[Lethrahn]

At my job we have a k2 (k2 seems to have gone out of business) 3 axis cnc routing table with a control box that i believe uses gecko
i was wondering how easy it is to swap out control boxes as ours seems to be failing?

[awerby]

It would probably be cheaper to fix the controller you've got rather than replace it altogether. What's failing?

[Lethrahn]

It would probably be cheaper to fix the controller you've got rather than replace it altogether. What's failing?

we dont know for sure but from what we've seen it seems like its putting too much power to our motors even though we have it limited in the program

by the way does anybody know for sure if k2 has closed down? it sure seems like it has

[awerby]

You can limit the current going to the motors using resistors stuck into the terminals of the Gecko drives. In my 201 drives, it's between terminals 11 and 12: yours might be different. See http://www.geckodrive.com/app-notes.html . I'm not sure if you can do this in software, though.

It looks like K2 is still around; their website's still up, anyway: CNC Routers and Waterjet Cutting Machines | K2CNC

[ger21]

but from what we've seen it seems like its putting too much power to our motors

What makes you think this?

[Lethrahn]

What makes you think this?

our motors are burning out at a far higher rate than they should
we have tried lowering the feed rate well below what its advertised to run at and they still burn out just as quickly
also the two motors we use for the axis seem to have a disparity between them as one burns out more than the other
i've re-callibrated multiple times twice using the in program calibration and once manually, ive cleaned our machine, replaced the bearings and runners, changed out encoders, everything seems to be in grat condition but they still burn out

[Lethrahn]

in the in program calibration there are steps to change voltage depending on the motors that you use
i havent seen anything about resistors though thanks for the tip!

the sites still up but all of their contacts have gone dead :/

[ger21]

By "burn out" do you mean they stop working?
Stepper motors should last almost forever, so yes, something is wrong.

If it does have Gecko drives, then there's a good chance that all you need to do is change the resistors to set the current lower.

[bhurts]

What software are you running? Is this a servo machine. Have you tried replacing the wiring to the offending axis?

Ben

[Lethrahn]

By "burn out" do you mean they stop working?
Stepper motors should last almost forever, so yes, something is wrong.

If it does have Gecko drives, then there's a good chance that all you need to do is change the resistors to set the current lower.

we're running gecko drives and mach 3

using servos not steppers
2 completely melted down brushes were fine, we mostly cut high density foam so it wasn't trying to torque through anything just basic running
1 sheared the axle but we think that happened from user error

another problem is that the machine will start running a program, get to a certain point in the code and stop the motors the router would keep running but the axis wouldn't move and we would have to reset them. it happens too constantly for it to be the code and i've run very simple codes to test if its the complexity but it still shuts it down.
the only thing we can think would be causing all of this is the controller

i havent rerun the wiring yet i wanted to see if we should replace the box first
but its not just one axis its all of them

[bhurts]

Have you tried disconnecting the motors from the screws and turning them by hand through the full travels. If the screws are binding on the offending axis then your motors could be drawing to much current for to long a period.

Ben

[Lethrahn]

Have you tried disconnecting the motors from the screws and turning them by hand through the full travels. If the screws are binding on the offending axis then your motors could be drawing to much current for to long a period.

Ben

thats a good idea
we have run them without load to do short tests but we haven't done a full program with all of them disconnected

[Lethrahn]

any new info would be greatly appreciated

[Lethrahn]

anything?

[awerby]

Did you check the Geckos for current-limiting resistors? If there weren't any, did you try putting appropriate resistors in? If you look at your motors, they should have an amperage rating - look on the chart in the Geckodrive application notes for the right resistors to use to limit the current to that value.

[Lethrahn]

Did you check the Geckos for current-limiting resistors? If there weren't any, did you try putting appropriate resistors in? If you look at your motors, they should have an amperage rating - look on the chart in the Geckodrive application notes for the right resistors to use to limit the current to that value.

i checked and we do not have any resistors currently
ill look for a guide online