I built a home shop CNC router several years ago using Gecko 203's, NEMA 23 stepper motors and Mach 3. The machine has worked beautifully for years without fail. Due to some health issues, the machine sat idle for six months. When I started it up the other day, I am getting a strange buzzing noise from the area near the SS relays on the breakout board. I am using Bob Campbell's combo board. I have two independent switches that power up the electronics and then power up the Gecko's and stepper motors. I am getting the buzzing when applying power to the board and then when I apply power to the drivers, I get very loud noises from the stepper motors as they start up. I also see that I am getting red and yellow lights on the Gecko's. I have not seen or smelled anything burning and I am at a loss as to why this started happening. I was wondering if anyone can suggest a reason as to why the machine would behave this way. I suspect maybe the BOB has gone bad. Nothing has been changed or moved while the machine was idle. I tried emailing Bob Campbell but it looks like he may not be in business any more. If I do need to replace the board, could you recommend a replacement? I was looking at the C11 multi function board from CNC4PC. Any help with this problem is greatly appreciated! Thanks.
If its been sitting idle for some time, some connectors may have some oxidation on them. From the Gecko documentation:
G203V INDICATORS:
POWER LED: The GREEN POWER indicator is lit whenever the G203V has power supply voltage applied.
FULL POWER LED: The YELLOW FULL POWER indicator is lit when the motor is turning fast enough to generate maximumpossible mechanical power. Power is torque times RPM and power output reaches its maximum value when this indicator is lit.Use this indicator to verify your motor is optimally geared to the load.
ERROR LED: The RED ERROR indicator is lit when:
1) During power-on reset for 1 second when power is first applied to the G203V.
2) While the DISABLE input is active.
3) When there is a short-circuit on any motor output. Momentarily activate the DISABLE input to reset.
4) During over-temperature shutdown. The LED automatically resets when the drive temperature drops.
See if the LED's match the above and work with that. The motors buzzinf sounds like they might be missing a phase. Check power supply voltages with a meter at the power supply and motor end to see if thay are within tolerance at both ends.
SS Relays do (or should) not make any sound.
As odd as it might sound, check for rodents, cockroaches, wasp or other insect nests in and around the wiring, particularly power runs/points. Rats and mice just love power circuits. For some reason, when rodents chew through your power lines, they like to do it as close as possible to solid objects to make it harder to splice :-)