What drives are you using? I had some cheap TB6600 drives with 400 oz in steppers on my PM-25 and the drivers were definitely falling short. I was using the same on the Z axis and it would struggle and occasionally stall, especially at lower speeds. I switched to a DM-860T drive and it made a world of difference. Even with the 400 oz in motor on the Z, it would move it just fine up to 150 IPM. I got the same type of driver, just a few sizes smaller for the X and Y and that helped quite a bit. I can run it with 3 4" vises at 150 IPM with no problems.
It is possible that your gib is not sitting correctly. When I put the gib in, if it doesn't wiggle into place just right, it is very tight and doesn't allow the table to slide right. When you wiggle it around a bit and it finds the sweet spot, I can crank it down and the table still moves smoothly, even to both extreme ends of the table.
I haven't tested anything yet today, but I will later after finishing a part I'm working on. It is interesting to note that the Z driver is different from the X and Y. You'd more or less expect that since the Z is a 34 and X&Y are 23s. Another interesting test might be to connect the X motor to the larger Z controller, and see if that's any different. I'll try that as well as trying X only with the other controllers unpowered.
I feel like I've thoroughly explored the gib adjustment, but perhaps I should give that one more try.
I did order two more 34 motors, and the adapters needed to mount them on the X and Y. I'm hoping to get by with the controllers I have, though I know they're not quite rated for the motors I'm getting. The motors are rated at 6A, and the controller is 5.6A. Since I do have one larger controller, I can still test the new 34 size motor on X with a proper controller.
Thanks to all who made suggestions, and especially those who had me question the controller. I first tried using the X motor and it's normal controller without having any of the other controllers powered, and that was no improvement, so the power supply was off the hook. Next, I connected the X motor to the Z controller, and the thing flies around at scary fast speeds. I can now run 250 ipm all the way to the ends of the X travel with no stalling :-)
I called Automation Tech and they pointed out that I have the controller switch settings wrong. The Z controller is a version D (8070D), where the X and Y are E versions (5056E). On the product page for the 5056E, they link to the 5056D manual, which is what I used for the settings. They told me I needed to use the settings on the controller graphic, not the manual they linked to. Sure enough, sw 1-3 was set to on-on-on, which is shown as the max current setting in the manual. The graphic on the controller box is just the opposite. All "on" is minimum current of 1.8A, and all "off" is max. That's what I get for reading the manual and not looking at the graphic on the box. It would seem they changed the switch settings from the D to the E version, and there's no E manual.
The good news (to make up for looking like an idiot) is that I'm now working perfectly with just a few switch changes.
That's the problem with these builds, there are so many variables that sometimes it's almost impossible to diagnose them via the internet. You just have to grit it out.
Re: PM25 stalling X and Y
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