[diyengineer]

Does anyone have a general servo wiring diagram say from gecko etc?

I just want to see how 3 servos connect to the drivers, then to a break out board etc. Do each driver get there own power supply?! etc etc etc.. pictures tell 100000 words.. thanks guys!

[Glacern]

Does anyone have a general servo wiring diagram say from gecko etc?

I just want to see how 3 servos connect to the drivers, then to a break out board etc. Do each driver get there own power supply?! etc etc etc.. pictures tell 100000 words.. thanks guys!

Sorry, no pics at the moment, but I'll try to convey the message without using 100k words.

Computer's Parallel Port -> Breakout Board (DB25 cable)

Breakout Board -> Gecko 1 (2 wires, step and direction)
Breakout Board -> Gecko 2 (2 wires, step and direction)
Breakout Board -> Gecko 3 (2 wires, step and direction)

Gecko 1 -> Motor 1 (4 wires)
Gecko 2 -> Motor 2 (4 wires)
Gecko 3 -> Motor 3 (4 wires)

Geckos can share the same power supply. They may require an additional 5v common depending on the model. The breakout board may also require power depending on which one you get.

If you have any other questions, ask away.

-Sol
Glacern Machine Tools

[Bubba]

Sol,
If you don't mind, I would like to correct your otherwise good presentation.

The breakout board to Gecko will require 3 wires (step, direction, common).
also as the OP said servo, there will be from the Gecko to servo/encoder, 6 wires
(2 power, and 4 for the encoder)

[diyengineer]

So how does the servo get power no one mentioned the power supply, do the servos all share one power supply? And do they directly connect to the PS or does it route through the gecko first then to the servo? And is it roughly the same for AC and DC servos or is there a big difference in setup.

[Glacern]

Sol,
If you don't mind, I would like to correct your otherwise good presentation.

The breakout board to Gecko will require 3 wires (step, direction, common).
also as the OP said servo, there will be from the Gecko to servo/encoder, 6 wires
(2 power, and 4 for the encoder)

Yes, you're correct. Admittedly I haven't worked with DC servos in a couple years, just steppers and AC servos.

As for the steppers, I've been working with G203Vs as of late. The COMMON on these drives is ground, so I wire them to a common ground bus rather than directly to the breakout board.

-Sol
Glacern Machine Tools

[diyengineer]

So i assume these are the wires for an AC servo setup correct?

[Glacern]

So how does the servo get power no one mentioned the power supply, do the servos all share one power supply? And do they directly connect to the PS or does it route through the gecko first then to the servo? And is it roughly the same for AC and DC servos or is there a big difference in setup.

The DC servo gets power from the drive, and the drive is wired to the DC power supply. Single or multiple power supplies can be used... it doesn't matter as long as sufficient power is provided.

There is quite a bit of difference between setting up a DC and an AC servo. AC drives connect directly to single or three phase AC power and often have built in PLCs and I/O for various functions. They can be configured to work similarly to DC servos, using step/direction pulses from Mach 3, but there is more wiring wiring involved, and a couple settings need to be configured in the PLC. Most manufacturers provide detailed documentation, though it should be noted that the vast majority of the PLC functions aren't needed in CNC applications.

-Sol
Glacern Machine Tools

[Glacern]

So i assume these are the wires for an AC servo setup correct?

I believe that's a starting circuit for AC induction motors. Possibly but not necessarily related to a CNC application.

Possible uses for such a circuit:
1. Turning on/off a milling spindle
2. Turning on/off coolant pumps from a control panel
etc...

[diyengineer]

So i assume these are the wires for an AC servo setup correct?

The picture is a partial picture of 1/2 control cabinets mounted under this cnc gantry style mill i was looking to buy, i was unsure if they were AC or DC motors installed. thanks for clearing that up!

[H.O]

Hi,
On my website I have put together a page where a couple of the possible solutions for driving servos with Mach3 are outlined. It's not meant as an electrical schematic or wiring diagram but rather as a graphical overview of how things "fit together".

Although more aimed at how to retrofit machines with older analog command drives it should give you an overall picture of how the system can be setup. For the typical digital step- and direction drive (Gecko G320, Viper, Whale3 etc) and any AC-servo drive accepting step and direction you want to look at the fifth picture from the top.

/Henrik.

[Jason3]

Here's a photo of a setup on the bench a while back that might be some use. Some of it is specific to the Granite Devices drives, but some of it is pretty common to most setups.

The power supply is in the top right - the thicker blue wires are the HV supply and the thinner red and black wires are the 12v logic supply. Each drive gets it's own set of wires from the power supply, but in most cases only one power supply is required.

The servo drives are bottom centre and left. The right hand DB15 plug is for the encoder and he left hand DB25 plug is for the motor power cable. The rainbow ribbon cables terminate at the breakout board, which splits the signals from the PC to the drives. Only two drives are shown, but this setup has four drives.

The breakout board gets a parallel cable from the control PC for the signals from Mach3 (or whichever control software you're using), and a USB cable to supply the logic circuits on the PC side of the opto-isolators.

Hope that is some help!

Best regards,

Jason

[kawazuki]

Try this for size?

[Al_The_Man]

So i assume these are the wires for an AC servo setup correct?

They are 3 phase contactors, so it is possible the drives have a three phase supply from each one of them, although it is unusual that the supply would not be commonly switched by one contactor.
If on the drive input side they could be AC or DC servo.
For that vintage of machine they tended to be DC servo.
I assume you did not get original prints with the machine?
Al.

[diyengineer]

They are 3 phase contactors, so it is possible the drives have a three phase supply from each one of them, although it is unusual that the supply would not be commonly switched by one contactor.
If on the drive input side they could be AC or DC servo.
For that vintage of machine they tended to be DC servo.
I assume you did not get original prints with the machine?
Al.

Not yet, but when i get the BOEING ID serial off the machine and any other information i find i can do some digging and try to trace it back to its origins. I still have family members who work @ Boeing that can help me out.