[mactro215]

I am a metal fabricator looking for a way to plasma cut parts and move to 3d milling later. I bought someones project on a whim and now i'm a little over my head. what do I need to make this work. the gantry is no problem, the electrical is making me crazy. my power supply puts out 27 volts, my motors are 65v dc bipolar 8 pin. I am pretty much a moron when it comes to electricity so don't feel bad about talking to me like a child, in fact please do. there should be attachments of the boards that I have. thanks ~mac

[mactro215]

I don't know why my pictures didn't download.

[MrWild]

dump the motors and dump the supply. The motors are way over volt, and the supply under volt. Whie you might use the supply in a pinch, you won't get by at all with the motors.

[dertsap]

65v is probably the maximum voltage rating so a 48 v supply would probably do the trick as long as the motors have any amount of toque to them and the drivers can handle it

[mactro215]

do I need motor drivers outside of the hobby cnc board? what is a good voltage to work in and what are your recomendations for motors? thanks ~mac

[mactro215]

these motors have a max of 119oz. holding power. do you think that even with gearing that these would move a 5'x5' setup at plasma speeds?

[dertsap]

its pretty much impossible to answer your questions without understanding what youve got , what motors do you already have , what kind of driver , is it the hobbycnc ,'voltage is determined by the motor rating and what the drivers can handle, generally most motors can run up to 25 time the rated voltage (start rating) , at 65v your motors are probably showing the max rated voltage which you cant go beyond , if we know exactly what you have then we can probably help you to get setup properly and try to utilize what you already have

[dertsap]

these motors have a max of 119oz. holding power. do you think that even with gearing that these would move a 5'x5' setup at plasma speeds?

i highly doubt it , your going to need bigger motors

[mactro215]

the board is 42v. ok, I think the pictures went through. I also have a random z axis board and head assembly. I have heard that running a plasma on the hobby is fine. true? also am I doomed trying to use a vista os?

[mactro215]

I don't have instructions for the board. do I simply plug the board into the power supply, in the right polarity, then run the printer port protector inline, and wire straight to the motors from the hobby cnc board? I'm confused about amp requirements in relation to the board. <---electricity is not my strong suit.

[dertsap]

connect the dc power to the hoccycnc board , then connect the motors to the board , there is a hobbycnc forum where you'll be able to get direct help for that board , picture #3 is a relay break out board which you won't need since the hobby board doesnt need a BOB
out of curiousity did you buy the gear from a member of the zone because i chatted a while back with another guy who more or less had all the same stuff

[mactro215]

the guy I bought this stuff from did recommend the site. I should have known better. he was liquidating his shop and I had money. everything worth anything wasn't for sale. thanks for your help. I think that I'm going to get three new motors (2 for "y") and use the existing z axis. as far as amperage goes, is this correct... whatever the total amperage draw of all motors= amperage output of power supply?

[dertsap]

i wouldnt write off those motors yet ,at this point of time you have something to start with (depending on how big you want to go ) , if you get a 36v power supply then you may get some ok speed out of them to start , if down the road your unsatisfied then you can always upgrade , i would suggest not running two motors on the y if your running them off the same drive .
you'll need a power supply that will be a bit above the three motors combined rated amperage , then you can be confident the motors are getting plenty of power

[mactro215]

thanks for your help. I have a friend who is an electronics whiz and he says that it's easy to build a power supply. I wouldn't know. if he gets excited I'll gladly accept help. I'll run the motors and see what happens. do you know what software is vista and hobby cnc compatable?

[dertsap]

check out mach http://www.machsupport.com/ , its the best option out there , the demo allows 500 lines of code which is enough to run some decent testing

[mactro215]

I found a 40v 15 amp power supply on ebay. that should do it. I am not apposed to upgrading to better motors especially after I get the thing to jog. I am expecting my lead screws on monday.