Halloween Vampires!

[Mariss Freimanis]

Good evening! The G203V drive gets introduced for sale tomorrow.

The G203V is our first attempt at a truly bullet-proof drive. Short it, run it without a heatsink, overvoltage it, miss-wire motors, reverse power supply polarity; throw everything at it save dunk it in saltwater or fill it with metal chips. The worst consequence it will suffer is to replace an internal socketed 20-cent fuse.

The "V" in G203V stands for "Vampire" as in cannot be killed. It incorporates everything we have learned in the last 6 years about how good drives wind up dead.

New features have been added and many annoyances have been removed. The G203V does'nt need external capacitors, the ADJUST tripot is now top-adjustable, the motor stays very cool when stopped, there are no jumper settings at all, The DISABLE input is optoisolated, the STEP and DIRECTION inputs are common-ground, it works with 3.3V logic (no breakout board needed), no "funny" G2xx timing restrictions, power LED and error LED indicators and more.

All the good things have been kept. 33A at 100VDC MOSFETs and 100VDC tested power section, same package size (G201 package) and the same terminal pin-out, the same mounting-hole pattern.

What this means to you if you are a reseller is drive-related service calls, support and drive replacement should drop to nil. The worst case customer service response will be "sort out the problem and (maybe) replace the fuse". The G203V is targeted at never having to replacing the drive.

Caution: The G203V is an entirely new clean-sheet design. Circuitwise the G203V shares absolutely nothing with its predecessors. As such it has absolutely no history. The older G2xx drives have a 20-year design history where every vice has been bred out of them. They simply have no uncovered bad behaviors or surprises left.

The G203V is completely new. I will not feel comfortable with this new design until there are at least 6 months and 5,000 user's experience under our belts.

Pricing is $147USD single, $114USD in 1K quantities.

Mariss

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[widgitmaster]

Now I really feel like a guinea pig!

But I'm glad my three toasted Gecko's served a higher purpose!
Eric

[asuratman]

Is G203V stepper motor driver right? Do you plan think like this on G320? Thanks. Asuratman.

[Mariss Freimanis]

Wigitmaster,

I hope you were made well on at least one toasted Gecko. Let me know if not.

asuratman,

Sorry, yes the G203V is a step motor drive. Our naming convention is anything called. G1xx is a motion controller, G2xx is a step motor drive, G3xx is a brush servodrive, G4xx is reserved for 3-phase brushless and G9xx is miscellaneous.

The G320 is next up for a total redesign to a CPLD based drive.

Mariss

[widgitmaster]

Yes Mariss!
The "Stuff Happens" policy replaced them free of charge!
Thank you, and I should have mentioned that!

Eric

[jderou]

Mariss, what is the max amperage on these drives?
If its at least 10A they may be a good candidate for replacing the BOSS drives.
Also, are these bipolar drives?

thanks

[Mariss Freimanis]

Still 7A at 80VDC. Heat dissipation at 10A would be twice as much.

Mariss

[Dan Mauch]

I received some of the first batch of G203's that Geckodrive is now
selling. I installed them in the same 3/4 axis case that I use for
my G201 and G210 step motor systems. The installation was quite
simple with the installation differences being that the New G203 use
a opto on the disable line which necessitates a minor change in the
wiring for my enable/disable switch, the common signal ground. and
the elimination of the 470 UP cap that was needed across terminals 1
and 2 of the Gecko drives.The footprint is the same and secures to
my heatsink the same as the G201/G210
I powered up the G203s with the case cover off of my control box.
The red light on the boards light comes on for a second then goes
out during the power on reset cyle. The Green Run light comes on
very quickly. A a noticeable thump sound from the steppers as the
winding engage. I test ran some 452 oz in stepper on my bench for
about 3 hours no load using a dos based program with smooth pulse
streams. No missed steps were noted using one of the torture program
that would tend to show step motor resonance issues. There were none.
One of the other nice things in adddition to all of the features
that there are in the G203 is that the motors were barely warn after
sitting in the reduced current mode for 1 hour.
I just finished running the g203 with mach3 with the pulse width
and dir set to 0 usec. No lost steps. The steps per unit was set at
20,000 and the velocity set to as fast as my pc could produce steps
with the kernel speed at 45Khz and about 135IPM. I ran the
Roadrunner.tap program faster than I could with the G201's as a
matter of fact it was AWESOME!!!
I plan to set it it up on my shop milldrill retrofitted with
ballscrews this evening and to run that machine with some 452 oz in
motor and then switch out to some 762 oz in motors then tomroow run
some of my 1303 oz in motors to see how the G203's run on a working
machine.
I am so happy with the results of the first tests that I am already
planning to come out with G203 kits and assembled and tested stepper
systems using the G203.

Dan Mauch
Camtronics Inc
www.camtronics-cnc-com
low cost stepper and servo motors.
Assembled and tested 3/4 axis G201,G203,G210,G320 and G340 systems

[Holescreek]

I am gathering everything I need for my CNC conversion project and have been waiting to see the specifics on the 203's. Are they compatable with the NEMA42s? The G201 had jumper settings to control NEMA42s, no jumpers in the 203's at all. -Mike

[Dan Mauch]

I haven't tested any of the Nema42's but have ran some of the 1303 oz in Nema 34's. They ran fine. If I was going to make a decision on the G201 verses the G203 I would select the G203 because it has so many more features that favor the larger motors such as overvoltage protection, thermal resets etc.
Dan mauch
Camtronic Inc
www.camtronics-cnc-com

[Holescreek]

Thanks for the reply Dan.

I have been scrounging components from a variety of sources, everything from Ebay to the maintenance scrap bin at work. I call it frugal, my friends call it cheap.

I had already decided on Gecko drives for a number of reasons including all the great things I've read in the archives. The price difference between the 201's and 203's is the difference between having 3 super-fantastic 203 drives or adding a 4th axis with four 201's. It's hard being cheap. -Mike

[Dan Mauch]

The choice of a G201 over a G203 really relies on your application and implementation of it. Sure, you will get about the same performance from the G201 as you will from the G203. But the G201 require a 5V from the pc step and direction lines. So if your pc like many of the new computer puts out only 3.2V then you will need to buy a booster/amp for using the G201. For the extra $25 the G203 will run all the way down to a 2.5V signal from the parallel port. Additionally the G203 has short circuit protection. So if any of the motors that you got off ebay has a short in it it will blow the G201. The G203 will simply go into the reset mode thus saving you the cost of the G201. There are many other reasons why the G203 would be advisable over the G201 but you need to review the applications and all the factors under which you plan to operate the controls to determine which is the best fit for your circumstances. Saving $25 on a G203 may cost you several times that with a G201.

Dan Mauch
www.camtronics-cnc.com
low cost stepper and servo motors.
assembled and tested stepper and servo systems using gecko drives.

Thanks for the reply Dan.

I have been scrounging components from a variety of sources, everything from Ebay to the maintenance scrap bin at work. I call it frugal, my friends call it cheap.

I had already decided on Gecko drives for a number of reasons including all the great things I've read in the archives. The price difference between the 201's and 203's is the difference between having 3 super-fantastic 203 drives or adding a 4th axis with four 201's. It's hard being cheap. -Mike

[diarmaid]

Short it, run it without a heatsink, overvoltage it, miss-wire motors, reverse power supply polarity; throw everything at it save dunk it in saltwater or fill it with metal chips. The worst consequence it will suffer is to replace an internal socketed 20-cent fuse.
The "V" in G203V stands for "Vampire" as in cannot be killed.

WOW! Sign me up for my next machine. By that time it'll probably be well tested though!