow and try again. Dan

[Larken]

A 10 ohm res is too big to do any tuning. All the power would go to the resistor since its about 10x the res of the motor. But its ok to test that its wired right.

[Danno]

I removed the 10 ohm resistor, and now the motor is wired directly to the drive.
As I increased the "p" value to around p750, the motor ossilates violently then trips the drive, and the red LED flashes very fast.
I have to remove the 12v power to reset the drive when this happens.
At 725 it's very stiff but wont ossilate.

Also, I can't get the E-prom to save the values I type in.
When I type "s" then enter, I get s++++++++++++++++++ across the screen, so I assume that it would mean that the value has been saved. When I disconnect and then reconnect the 12v power, and type in the "?" command to read what is in the E-prom, it reverts back to the default p256 value.
A more detailed instruction sheet would be greatly appreciated.. Dan

[Danno]

Thanks for the help Larry;

I got a call from Larry at Larken tonight, which says a lot about how he cares about his customer's satifaction.
I guess most of the problems I'm having is due to my inability to read instructions. LOL
I will let you know how I make out.
Dan

[Danno]

I made lots of headway today, but now I can't get my motors to turn. The breakout board is sending the step/dir signal, but the motors just sit there (stiff) but won't move. Any ideas? How can I tell if the drives are in fact receiving the step/dir signal?
Dan

[Danno]

Never mind !! Stupid me wired the step/dir wires backwards !! Motors are now turning so I guess I will challenge a new hurdle tomorrow. Dan