What stepper drives are you currently using? I have never had any problems with Geckos. In general, they are very well designed. I have a G203V that I use as a test drive whenever I need to spin a stepper motor for a machine mockup and I have really mistreated the drive (wires crossed, jumpers falling off, overheat, etc) and it still works! :-) I have also had good luck with the OEM series of Parker drives as well, but they cost a lot more than the Gecko drives and they are larger.
Dave Cole On 5/29/2013 12:12 PM, doug metzler wrote: > No VFDs, just a standard stepper + driver. This isn't running on a PC, so > the SBC (Rabbit) might be a bit more susceptible to noise than a PC, but > this is the first time I've ever seen the issue as well. So I'm thinking > the driver needs to go away :-) The Gecko will be here early next week and > I'm very interested in seeing if it cleans up using the existing 48V > switcher. > > Thanks, > > DougM > > > > On Wed, May 29, 2013 at 9:03 AM, Dave<[email protected]> wrote: > > >> I did a job a while back that used 2 - 20 amp, 48 volt Meanwell >> switchers to drive four - Gecko G540 drives. >> I used two PCs with Mesa cards to control the Gecko G540s and didn't >> have any noise issues at all. >> We did the customary star ground installation and I used shielded cable >> between the Mesa cards and the Gecko G540s. >> The cabinet was very tight but we tried to keep the power lines away >> from the low voltage circuitry. >> It was a custom machine with 14 positioning axes that was powered by an >> onboard diesel generator (mobile railroad repair equipment). >> I would be very concerned if you need to put caps on the step and >> direction lines. That could easily degrade into an unreliable situation. >> Do you have a VFD in this machine?? >> I have had issues with VFDs creating noise problems on step and >> direction lines. To the point where I sometimes install them in a >> different cabinet. >> Some VFDs are incredibly noisy. >> >> Dave Cole >> >> On 5/29/2013 11:32 AM, doug metzler wrote: >> >>> Thanks for the advice - I did order the antek, so I can compare it to the >>> switcher side-by-side. My main problem is actually with RF interference >>> from the stepper driver feeding back into the controller and confusing >>> >> it. >> >>> A couple of caps on the step and direction lines cleaned it up but >>> >> that's a >> >>> pretty iffy fix for a production run. >>> >>> So power ratings might not be an issue at all, but I wouldn't want to >>> >> have >> >>> a net loss in available torque. >>> >>> I suppose it would be prudent to check the amount of current it's drawing >>> currently since the prototype machine is binding up and losing steps I >>> could get a good indication of max current. >>> >>> Thanks, >>> >>> DougM >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> On Wed, May 29, 2013 at 1:18 AM, Steve Blackmore<[email protected]> >>> >> wrote: >> >>> >>> >>>> On Wed, 29 May 2013 07:35:23 +0200, you wrote: >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>>> Doug >>>>> I would not worry about the supply if I was you. The stepper motor >>>>> determines at what current you are running and we mostly run at far >>>>> >> less >> >>>>> that the drive rating. The voltage will determine how fast you can go >>>>> but if you are happy with the max speed at 48v, you will be happy with >>>>> the Gecko drivers as is. >>>>> I suggest that you put the lot together and then test the system. At >>>>> that time you can decide if you want to change. I am willing to bet my >>>>> sandwiches that you wont notice a single difference at all. >>>>> >>>>> >>>> My experience lately. >>>> >>>> My stepper driven router runs on 75V, I recently decided to try a servo >>>> on Z. Unfortunately it has a 60V continuous rating so I wrapped an >>>> external winding around the toroid to reduce down to 60V DC output. >>>> >>>> Before, all axis would run at 5m/min - after X&Y steppers would lock at >>>> anything over 3.8m/min so the servo came back off, as did the extra >>>> winding and it's back to 5m/min. >>>> >>>> >>>> Steve Blackmore >>>> -- >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >>>> Introducing AppDynamics Lite, a free troubleshooting tool for Java/.NET >>>> Get 100% visibility into your production application - at no cost. >>>> Code-level diagnostics for performance bottlenecks with<2% overhead >>>> Download for free and get started troubleshooting in minutes. >>>> http://p.sf.net/sfu/appdyn_d2d_ap1 >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Emc-users mailing list >>>> [email protected] >>>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >>> Introducing AppDynamics Lite, a free troubleshooting tool for Java/.NET >>> Get 100% visibility into your production application - at no cost. >>> Code-level diagnostics for performance bottlenecks with<2% overhead >>> Download for free and get started troubleshooting in minutes. >>> http://p.sf.net/sfu/appdyn_d2d_ap1 >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Emc-users mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users >>> >>> >>> >> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> Introducing AppDynamics Lite, a free troubleshooting tool for Java/.NET >> Get 100% visibility into your production application - at no cost. >> Code-level diagnostics for performance bottlenecks with<2% overhead >> Download for free and get started troubleshooting in minutes. >> http://p.sf.net/sfu/appdyn_d2d_ap1 >> _______________________________________________ >> Emc-users mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users >> >> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Introducing AppDynamics Lite, a free troubleshooting tool for Java/.NET > Get 100% visibility into your production application - at no cost. > Code-level diagnostics for performance bottlenecks with<2% overhead > Download for free and get started troubleshooting in minutes. > http://p.sf.net/sfu/appdyn_d2d_ap1 > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Introducing AppDynamics Lite, a free troubleshooting tool for Java/.NET Get 100% visibility into your production application - at no cost. Code-level diagnostics for performance bottlenecks with <2% overhead Download for free and get started troubleshooting in minutes. http://p.sf.net/sfu/appdyn_d2d_ap1 _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
